Operator, Information

Give me Jesus on the line...

I want to speak to a friend of mine.

[New Mexico local switchboard c. 1940 THNM | Song "Operator" 1952 Wynona Carr currently kept in popular culture by The Dove Brothers]

Arizona Landscape

Hello Operator? 1984 is calling...

I lost my pager.

Analog Social Web

How Rosie the Riveter became the First Social Web Guru...

Dallas Bryan Street Toll Office

In the period after World War II telephones and dial service became a priority for the nation as the telephone system became the primary way to connect people for social networking. The building of new, more efficient switches and Operator Service centers became a priority for the Bell System and Independent Telcos to accommodate the rapidly escalating demand for service. A primary way of rebuilding the social, economic and political fabric of the country was by way of connecting people through communications as rapidly and effectively as possible. The United States was emerging from a long era of economic downturn and war.

"Hello Operator? I'd like to make a call."

The role of telephone operators interlacing the analog social web known as the telephone system cannot be underestimated. Without them, many connections could not be made and the call for those connections was skyrocketing. In order to handle the traffic volume, it became necessary to develop standardized methods and procedures for call handling consistency and calculated scheduling techniques, to meet the demands of service. It was a matter of efficiently accomplishing tasks in an analog, mechanical world operated by humans for customer satisfaction at a reasonable cost.

Albuquerque NM Toll and Assistance Cord Switchboard ca 1970

The original customer service contact centers that we know today originated in telephone company operator service centers with methods continuously developed after WWII and institutionalized in the 1950s when Operator Toll Dialing was rolled out nationwide. Operator Toll Dialing was the original implementation of the 10-digit telephone area code and number system we use today. The telephone company Operator Toll Centers set the precedence for call routing to centralized locations and the attendant discipline within operations, required to treat common call situations consistently and staff at peak and trough times, and now the core of call centers today. Regimented operating practices were instituted for the most common types of calls handled and scrupulously monitored, to speed up call handling. This led to the widespread institution of what is now known as "Average Call Handling Time", Available Time" and "Actual Work Time," to shave milliseconds off each call to improve the overall financial performance of what are cost centers.

Diagram of original AT&T Traffic Operator Position System (TSPS) keyshelf

With the onset of computerization and operator systems such as Traffic Service Position System (TSPS) and Traffic Operator Position System (TOPS) more data could be gathered to automate processes. The principles of centralization and standardization were replicated outside the phone companies, creating the call center industry. With each switchboard advance, computerized mechanization and automation of routine tasks, the groundwork was laid for contemporary call center operations.

Northern Electric Original Toll Operator Position System (TOPS)

Bell System TV ad introducing "Computer Assisted Phone Operator" (TSPS) to United States

If you enjoyed this article you may also be interested in my post from two days ago "On Social Web Platforms: Bringing It All Back Home..." http://bit.ly/cok7Ur OR from March 2009 "POTUS LBJ and Obama: Early Adopters of Communications Tools" http://bit.ly/co2TRi

411: What City Please?

Men Broke Barriers Too...

In early 1973 I was one of the first male telephone company switchboard operators hired by the Bell System (and Independent Companies) in the US in over 75 years. I was crossed-trained as a Directory Assistance operator (we worked with large paper directories) and as a Toll and Assistance operator on a manual cord switchboard built in 1948. I later worked as an overseas operator on old circuits in an International Operator Center. Some of my anecdotal operator stories, as well as operator history articles are on the website Privateline.

Telephone history still interests me and look forward on this blog for photographs of original switchboards we used "back in the day."


This is a short video I did a few years ago telling a comedic story about one of my experiences in those days.


411: For What City Please? from JR Snyder Jr on Vimeo.

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POTUS LBJ and Obama: Early Adopters of Communications Tools

...Presidential Electronic Trendsetters in footsteps of Lincoln.

"President Johnson believed in using the telephone, and his staff saw to it that he was never more than two minutes from one no matter where he was."

From The Heritage of Time: The People and Times of GTE Southwest 1876-1988, by Larry Johnson. (1990)

LBJ on phone in Oval Office.
Notice the large PBX console,
speakerphone box and
thick cable connecting the console.


