zeppster

Sounds like you're talking about IBM 3174 controllers. These allow dumb terminals to connect via coax or twisted pair to the mainframe. If you're not familliar with mainframes the connection you get is sorta like a telnet session. Accounting systems on the mainframe are a bit different than what an accountant would do. The amount of cpu cycles you use would get billed or accrued into a group. eg department. Which would allow the corporate office to determine what department uses how much resource and can be budgeted properly.