How are telephone operators not obsolete?

Question

In the modern day and age, there is usually no need for a phone book or operator. How are they still around?

In: Technology

Answer 1

Very short ELI5 version: because while there’s usually no need, sometimes there is, and the phone is too important of a public service to let those sometimes slip through the cracks.

Longer version:

There are two types of telephone operators: the first is private businesses, and the second is telecommunications companies. There are 4600 total, with 550 in the employ of the telecos, and keep in mind that means that there are usually less than 1,000 on duty everywhere on any given time, as they will work 40 hours out of a 168 hour week: [Telephone Operators (bls.gov)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes432021.htm)

An operator serves the important function of being able to know and have information inside of an organization to route a call in a manner and speed that machines can not yet replace. You’ll notice that the vast majority of them are in the medical profession, where a facility would need to connect a call to somebody with a certain skill very quickly, and the normal method of calling a primary, seeing if they pick up, then a secondary, and so on, until you find somebody, ends up being very inefficient, and doesn’t allow for situations where all people in a specialty may be occupied and unable to answer a call.

Usually, this work is done by a receptionist, but at a large enough organization, you have a dedicated operator to connect the call. The same happens with the 550 involved in traveler accommodation, and I’ve spoken to one of them when working with Disney Parks and Resorts – the agent and their supervisor didn’t know where or how to transfer me to where I needed to go, so they got a telephone operator to re-route the call for them.

The telephone companies still employ them for a different reason: they’re required to provide an operator assistance service for people who still rely on it, as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) is very highly regulated to ensure it keeps working as a public service. You say it yourself in your post, there is, “usually no need for a phone book or operator,” – but sometimes there is. Elderly blind people, for instance, and making important connections in a hurry, like connecting you to poison control while you’re panicking about your child ingesting something.