Comments by "roachtoasties" (@roachtoasties) on "The Life of a Telephone Operator in 1969 (with special introduction) - ATu0026T Archives" video.

@4agony777 In the 1970's and 1980's it was the TSPS console telephone operators used. Supervisors, on and off throughout the day, would sit at a console in the corner of the office, listen in and see what an operator was doing (mainly pressing buttons and completing calls) on the console. Operators were graded on speed and accuracy. If an operator had too many mistakes (they were called either irregulars or errors) bad things can happen to them from a poor evaluation to termination. It was also possible to be immediately terminated if the error/violation was considered serious. Attendance was also looked at closely. You better have a good car or not miss the bus or you also could be shown the door. This, and other things, made the environment very stressful. I was one of these operators in California. While I won't go into detail here why I no longer worked there (I lasted close to three years), afterwards I eventually completed my college degree and went into the I.T. field. I've been successful since. AT&T's loss.
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At 2:40 I see some of the old TSPS consoles. I don't even remember the last time I spoke to an operator. AT&T must have an office or two still tucked away somewhere in the U.S., for the handful of callers who might still need one. Millennials, and some pre-millennials, might not know what an operator even is.
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If there were still operators in 2025: "Hello Los Angeles. Yusuf is on the line from Mumbai. Please provide the text code he just sent you so he can empty out your bank account. Thank you."
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