Postscript: TalkLine Sets the Tone for Party Time

TalkLine, a Pacific Telephone Co. experiment that allows up to 15 people at a time to meet and gab by calling special numbers, has been extended through December.

Begun six months ago for callers in Anaheim, Fullerton and Garden Grove, TalkLine had been approved through June 1. But the Public Utilities Commission granted an extension until Dec. 31, Pacific Bell spokesman Michael Runzler said last week. The party line might become permanent in January, Runzler said. Also, the company might expand it to other Orange County cities.

Until now, three numbers were offered to teen-agers and two to adults in the test cities. Now, Runzler said, each age group will have just one number. And only 10 people will be able to talk at once.

The new system, which could go into effect within a week, will switch calls automatically to one of the three “pools” for teen callers or to one of two pools for adults. Each pool will accommodate 10 people.

TalkLine callers are billed 20 cents for the first minute and 12 cents for each additional minute until 11 p.m. From 11 p.m. to 8 a.m., the rate for each additional minute drops to eight cents. Runzler said Pacific Bell will re-evaluate its charge for the service at the end of this year.

Runzler said TalkLine receives more than 2,000 calls a month. Pacific Bell expects the program to yield $428,000 by the end of 1985. He said most of the profits will be used to offset the $21 difference between the cost of providing an average customer’s telephone service and the rate the customer pays.

Although the lines are designated for either teen-agers or adults, anyone can use them.

“I called (TalkLine) last night just to see what was going on,” Runzler said. “I was listening to the adult line. Someone asked, ‘How old are all of you,’ and most people said 17 or 18. It’s pretty much up to the callers to take care of that.”

Runzler said most of the conversations he heard were about the callers themselves or other frequent TalkLine users.

“That’s one of the things that makes it popular,” he said. “People who want to meet others and don’t want to do the singles’ bar scene find it can be easier.”

Runzler acknowledged that some people use the TalkLine to make obscene propositions or to annoy other callers, but he said Pacific Bell cannot legally listen in on conversations to prevent such abuses.

“The best solution is for people to hang up if it gets out of hand,” he said.

Although the party line has led to at least one engagement--that of Fullerton residents Valesta Hawkins, 27, and Daniel Karnes, 29--the service has caused friction in some families. Last January, several teen-agers ran up bills in excess of $1,000 by talking for hours.

“We mailed out flyers to teen-agers in the test areas in December, and the parents were unaware that the teens had received them,” Runzler said. “There was concern that we shouldn’t have circumvented the parents, who are in most cases responsible for the bill.” The customers were allowed to pay the charges in installments.

Now, TalkLine callers hear a recorded message warning they will be billed for the call. And a beep sounds every 20 minutes on the teen lines.