Speaking clock

A speaking clock service is used for people who wish to know the correct and accurate time. Speaking clock services are most commonly accessed by telephone.

The format of the service is somewhat similar to those in radio time signal services. Every ten seconds or so, a voice announces "At the third stroke, it will be twelve, forty six and ten seconds...", for example, with three beeps following. At the third beep, the time at that point is the time announced previously.

Speaking clock services are not, in fact, always useful for amateur scientific purposes, since the time feed for the speaking clock is not always ensured to be exactly accurate, plus time delays through the telephone. However the British Telecom service is assured to be accurate to five thousandths of a second.

A speaking clock service first started in Britain, from July 24, 1936. There have been at least five different voices heard on the British Speaking Clock with Brian Cobby being the current voice. Comedian Lenny Henry provided the voice for two weeks as part of Comic Relief fund-raising in March 2003. A 12-year-old girl from Scotland, Alicia Roland, became the voice of the Speaking Clock for a week in October 2003 after winning a competition, and she was the first time a child's voice had been used in the history of this telephone service.