The BT Speaking Clock receives around 60 million calls a year.
List of voices heard on the British "BT Speaking Clock"
Ethel Jane Cain, first permanent voice: from July 24, 1936 to 1963.
Pat Simmons, second permanent voice: from 1963 to April 2, 1985.
Brian Cobby, third permanent voice: from April 2, 1985 to April 2, 2007.
Lenny Henry, comedian, temporary voice for Comic Relief: from March 10 to March 23, 2003.
Alicia Roland[15], 12-year-old schoolgirl, temporary voice for the children's charity ChildLine, from October 13 to October 20, 2003, having won a BBC TV Newsround competition and stating, before announcing the time, "It's time to listen to young people".
Sara Mendes da Costa, fourth permanent voice: from April 2, 2007.
Mae Whitman, temporary voice as part of a deal to promote the Disney production of Tinker Bell, for three months from 26 October 2008 until 2 February 2009.
UK celebrities Kimberley Walsh, Cheryl Cole, Gary Barlow, Chris Moyles, and Fearne Cotton for Comic Relief charity: from 3 February to 23 March 2009.
In the United States, this service was typically known as the "Time of Day" service, with the term "speaking clock" never used
Occasionally it would be called "Time and Temperature." However, the service had been phased out in all but two states (California and Nevada) when AT and T discontinued its California service in September 2007, citing the widespread availability of sources such as mobile phones and computers.[20]
For all area codes in Northern California, the number was 767-2676, and was often indicated by its telephone acronym, POPCORN.[20] In other locations, different telephone exchanges are or were used for the speaking clock service
In these areas, the numbers were usually quoted with the -xxxx, -2525, -1212, or -1234 ending
For example,
853 was the reserved exchange in Southern California.
622 was the reserved exchange in Florida.
637 (MEridian-7) is the reserved exchange in Boston.
846 is the reserved exchange in Philadelphia.
844 is the reserved exchange in Washington D.C.