In the third course, there will be … no more clock dialing

"There is still a great demand for it," he said.

"The number of calls to DST this year exceeded last year."

But the final decision belonged to Telstra, which provides network and service billing, and Telstra is pulling the plug.

A Telstra spokeswoman said the service is not compatible with its new network technology.

"It's like when you upgrade to a radically new technology, sometimes the older services do not work," the spokesman said.

It was similar to how, "with the software, if you're trying to use Microsoft Word 95 with the latest operating system, Windows 10," said the spokesman.

"Or with iPhone 3, you will not see these products working with the latest iPhone software. It's not compatible."

Mr. Benjamin is optimistic that Telstra will reverse the decision. "There is another network solution to provide this: cut ISDN [the older, Integrated Services Digital Network that carries voice and data services over the switched telephone network] – and using SIP [Session Initiation Protocol, that can send all forms of media including voice, data and video, to multiple parties].

"And ISDN is being deactivated over the next three years. They do not have to cut off that service now."

The Telstra spokesman said that although the public "now has many devices that provide a precise time," the service received a three-month extension from the initial date of June 30 "to give users more time to find a workaround ". .

But Benjamin, of Informatel, said the talking clock should be maintained as a community service.

He said that some companies and customers without smart phones rely on it.

"You and I rely on our [mobile] phones and most of the time, that would be great. But there are other people who are not as capable of looking at the phone or who are comfortable using the service because they have been doing it for decades. It's an important part of their lives. "

Mr. Benjamin said it would cost a lot of money and effort to find another network provider.

Before its automation, 66 years ago, people who wanted to know the exact time dialed a central office, and the operators read the time of the clock.

In 1953, Gordon Gow, a well-spoken theater critic, received £ 100 to record the hours, minutes and seconds of a new mechanized system.

About 15 years ago, Telstra outsourced the service administration, nicknamed "George" to Informatel.

In 1990, Telstra replaced Gow's voice on ABC radio station Richard Peach.

Peach's voice can still be heard for a long time after her death in 2008, though her relatives do not receive royalties.