President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) was an early adopter of complex telecommunications to stay in constant communication wherever he went. Through this method he was able to keep tabs on a volatile social political environment he wanted to control. He advanced the use of telecommunications in the Office of the President and the White House, paving the way for a 21st century President Obama to use a Blackberry device.

When he was elected Vice President in 1960 LBJ's "telephone mania" was kicked into high gear and he required even more telephone equipment at the LBJ Ranch . The ranch was served by the Independent Telco Southwestern States Telephone and the high level communication needs in ranch country required a complex arrangement between them and the nearby local Bell System company, Southwestern Bell in Austin.

The assassination of President Kennedy meant an immediate increased demand for instant communications at the ranch by the "always on" new President. On Privateline.com in Telephones at the LBJ Ranch the story of how sudden communications needs were met at the LBJ Ranch, during that national emergency, is recounted from the out of print Good Connections: A Century of Service by the Men and Women of Southwestern Bell by David Park Jr. It is a study in how the regulated wireline telecommunications infrastructure stepped up to meet the needs of a President demanding instant communications in a manner that gives every indication he would make use of wireless devices and the internet today. Also in that section is Don Kimberlin's brush with LBJ's telephone mania and experience with POTUS setup for President Richard M. Nixon.


Going Mobile
LBJ's console
underdesk pullout
Air Force One


President Johnson pushed the envelop of available telecommunications for instant messaging through electronic communications in the 1960s and that included personal involvement in the conducting of a war. A century earlier, President Abraham Lincoln pressed boundaries of available electronic technology by extensive use of the telegraph for instant messaging.

President Abraham Lincoln is a hero of President Barack Obama and Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War by Tom Wheeler (2006) is a friendly read on how President Lincoln combined his skill as a writer with use of the telegraph for effective immediate electronic communication to win the Civil War. Tom Wheeler plays a role and is influential in President Obama's telecommunications policy. It is helpful in understanding how electronic communications that advance in one President's administration permanently changes social communication in the Office of the President .

Blackberry President

President Obama's Air Force One Phone

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"Oh Doctor please, some more of these, outside the door..."


JFK 1963 Phone Call requesting "a little extra medication" sent up



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White House Operators 1970

Helen of Many Glacier Hotel 1925

This 1925 photo is fascinating to me. Helen, the switchboard operator, is dignified photographed at this crudely built switchboard for the Many Glacier Hotel in Montana.

"Your Life's Work: Telephone and Telegraph" 1940's film

Telephone and Telegraph Traditional Jobs and Gender Roles

This 1946 occupational film by Vocational Guidance Films, Inc. has excellent clips of women working on cord switchboards. It also clearly demonstrates the expected gender roles in the work force and occupations of that era. The social progress to keep in mind is that women were considered an integral part of the economy and employment, although in restricted roles, after WWII as opposed to attitudes prior to the war.

Another viewpoint to note is the underlying assumption in the film that people are necessary to build the economy (after WWII) and the acceptance of fair exchange of labor in return for secure and stable employment.

This film was made in an era when rebuilding the economy was a priority and that building telecommunications infrastructure was considered an integral and necessary part of that. In this era, when we suddenly find ourselves in desperate need of rebuilding our economy, the current discussion is once again on infrastructure.

Rebuilding roads and bridges are necessary and would be helpful but are part of an oil and petroleum based old economy. Building out the gaps in the digital network, creating and securing seamless inter-connected networks across the continent, seems a more forward way to accomplish turning the economy around by fully bringing it into the digital age. The US has in the past pulled itself out of economic crisis by advancing science and technology, supplemented by services created by the advances.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Listen to the "excellent opportunities available" in the "twin fields of telephone or telegraph communications...for secure life long employment."

Gender roles clearly defined: "girls...with ability and experience may be promoted to a supervisor" (and the tone is the opportunity ended there). The job description for operators, both telephone and telegraph, state "a high school diploma may be required."

although "in the early days operators were men and the service was crude"

still...

"job opportunities for men lie in...trained technicians."
"men are also needed at the switchboards that control the circuits...as well as general executive duties"
"excellent opportunities are provided for young men to acquire business training."

