Switchboard operators could be out of a job and their headsets thrown away if an automatic call transferring system from Telephonetics catches on. Its virtual operator answers a call, asks who the ...

The Mirror’s oldest employee called it a career last week. Shirley Beck, the newspaper’s switchboard operator who began in 1952, was feted with a retirement cake and good wishes on her last day. “I ...

With a 1-year-old daughter and a recently laid-off husband, Minnie Carver needed a job, so in May 1968, she started as a switchboard operator at Blount Memorial Hospital. She will retire at the end of ...

Before smartphones, most people kept in touch using landline telephones. And before direct dialing was common, some calls were handled by switchboard operators. During the 1950s, more than 220,000 ...