that horrible BEEP

[Donna Halper]

Do any of you nice folks recall when a phone call used to be put on 
the air, how you'd hear a really annoying beep every few seconds?  I 
am trying to find out when the FCC said you didn't have to do that 
anymore... and why they made radio stations do it in the first 
place... My vague recollection is that it was done because the caller 
was being warned that his/her call was going out over the air-- but 
that seems like a silly reason, given that callers to talk shows 
WANTED their call to be put on the air...