During the Cuban Missile Crisis, it took the US nearly 12 hours to receive and decode Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev's initial settlement message. By the time the US drafted a reply, Moscow had already sent new demands. Afterward, it was decided that the crisis could have been resolved more quickly with faster communication. In 1963, a "hot line"—the so-called "red telephone"—was established to provide a direct link between the White House and the Kremlin. When was the hotline first used?
"Red Telephone" Established Between US and USSR (1963) (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Red+telephone)