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THIS FILM IS PUBLIC DOMAIN



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What is the NPA on this Switchboard Multiple Panel?

At the time this Toll and Assistance switchboard was in use, the state where it was located had only one area code and only recently split into two...

International Telephone Operators Video ca 1970's

You've got to love the complaint of the customer in this video about the echo on the satellite circuit. "Do I get charged extra for bouncing off this satellite?"

In that era the noise, echo and clipping was expected at times in that stage of technology. Someone hearing that today would think he had a justifiable complaint but in the 60s and 70s the tension between the customer and the operator was the customer's expectation of good quality voice (too many televised space missions) and every day reality . The frustration of the operators of that time was explaining to customer's that "this is it, this is the connection you have and this is the rate" in a patient and calm way and start timing as quickly as possible.

We had not come as far yet with the technology...

...performing that work was a unique juxtaposition of using old technology that had been adapted over decades, to access and utilize new technology that hadn't been fully developed yet. It required skill to manage an old cord switchboard whose basic design was from 1929, updated with electromechanical switching advances and mark sense computer technology...an analog world...and somehow get satellite to work well enough that a customer could have at least a modicum of "exclusivity of conversation." They "could hear" and "be heard," although more often than not, with effort.



The quality of this video is rough, likely due to conversion from analog to digital and with compression. It gives a pretty good idea of what it was like handling calls in the AT&T International Operating Centers in the late 60's and early 70's. This appears to be in the Manhattan IOC where the cordboards were much older and built out from the original "Overseas Operator" centers. Manhattan and Oakland at one time had the higher call volumes due to having access to the majority of unique dedicated circuits.

The other IOCs were located in Montreal, White Plains, Pittsburgh, Springfield, Denver and Jacksonville. Springfield, Denver and Jacksonvlle were new centers built to handle the volume by placing operators where there were new Number 4 ESS Toll switches being placed. The majority of the call volume was handling calls that could be key pulsed by the operator using the International Dialing Codes on a North American tandem trunk. There were additional reasons for locatons, for example MARISAT began communcations service in 1976 and Jacksonville was atmospherically deal to handle High Seas on the Atlantic Ocean.

In the Jacksonville IOC the cordboards were actually fairly new, reconditioned standard Western Electric cord switchboards pulled out of a Toll Center that was closed somewhere. They were installed in the early 70s in four units of the IOC and the beautiful wood paneling was painted over with colors of that era (different color for each unit) with murals on the walls. It would look very dated now although the idea was to make the building as modern and forward looking as possible in the most cost effective way.

The Springfield, Jacksonville and Denver centers had been built to meet the rapidly growing demand for international calling. Their primary function was to process calls on North American tandem trunks (for example the new 4 ESS Toll Switch in Jacksonville) that would soon be handled by IDDD (International Direct Distance Dialing). The operators were processing volumes of calls by in effect dialing IDDD for the customers on station-to-station calls since the IDDD had not been rolled out on even a small scale in addition to the person, collect, card, coin, hotel and third-party billed calls. The original design was to then convert these centers to International Service Position Systems (ISPS) in these more remote and lower wage cost centers.

No one correctly predicted the demise of the Bell System, Divestiture and later the internet...making these centers functionally moot.

seizing a trunk in USA for posterity

This is an interesting video "seizing a trunk in USA for posterity" using Skype in the great tradition of phone phreaking "back in the day."

The First Male Operator in the Bell System

...well officially anyway.

Rick Wehmhoefer was the first male to be hired as a genuine AT&T operator after a class action suit was settled. In reality there were those of us hired prior to that, mostly high school and college students working as part-time operators, when the job was still openly considered a "woman's job." Our purpose was to help AT&T prove they did hire "non-traditional" operators and it was understood that it was only meant as a entry job for a guy until he was moved up into a "man's job." It was a different era, unless you lived in that time, it's difficult to understand how the accepted attitudes were then.

Judith Beeman's version of the official story that she wrote from interviewing Rick is on www.privateline.com.

http://www.privateline.com/TelephoneHistory5/maleoperator.htm

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This is an interesting video on the history of operators, at first teenage boys but soon replaced by women.

