A communications network for the Summer Olympics: Behind-the-scenes communicating at the Games in Los Angeles seemed a complicated and thankless task, yet AT&T took it on

Describes the Electronic Messaging System (EMS) set up by AT&T at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. It comprises a network of 1700 terminals, 300 printers, and 7000 paging devices, all connected to 14 minicomputers by a communications system that includes almost 300 miles of light-guide cable. The EMS represents the first use, outside the former Bell System, of the 3BNet, a communications system that links minicomputers to one another and ensures that users do not need to initiate or monitor the transfer of data between the units. The EMS also uses two new types of terminals: one for the users of the system and the other for monitoring the accessing and processing of data throughout the system.