Digital electronic switching greatly improved long distance telephone communications, and opened the doors to new services.
Digital electronic switching was first used in a Chicago network in 1976. Before the digital electronic switch, an analog one was used. The speed on long distance call completion improved dramatically, from ten to twenty seconds to only one or two seconds. The switch took over five years to build and $400 million to build, but has ten times the capacity of the older switches.
With the digital electronic systems, it is now possible to have additional services, such as caller identification, call forwarding, and call waiting. These services, along with the additional speed of digital switching, greatly increase our communication. With digital switching, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), which is designed to carry video, radio, telephone conversations, and provide the internet, is made possible. The effect of digital electronic switches has been large, as we communicate much faster and with services that are taken for granted today. The potential of ISDN has not been reached, as the necessary lines for it are costly, but because of digital switching, ISDN is the future.

*Pictures from Microsoft Electronic Encarta Encyclopedia Edition 2002

Sources:
AT&T. First Digital Electronic Switching. 17 October 2003. <http://www.att.com/attlabs/reputation/timeline/76digital.html>

eLibrary. Telephone. 17 October 2003. <http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/t1/telephon.asp>

Fine, Tom. ISDN Overview. 17 October 2003. <http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~fine/ISDN/overview.html#isdn>

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