"Use of Women as Telephone Operators: Early History"

1952: Atlanta Telephone Operator History

This fact gleaned from a statement on the Atlanta Telephone History site in the section 1952 - Operator Toll Dialing explains a lot for me. When I was an AT&T International Operator handling Inward calls in the 70s a lot of our calls were for cities in the south. We would in turn dial the Inward operator in Savannah GA and they would get the call through...by dialing every digit on a rotary dial and you could every pulse come back! It seemed like a cumbersome process.

1952 Ivy St operators

"In 1952, Long Distance Service was improved with the introduction of "Operator Toll Dialing". This was made possible by the installation of a new toll switching machine in the 51 Ivy building. Now, to connect long distance calls, the 51 Ivy operator simply plugged in to a trunk going into the new machine and keyed the 3 digit area code and local number."

Then this...

"Operators in Americus, Augusta, Buford, West Point, Columbus, Griffin, LaGrange, McDonough, Milledgeville, Rome, and Savannah were now able to take advantage of Operator Toll Dialing, using the Alanta 4A machine. But most of these operators were not fortunate enough to have Keypulsing like the Atlanta operators and had to dial all calls using a rotary dial."

Which explains why so many of our Inward calls from overseas operators went to southern US cities that basically had updated 1920s to 1940s local switchboards and central offices. Some calls just required a local operator to plug directly into the central office trunks on the switchboard and dial the last 4 or 5 digits of the number.

AT&T/Bell System Operator Routing Codes

Key Pulse
000 - The Rate Quote System (RQS) (1)
001 - 005 Spare (2)
006 - 008 Reserved (3)
009 RQS
010 Reserved
011 International Origination Toll Center (IOTC) (15)
014 TWX Switching Plan (Canada) (?)
015 - 071 Spare
072 - 079 Reserved
080 - 081 Spare
082 - 087 Reserved
088 Spare
089 Reserved
090 - 099 Spare
100 Plant Test - balance termination
101 Plant Test - test board
102 Plant Test - Milliwatt tone (1004 Hz)
103 Plant Test - signaling test termination
104 Plant Test - 2-way transmission and noise test
105 Plant Test - Automatic Transmission Measuring System / Remote Office Test Line (ROTL)
106 Plant Test - CCSA loop transmission test
107 Plant Test - par meter generator
108 Plant Test - CCSA loop echo support maintenance
109 Plant Test - echo canceller test line
110 - 119 Operator Codes
115 Operator Leave Word
116 Inward DA
120 Network Emergency Center (?)
121 Inward Operator (9)
122 AT&T Ready line INWATS (4)
123 - 130 Reserved
131 Directory Assistance
132 - 137 Reserved
138 IDDD for Equal Access (7)
139 - 140 Reserved
141 Rate and Route (10)
142 -147 Reserved
148 points not on an NPA - Hermosillo, Mexico (5)
149 Reserved
150 Cable Control (Satellite Avoidance) - Hawaii (5)
151 International Assistance
152 - 157 Reserved
158 Operator Assistance for Equal Access (7)
160 International Operator Center (IOC) (6)
161 Trunk Trouble Reporting
162 - 167 Reserved
168 points not on an NPA - Grenada
169 - 170 Reserved
171 points not on an NPA - Monterey, Mexico
172 points not on an NPA - Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands (Canada only)
173 Reserved
174 Cable Control (Satellite Avoidance) Caribbean
175 Reserved
176 points not on an NPA - Mexicali, Mexico
177 - 178 Reserved
179 points not on an NPA - Grenada
180 points not on an NPA - Mexico Numbers
181 Toll Station
182 International Switching Center (ISC) White Plains, 5 (14)
183 ISC New York, BW24
184 ISC Pittsburgh
185 ISC Atlanta OLT
186 ISC Sacramento
187 ISC Denver/Sherman Oaks (?) (15)
188 ISC New York, 5450
189 points not on an NPA - Mexico City, Mexico
190 points not on an NPA - Mexico Numbers
191 Conference loop around
191 AT&T Advanced 800 intercept recording frames (4)
192 Reserved
193 Cable Control (Satellite Avoidance) - Grenada
194 points not on an NPA - Tijuana, Mexico
195 AT&T Advanced 800 (4)
196 AT&T International 800 (4)
197 Reserved
198 AT&T International City Service Center (ICSC)
199 Cable Control (Satellite Avoidance) - Alaska
199 AT&T USA Direct (4)

