Before smartphones, landline telephones were the way most people kept in touch. And until direct dialing became common, a switchboard operator's assistance was often needed to help with long-distance ...

HINES, Minn. — The earliest telephone systems connected people, eased some of the loneliness and isolation of homesteaders who lived far from other family members, provided alarms in times of ...

It’s an iconic image from the middle of the 20th century: a telephone operator sitting at a crazily lit-up switchboard, wearing headphones and directing phone calls wherever they need to go.

The rise of generative AI — and ChatGPT in particular — has raised a lot of alarm bells in some industries worried that the technology could make many humans’ jobs obsolete. And those concerns are ...

While attending Los Angeles City College in the 1960s, Lilith needed to find a part-time job. So, she applied for a position at Pacific Telephone Telegraph to work as an information operator. In the ...

ALBANY — Less than two miles behind the front lines during World War I, some American women telephone operators sat at switchboards that shook severely from the sounds of the big guns they could hear ...

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — As technology continued advancing, it ended an era for two telephone operators at Whirlpool Corporation. Friday, both operators retired from the global company, headquartered in ...