pay phone story

Name	Tongya CIC-168
Date	C. 2005
Manufacturer	manufactured by Tongya Telephone Co., Ltd. for the Directorate General of Telecommunications (DGT)

Development of the Taiwan Tongya CIC-168

The Tongya CIC-168 represents the final stage in the evolution of Taiwan’s public payphone network, combining the durability of a traditional coin-operated telephone with the flexibility of modern electronic payment technologies. Developed by Tongya Telephone Co., Ltd., the company that manufactured Taiwan’s first public payphones in 1970, the CIC-168 was designed for installation in transport interchanges, shopping centres, universities, hospitals and other busy public locations where reliable communications remained essential.

Unlike earlier Taiwanese payphones that accepted only coins or dedicated IC telephone cards, the CIC-168 supports a wide variety of payment methods. It can recognise up to eight different coin denominations and accepts IC telephone cards, major credit cards, EasyCard and iPASS contactless smart cards, allowing it to remain relevant in an increasingly cashless society. A large 128 × 64 backlit LCD screen provides multilingual instructions and displays call status, while dedicated buttons offer volume adjustment, language selection, redial and follow-on calling. The telephone also incorporates an anti-theft coin vault, automatic fault reporting, self-diagnostic software and remote management via either Internet or conventional PSTN connections, enabling operators to monitor and update the units without visiting each site.

Available in stainless steel, red and yellow finishes, the CIC-168 became one of Taiwan’s most recognisable modern public telephones. It demonstrates how the public payphone evolved into a sophisticated communications and payment terminal, successfully adapting to changing technology while retaining the rugged reliability expected of unattended public equipment.

Link- https://www.tongya.com.tw/en/Products_detail/1230/Payphone%E3%80%81public-phone%E3%80%81coin-phone