4 or 5 digit codes (8)

1150,11501 Universal or Coin Callback
1151,11511 Conference Operator (11)
1152,11521 Mobile Service / Air-Ground
1153,11531 Marine Service (12)
1154,11541 Toll Terminal
1155,11551 Time and Charges callback
1156,11561 Hotel / Motel callback
1157,11571 IOTC access trunk
1158,11581 Inward- completion assistance (BOC)
1159,11591 Inward- busy line verification (BOC)
1160,11601 Calling Card Validation - dial pulse equipment (13)
1161,11611 Calling Card Validation - DTMF equipment
1162,11621 Calling Card Validation - MF equipment


Notes:
(1) The Rate Quote System is a voice response system used by operators to obtain routing information. The system, now being phased out, was used as an alternative to calling the Rate and Route operator. Operators would key-in required routing information and a synthesized voice would respond. Though the RQS is still operational, operators now obtain routing information from COMPIS (See note 10).

KP+DD+ONPA+NXX+TNPA+NXX+ST to get the "rate step" for:

DD = 00 Now
DD = 01 Day Call (08:00-17:00)
DD = 02 Evening Call (17:00-23:00)
DD = 03 Night Call (23:00-08:00)

KP+04+? Something with Mexico, unclear.
KP+05+NPA+NXX+ST Gives the routing for a BOC inward (See note 9)
KP+06+NPA+NXX+ST gives the routing for an AT&T inward operator (See note 9)
KP+07+XXXXXXX+ST Reads back the numbers you just typed
KP+08+? Something with Enterprise and Zenith numbers, unclear.
KP+09+NPA+NXX+ST Gives you the current time for the area and exchange just dialed.

(2) When a code is marked spare, that means that there is no current or planned network wide usage. It still may be utilized as a non-standard POTS exchange for WATS service by local companies.

(3) When a code is marked reserved, it means that there may be planned network wide usage.

(4) This code is used by an AT&T custom service. It may be thought of as acting like a special area code and takes the following dialing format: KP+XXX+YYY+YYYY+ST where XXX is the code in question and Y can be any number 0-9.

(5) All "points not on an NPA" and "Cable Control" function as pseudo area codes and are followed by a telephone number.

(6) Calls to the IOC are dialed as follows: KP+160+CCC+ST CCC=Country Code (i.e. 044 or 144 for the UK).

(7) These are special codes used with Equal Access. They are as follows:

KP+138+PIC+ST then KP+CC+cc+xxxxx+ST
KP+158+PIC+ST

Where PIC is the primary carrier code, CC is the country code and cc is city code. xxxxx is subscriber number. We are not sure exactly when and where these are used.

(8) All four and five digit codes are dialed as follows:
KP+NPA+XXXX+ST or KP+NPA+XXXXX+ST.
Keep in mind that not every code is in use in every NPA.

(9) The format for an AT&T inward is usually KP+NPA+121+ST -- In some small cities there is an extra code used called a Terminating Toll Centre (TTC) or sometimes just a city code. If a TTC is used, the format is KP+NPA+TTC+121+ST. To get an inward with most BOCs you dial KP+NPA+11591+ST but there are some which use a format of KP+NPA+TTC+121+ST. To get the inward routing for a particular exchange, use the Rate Quote System (RQS).

(10) The number for Rate and Route was 800+141+1212 but this was discontinued sometime last year (1987) when the TSPS operators got a computer terminal called COMPIS. In each there is an inward which acts like a Rate and Route operator. In New York it is 716+121.

(11) With the advent of Alliance Teleconferencing, use of the conference operator dwindled. There are currently four operator handling conferences. They are as follows: Atlanta 404+11511, Minneapolis 507+11511, New York 212+11511 and Oakland 415+11511. 800-225-0233 translates to the conference operator closest to you.

