This required technical standards that were understood and accepted by all cooperating participants in the industry. The Western Electric Company, the AT&T's sole and dedicated manufacturing unit, which was previously not permitted by company policy to sell outside the Bell System, was now directed to advertise and sell its products to the general market, so that independent operators could buy compatible apparatus. Vail organized a distinct research division within Western Electric, the later Bell Laboratories, to focus on basic research and development to solve the problems encountered in improving the technology of telephony. These efforts and this vision were communicated to the public by marketing campaigns under the slogan .
