The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed how people communicate at work: Nearly half of people videoconference more, 43% email more, 42% call more, and 41% text more than before the pandemic, ...

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 ...

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 ...

On a recent Sunday, Rosa Blanchard was talking to her family at home when the telephone rang. "I picked it up and the first words I said were, 'Riverview Gardens School District. May I help you?'" ...

Led by 25-year-old Grace Banker, 32 telephone operators — affectionately called “Hello Girls” back in the United States — became the first female combatants in World War I. It’s all in author Claudia ...

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 ...