A White Identify Staff Phone

(Updated: Jan 17, 2017)

Earlier, nosotros discussed some of the phones which are used past times the USA president inward his Oval Office. Now nosotros convey a painting of a telephone educate which was used past times White House staff members, presumably inward the years roughly 1990, during the presidency of George H.W. Bush:

H5N1 White House staff telephone from roughly 1990.
(Click for a bigger version)

This is a quite mutual corded telephone from the 900-series of AT&T. It has criterion buttons for program, pause, flash, mute, hold, redial, book in addition to speaker, in addition to likewise xvi programmable buttons for ii entries each. Red lights dot when the mute, concord in addition to speaker functions are enabled.

Most distinctive is the big, customized sticker amongst the safety alert "OFFICIAL USE ONLY - WHITE HOUSE NON-SECURE TELEPHONE - DO NOT USE FOR CLASSIFIED OR SENSITIVE INFORMATION"

Allthough there's e'er a modest jeopardy such a sticker could survive fake, inward this illustration it's most probable real. Apart from the fact that inward existent life such warnings are oftentimes dissimilar from what most people intend based upon pop movies, nosotros tin plow over the sack likewise compare this telephone amongst an before White House staff phone, which is shown below. On that telephone nosotros run into nearly precisely the same warnings (in dark in addition to carmine capitals) every bit on the commencement phone, solely slightly dissimilar arranged:

H5N1 White House staff telephone from the eighties.
(Click for a bigger version)

The telephone inward this painting is likely the same one every bit beingness displayed inward the Icelandic Telecommunication Museum, in addition to which seems to survive left at that spot past times the presidential staff afterward the Reagan-Gorbatchev Reykjavík Summit inward 1986.

For a overnice overview of all before phones used inward the White House, cheque the website of Adam Forrest. As nosotros tin plow over the sack run into there, the president had some other telephone inward the Oval Office: a Western Electric 18-button Call Director, a type of telephone which dates dorsum to the 1960's.

The white AT&T telephone inward our commencement painting was likely used until 1996, when the White House got a completely novel telephone system. This consisted of an automated private branch exchange (PBX) amongst dark executive telephone sets (models 8410 in addition to 8520) from Lucent.

Only past times then, the quondam Western Electric at the president's desk was replaced past times a high-end Lucent 8520 telephone. Except for a recess of a few years, this telephone is yet at that spot today. White House staff members present likewise yet utilisation the Lucent/Avaya 8410 in addition to 8250 phones.

Update:
From 2015-2016, the internal White House telephone organization was modernized in addition to both the president in addition to staff members were equipped amongst the latest Cisco IP phones, see: The presidential communications equipment nether Barack Obama.

See also:
- Muckrock: FBI file indicates the Bureau had improve data sharing amongst telephone companies than amongst the White House
- Daily Mail: Texan spends $200,000 turning his drive-way into an exact replica of the Oval Office oomplete amongst presidential cutlery in addition to phone