The operator service used in businesses today echoes the small-town operator service of the 19th Century, but with modern-day innovations.
I heard the Muzak version of Jim Croce’s “Operator” while shopping yesterday. The song immediately brought to mind the record player in the shag-carpeted living room of my six year-old self. I used to listen to the original’s forlorn lyrics and imagine not about the broken love story but about the operator on the line, privy to the daily dramas of people making long-distance phone calls. That was back when a long-distance call was a big deal.
Enabling connections between people separated by great distances seemed to me an incredibly interesting position to be in.
When telephones and switchboards first became common in small towns during the late 1870s, local switchboards would be located in the operators’ homes. Operators, usually female, were responsible for connecting calls 24 hours a day. If you needed to place a call, you’d just tell the operator the name of the person you wanted to reach. She would know, through familiarity with the townspeople, the number to patch the call to.
Switchboards improved in more populated cities, allowing a team of two to work together to handle a larger workload. Eventually a direct-dial service replaced these teams. Switchboards were relegated only for long-distance or collect calls until they, too, were phased out altogether.
Nowadays, automated systems handle most calls, and operator services are now used mainly for business purposes. Incoming calls reach a live person, who then connects calls–similar to historical switchboards. Today, however, switchboards are virtual, letting operators work from anywhere. Software enables them to relay messages and even perform basic office duties.
The concept of the operator, though, is still the same: A live person making connections.
