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So earlier today I was looking through old photos I took at an abandoned hotel on the Adriatic coast, and I came across this funny looking terminal. Anyone have any idea what it is? I'm pretty confused by the keyboard. I'm guessing it's some kind of reception console attendant?
These photos were taken in 2009 and this device must be long gone. Unfortunately these are the only photos I took. I can tell it was made by Alcatel, but that's the only thing that's visible, and Alcatel made all sorts of things and I don't even know what this thing does
It's proving to be pretty difficult to Google old tech for stuff that (most likely) wasn't sold in North America 
I'm currently focused on the keyboard, which has some interesting keys like "AN", "A-HOLD", "B1" through "B8" etc.
I'm currently focused on the keyboard, which has some interesting keys like "AN", "A-HOLD", "B1" through "B8" etc.
However, all attendant consoles I can find look kind of like this. This Alcatel contraption on the other hand has this compact keyboard and a whole CRT monitor. Can't find examples of that at all
This seems like such a silly mystery. I'm really stuck trying to look this up, while I'm sure thousands of people who worked in hotels in the 80s and 90s could tell me what it is right away
So thanks to @eboyee and @flylord who responded to @aurorans's RT I now know that this was indeed used by the receptionist for routing calls within the hotel and to the outside, and that we call it "kontrola centrale" ~central control. Time to translate this into French.
While I continue the search for info on this device, which is essentially a command unit for the hotel's PBX, I'm reading up on Alcatel (which was a pretty omni present brand for me growing up), and I just found out they were bought by Nokia in 2016 but Alcatel name is still used
Also, not particularly useful in the search, but it looks like the interface was burned in on the monitor
I am now watching switchboard operator training videos
I think we're basically looking at an equivalent of a control console like the one used in this video. But I'm still so curious. The Alcatel has a cool keyboard! And a whole screen! https://rqcommunications.com/product/nortel-m2250-attendant-console-nt6g00af35/
I found an ancient website featuring some Alcatel attendant consoles. Should I email them?
Also how amazing is this?
This website is amazing, but I'm realizing it's still probably 15 years newer than the equipment I'm trying to track. This might be lost to time unless I can find an Alcatel catalog from the 80s
Ok this is the last I share this website I promise, but hey they were advertising electric assist bikes in the late 90s (?) how amazing is this!?
Could this be our unit's younger cousin? It's an attendant console keyboard with a receiver, that connects to a monitor... https://www.mfcomm.co.uk/alcatel-4049-4059-mmk-keyboard-3ak17043ab/
Well hello Alcatel Unleashed Forums, where have you been for the past 2 hours https://www.alcatelunleashed.com/
OMG I think I'm really close now. This monitor looks like it's exactly the same (look at the base). Just need a better pic now!!
So I feel ready to call it. This was an attendant console for the Alcatel 5200 BCN PBX system. 5200 BCN was initially developed by ITT Corporation as 5200 BCS until their PBX business was taken over by Alcatel.
Look up ITT, they are still around and they are sketchy as fuck -- they invested in Nazi corporations and helped Pinochet's coup in Chile. They were also the first defense contractor convicted for criminal violations of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITT_Inc .
ITT 5200 BCS was an ISDN-compatible, private digital branch exchange with 1024 ports. (pics of the PBX from Alcatel Unleashed forum). ITT's version was released in 1985.
I'm not exactly sure when Alcatel bought it from ITT, but the article "Technology Transfer Programme for the 5200 BCS Digital PABX," in the International Journal of Technology Management came out in 1988 and it may be referring to the transfer of this tech from ITT to Alcatel.
At this point I've learned way too much about 80s PBX systems, but I think it's fair to say that Hotel Haludovo in Yugoslavia installed an Alcatel 5200 BCN system some time in the late 80s, and kept it until they closed in 2002.
The attendant console I took a photo of in 2009 probably controlled a smaller section of the hotel, as suggested by @vtrslv whose father has experience with such consoles. The operator would route calls and transfer externally when needed.
I'm still trying to track down this keyboard. I just love the random layout combined with the phone receiver, and those keycaps look like they're great quality too. Now that I have a working theory I may post this on the Alcatel Unleashed forums and ask for help with the keyboard
And what about Alcatel? I remember their phones being all the rage in the late 90s, early 2000s. They were a French company originally founded in 1898, which made all sorts of electronics and communications devices https://www.portofon.com/muzej_mobitela/stari-alcatel-mobiteli-u-muzeju-mobitela-u-zagrebu
In 2006 they merged with Lucent, which by this point owned Bell Labs (!), so when Alcatel-Lucent got taken over by Nokia in 2016, they also took over the famous research laboratory.
Haludovo Hotel, on the other hand, opened in the 1970s as a joint venture between the Yugoslav state and Bob Guccione, founder of Penthouse magazine. The story is absolutely wild, so make sure you check it out https://balkanist.net/haludovo-palace-peace-and-porn-hotel/
By the 1990s however, the glitzy days were over and the hotel housed refugees, until it was privatized under suspicious circumstances and eventually shut down. Litigation on the property is still ongoing hence the current state of ruin at the site.
I spent my childhood summers nearby and I have wonderful memories of getting my hair cut at the hotel's barbershop. When it closed, I started going over to explore and take pictures -- you can check some out in my thread over here https://twitter.com/mejs/status/1292131847682613248
Haludovo has been decaying for almost two decades now, and it's in much worse shape then when I found this Alcatel console. There's a great documentary series about it and other socialist ruins (unfortunately without english subtitles)
The sources I used to identify the PBX system: Alcatel Unleashed forum post titled "Old School": https://www.alcatelunleashed.com/viewtopic.php?f=128&t=22911
CAS Telecom page about upgrading the ITT 5200 BCS system in Mexico in the 80s. https://www.cast.mx/Alcatel-5200-BCN/Alcatel-5200-BCN-Conmutador-Digital-5200-BCS-Ugrade.html
Description of an article about ITT 5200 BCS in the Microelectronics in Austria journal https://www.tib.eu/de/suchen/id/tema-archive%3ATEMAE86090931089/ITT-5200-BCS-Ein-digitales-integriertes-Sprach/
Managing Information Technology in Multinational Corporations on Google Books https://books.google.hr/books?id=8ik0VyfSQR0C&pg=PA417&lpg=PA417&dq=ITT+5200+BCS&source=bl&ots=uRO0bGQfaB&sig=ACfU3U3e4si7sfHrmBBPqrlQ2xuawfw2XA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjN782b2IzrAhUipHEKHYApAvk4ChDoATAJegQIChAB#v=onepage&q=gessinger&f=false
Happy to report that the good folks at Alcatel Unleashed forum have confirmed my conclusion that this is the attendant console for an ancient Alcatel PBX 
