In Greenville, South Carolina I started as a Directory Assistance operator with large paper directories. We sat at positions like those pictured in the AT&T ad with Rick Wehmhoefer (article, internal link). In South Carolina we answered a little differently than most of the country: "What TOWN please? I'm not sure why we didn't say "for what CITY please?" as most places did. I later worked these same DA positions in Tempe, Arizona and I describe how we used them later in this history.

Early directory assistance operators. Click to enlarge.

Operator Intercept

We also did manual operator intercept. This was before the Automatic Intercept of today where you hear the still stilted, pieced together voice informing you a number has changed. What happened then is a call would drop in with the ubiquitous "zip tone" and you answered "May I have the number you're calling please?"

The caller then gave you the number and you flipped to the Intercept section at the back of the directory and looked up the number numerically. You then clipped out, Lily Tomlin like, "the number you have called (the number called was always repeated at this point) has been changed to 234-5678, you may want to make a note of it" or "the number you have called has been disconnected and calls are being temporarily taken by 789-1234 and you may want to make a note of it."

The more blunt calls were "The number you have called has been disconnected and the new number is not listed in our directory." PERIOD! Or how about "The number you have called is disconnected and there is no new number."

In our Directory Assistance books new numbers that were not in the published directory were underlined and those published were not. When quoting a number on a Directory Assistance call, if it was underlined you quoted the number as: "That is a new number not listed and you may wish to make a note of it. The number is 277-7400. If it was NOT underlined you smartly made sure the caller knew they could have looked that it up themselves. "I FIND THAT LISTED IN THE DIRECTORY . . . the number is 235-3419." It was made clear to us that the goal was to discourage people from calling DA for numbers already listed.

The bane of our existence were unprepared callers. As we started to quote the number they said "wait a minute, let me go get a pencil." We were timed to the second and it ran our call time up, but after so many seconds and if they hadn't returned, we "challenged" on the line "are you ready for the number?" and if we got no reply on two challenges: CLICK! Why people didn't have a pencil and paper already is a testament to customers then and today.

I quickly got bored with DA because it was repetitive and begged to go to the Toll and Assistance floor to work on the cordboard. For whatever reason my wish was finally granted.

Toll and Local Assistance Cord Switchboard

I worked on a "high board" Western Electric corded switchboard built in 1948. The one pictured is a "low board." A high board had stools and allowed you to stand at the position if you wanted, low boards were desk height and you were limited to sitting down the entire time. It was made of mahogany and on the Toll and Assistance floor. It ran the length of the building and there were two of them, one on each side. Unit A and Unit B.

We had 6 possible connections for 6 simultaneous calls and the back cord was used on the lower circuits for the incoming calls from various exchanges marked "Greenville Main", "Greenville South", "Travelers Rest", "Six Mile", "Easley", "Greer" etc. The strict rule was when not on a call you always "held a (back) cord" to be ready to stab into the local exchange circuit that lit up and said "Operator" or "Long Distance." We recorded with mark sense pencils on IBM cards the call information while we were pulling forward the front cord for the outgoing call.

The majority of calls of course were long distance, especially since most places had "1+" Direct Distance Dialing (DDD). The upper circuits on the board were the tandem circuits and most of us used them for local calls on the Assistance calls also instead of going higher on the board to each exchanges outgoing circuit.

One of the first rules you learned in training was "you must always do a 'tip test' on the tandem circuit before inserting the cord tip all the way." We were to listen for slight static to see if there was -48 volts active, which meant the circuit was active and in use. You couldn't always depend on the lamps and you didn't want to start key pulsing away and interrupting a call in progress by keying tones.

It was my first "real" job and to this day I say it was the most fun. I can still remember the steps to follow in placing a call and the methods and procedures for all kinds of situations. It was in the days when an NPA+555-1212 call came into the cordboard and we asked "for what city" and had to have in our head all the localities in the entire state and rapidly connect them through the tandem to the local toll center Directory Assistance operator. We also handled Inward calls, which were calls from other operators in North America who had tried to dial a number in our Toll Center and for some reason couldn't get through.

Inward operators answered with the name of the city they were located in, we answered "Greenville." The distant operator then told us the number they were trying to reach and we stayed on the line and gave a report: "DA (Doesn't Answer) operator" or "BY (Busy) operator" or "No Ring, No Answer operator, I'll report to repair." The distant operator then asked their calling party to call later. There was also a conference call bridge on the cordboard and positions that had Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS) (internal link) added to them where we placed calls for mobile care phones that were prior to cellular service as we know it today.

Mark Sense card and reader. Click to enlarge.

After we answered the call with the back cord, we took the calling information down. We made no bones about what order the customer was to give it to us in and controlled the call. This was because we recorded call details on IBM mark sense ticket by marking in bubbles from left to right on the card with the called number on the left, the calling number on the right and handwriting the calling and called parties name in the middle and marking what type of call it was in the center right. In that order, please. After gathering the information you told the party "one moment please" and with the front cord chose a tandem (long distance) trunk and dialed out and waited for an answer. On our switchboard we used a key pulse keypad to key numbers. Some places, like Savannah, Ga. Had even older switchboards and still had rotary dials on them.

If the called party answered we announced the call: "will you accept collect from Betty Jean Chastain?" The moment they said "yes" in a split second we listened to make sure they could here each other and simultaneously started timing the call by stamping it with a calculagraph (time clock), closed the key, slid the ticket into the cord pairs slot and picked up another back cord and took another call. Supervisors patrolled up and down the switchboard to make sure you answered call after call. It was the end of an era because we knew TSPS (Toll Service Position System) was coming.

Many, many more related pages! Click for a list. Information on J.R. Snyder Jr., operators, directory assistance working and history, placing toll calls and so on. Great reading.

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