(12) The Marine Operator is used in calling ships that are close to the United States. There is an operator called the "High Seas" operator who can be reached by dialing 800-SEA-CALL (800-732-2255). The High Seas operator is a service of AT&T, while Marisat is an independent company. A High Seas call can go to any ocean for $14.98 for the first 3 minutes and $4.98 for each additional minute. A Marisat only to three oceans and costs $10 a minute.

(13) 116X and 116XX are used to verify an AT&T Calling Card number. You dial KP+NPA+116XX+ST when you hear a "bong" you dial the calling card number. If you use 11611 you enter the number in Touch Tone and if you use 11621 you enter the card number in MF using KP and ST.

(14) These ISC codes are used to provide alternate routing for electro-mechanical switches. Some older electro-mechanical switches, for example #5 Crossbar (5XB) cannot outpulse 011+CCC (CCC=Country Code) for international dialing. AT&T has set up these special codes to handle international calls. A 5XB can dial KP+18X+ST. They would then receive a wink (short blast of 2600 Hz) and would proceed to dial the country code and number. If you want to make an international call you dial KP+(NPA)+18X+ST where the NPA is optional. After the wink dial the country code, city code and number. The "," after the city name is the switch number if there is more then one 4-ESS in that city.
(15) The 187 code was assigned to Atlanta until up to the end of February 1988. AT&T is in the process in routing the calls to the Sherman Oaks Office in California.

(16) To make international calls dial KP+011+CCC+ST where CCC is the country code; and then dial KP+CC+XXXXXXX+ST where CC is the city code and XXXXXXXX is the telephone number.

Traffic Service Position System (TSPS) Description and History

From Privateline.com article on TSPS History.
Edited and Researched by Tom Farley
Contributing writer J R Snyder Jr

TSPS was the system that killed the cord switchboard, the ubiquitous icon of telephone lore from the beginning, until the mid-1980s.


This photo of a very early TSP in Cleveland was a different version of the TSPS consoles that were installed in New Jersey for trials. The final product in New Jersey omitted the keys to the left of the multi-leaf file because the function those keys served had been incorporated into the primary functions to the right of the multi-leaf.

Northern Electric was also installing consoles in very small Toll Centers like Greenwood, SC, Greenville, OH and Hinesville, GA, although they were much less automatic and still required a lot of operator "ticketing and timing." The difference between TSP and TSD was that TSD attempted to take on all of the cordboard functions with a less developed processor that meant essentially strapping the TSD machine trunks across the local toll center crossbar. TSD met the needs of the Independent phone companies that had small Toll Centers in "territory islands" where they were surrounded by Bell or other Independent's Toll Centers. It probably wasn't intended to consolidate or centralize operator and billing processes, that was being developed as Traffic Operator Position Systems (TOPS) by Northern Electric. One of the largest applications of Northern Electric's most advanced TSD system was in Las Vegas in the 1970s.

The first AT&T system was TSP with more advanced processing but still primarily tied to one switch. As the system was developed it evolved to TSPS. As an aside, the Traffic Service Position was originally a station at a console, TSPS became the system that networked distant callers and consoles to provide operator services. Thus, a TSP console became a TSPS console once part of the Traffic Service Position System.

From an operators' perspective TSPS radically changed operator call handling and created a new operator services culture. The mechanics of call processing had similarities but there were big differences from the cord switchboard in the challenge of the job. The TSPS centers seemed more sterile and the sounds of cords slipping back into their sleeves rapido, the multiple lights blinking...the end of an era.

The Traffic Service Position System permitted operators to handle calls from distant locations much farther than had been technically possible. Generally until that time, the farthest Toll Center operators could be located from it's most distance Central Office and customers, was about 50 miles for technical reasons. TSPS took that concept apart by not only consolidating and centralizing a lot of remote small Toll Centers into large TSPS centers, those centers were located very far away in seemingly random far-flung locatons. If you lived in Santa Fe, NM your call could would likely no longer be answered in Santa Fe but in Eugene, OR, hundreds of miles away. In turn a customer in Eugene, OR could reach an operator in Pueblo, CO which actually is geographically closer to Santa Fe than Eugene.

