REGISTER

D Keddie

Australian National

In June 1984, Australian National began commissioning a Computer Based Message Switching (CBMS) System This system was intended to eliminate telegraph offices located at the Adelaide Railway Station, Port Augusta and Peterborough, and provide increased facilities to all teleprinter operators connected to the system.

Other mainland railway systems in Australia have message switching systems either operating, being commissioned or in the tender stages.  When interconnected, a Teleprinter Operator situated anywhare in Australia will be able send a message to any other to Operator in any other Railway system "direct", ie at no stage will the message be converted either to an operator readable form or converted to paper tape for retransmission.

The system selected by Australian National as satisfying its requirements for Message Switching is manufactured in England by Computer & Systems Engineering (CASE) who are represented in Australia by Case Communications in Sydney.

This paper is not intended to be a technical treatise on Computer Based Message Switching Systems but rather will serve to introduce the reader to the facilities that can be supported on a Computer Based Message Switch beyond the obvious function of telegraph message switching and present some findings based on Australian National's experience with the Case System.