Gone was the local operator with local knowledge and geography became that much smaller due to one more advance of the telephone system.

TSPS CONSOLE PANEL LAYOUT

TSPS console. Click to enlarge (734K)

Did you know?

The Bell System was world famous for its industrial design research.

Click on this link to see what they studied for operator consoles (167K). This diagram shows a stylized woman at the seat of their new cordless switchboard. Before 1972 no switchboard was designed with men in mind, there being no male operators. As J R Snyder Jr relates, "I'm a small guy, 5'7'' and about 140 pounds and I didn't have many problems at the cordboards. But any guy 5' 10' to 5'11' or over was pretty uncomfortable. The boards were sized for women, in fact not being over a certain height and size was a job requirement at one time."

From United States Patent 5,046,183, Dorst , et al. September 3, 1991:

Semi-automated operator assistance telecommunication calls In the present mode for operating the public telephone network, toll and assistance operators are still required for a large class of these calls. For example, toll and assistance operators are required for processing calls such as station-to-station (station) collect calls; person-to-person (person) calls including sent paid, collect, and calling card calls; and bill-to-third party calls. . .

In the past, the cost for setting up 0+ and 0- calls has been sharply reduced through the introduction of systems such as the Traffic Services Position System (TSPS) No. 1, and the Operator Services Position System (OSPS), both manufactured by AT&T Network Systems, which require that operators only be connected to a call during the call setup time and that operators may be recalled when needed for such operations as collecting an overtime charge on a coin call, notifying a customer of the elapsed time and charges for a call, or in response to an originating customer flash because of, for example, poor transmission or a poor connection. All of these conditions are detected by timing or in response to calling customer signals. . . .

From the following patent, selected history, operation, and references, for the Traffic Service Position System. More information at http://www.uspto.gov

Method and apparatus for automating special service call handling

United States Patent 4,054,756
Comella , et al. October 18, 1977

1.0 GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The TSPS is comprehensively described in R. J. Jaeger, Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,560, issued Dec. 16, 1966, and also in the Dec. 1970 issue of the Bell System Technical Journal. . .

FIG. 1 illustrates in block diagram form the manner in which a Special Service Announcement System (SSAS) is added to an existing TSPS office to automate special service calls in accordance with the principles of our invention.

1.1 Prior Art TSPS System

With the advent of TSPS, many of the functions previously performed by an operator at a cordboard were automated. More specifically, a customer at a coin station CS would make an initial deposit and then dial a 1 followed by 7 or 10 digits. The local office LO routes the call to a TSPS trunk TRK1 and down conductors T1 to the TSPS network NET. Stored program controller SPC, which is a duplicated processing unit for performing arithmetical and logical functions on data in accordance with its stored program [Computer memory, ed.], controls network controller NTC to establish connection P1. The local office transmits the calling and called digits to digit receiver DR via conductors T1 in the normal manner.

The TSPS rates the call and displays the charge and initial period information to an operator at a position such as position POS. A new network connection (not shown) is then established between conductors T1 and position POS by TSPS network NET. While the operator at position POS informs the calling party of the requisite coin deposit, outpulser OTP is controlled by the SPC to outpulse the digits in the called number via path P4 and conductors T2 to toll office TO. When the calling subscriber deposits coins at station CS, distinctive tones are generated thereat indicating the type of coin deposit, i.e., nickel, dime, quarter. While the customer is depositing the coins, the toll office TO establishes the call to the called station in the normal manner. When the called party answers and the operator has determined that the requisite amount has been deposited, the call, under the control of the operator, is cut through by trunk TRK1 directly from the local office LO to the toll office TO.

The TSPS system is also adapted to handle special service calls (such as person-to person, collect, credit card, charge-to-third number, and time and charges) originated from either coin stations such as CS or regular stations such as CSB. Generally, these calls are processed by an operator at position POS, who requests information from the calling station and then utilizes the received information to request whether or not the called station or third party station accepts the call. For further details of how TSPS processes typical calls see page 2435 et seq. in the December 1970 Bell System Technical Journal.