--- title: ""Operator, please connect me to…“" id: "113" type: "post" slug: "telecommunications-operator" published_at: "2017-07-10T13:55:55+00:00" modified_at: "2025-12-08T18:59:37+00:00" url: "https://www.simpletech.uy/en/operadora-telecomunicaciones/" markdown_url: "https://www.simpletech.uy/en/operadora-telecomunicaciones.md" excerpt: "Another milestone in this story was when Bell established the first public telephone connection and opened the first telephone exchange." taxonomy_category: - "Innovation" taxonomy_post_tag: - "Call center" - "History" - "Telephone operator" - "Telephony" --- Another milestone in this history occurred in 1878, when Bell established the first public telephone connection and opened the first manually operated telephone exchange in New Haven, Connecticut (USA), serving 21 subscribers. The subscribers” lines were connected to these exchanges, and the switchboard operators were responsible for manually connecting the pins on the panel to link the caller’s telephone with the requested number. The connections were made using cables. **1889 - A Funeral Director and the Automatic Switchboard** The operator-based call system had a problem: the operator herself. Almon Strowger was a businessman who owned a funeral home in Kansas City. His life was proceeding as usual until, without knowing how or why, his business began to lose customers. He began to investigate to see what had changed in the business; the only change was that a few months earlier, a telephone line had been installed that, in theory, should have helped increase customers rather than harm the business as was actually happening. That didn’t add up—until it was discovered that one of the operators at the local telephone switchboard was the wife of a competitor’s owner, and all calls requesting funeral home services were being routed to his competitor. Strowger brought this to the attention of the operator’s superiors, but they did nothing. So, he decided to fix it himself. His idea was to create automatic switchboards to prevent the deliberate rerouting of calls and to eliminate operators who liked to eavesdrop on conversations. He built a model of his invention, and, thanks to his nephew William’s knowledge of electricity, they got it to work. In 1889, they applied for a patent for the Automatic Telephone Switching System. They sought a financial partner who could fund the manufacturing and marketing of their invention, and thus the Strowger Automatic Telephone Exchange Company was founded. On November 3, 1892, the first automatic telephone exchange, with a capacity for 99 subscribers, was installed in La Porte, Indiana. The unveiling was a great success. Not everyone was happy with the new switchboards; operators would be out of work. Strowger mentioned them in his presentation speech… "I am told that the operators are angry with me for putting them out of work, but these are the adjustments that come with evolution […] The telephone replaced messengers, and this machine replaces the girls. […] Improvements will continue until the end of time…" Improvements were naturally made, and the capacity of the centralizers increased, reaching Europe in 1898. That same year, Strowger decided to step aside and leave the business: he sold the patent for $1,800 and his stake in the company for $10,000, retired to Florida—where the climate was more favorable for his health—and, once again, opened a funeral home. He died on May 26, 1902, at the age of 62. Eighteen years after his retirement, in 1916, Bell’s company purchased Strowger’s invention for 2.5 million dollars. By: The team at [SimpleTECH](https://www.simpletech.uy/en/nosotros.html/) © Sources: [https://myprofetecnologia.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/historia-y-evolucin-del-telfono/](https://myprofetecnologia.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/historia-y-evolucin-del-telfono/) [http://historiasdelahistoria.com/2013/04/28/el-funerario-que-invento-la-centralita-telefonica-sin-una-sola-enagua](http://historiasdelahistoria.com/2013/04/28/el-funerario-que-invento-la-centralita-telefonica-sin-una-sola-enagua) [http://www.almudenaseguros.es/blog/6-hitos-en-la-historia-del-telefono/](http://www.almudenaseguros.es/blog/6-hitos-en-la-historia-del-telefono/) [http://www.almonstrowger.com/](http://www.almonstrowger.com/) ## We are revolutionizing the world of CX—join the transformation **We can help you with your business needs!** Leave us a message, and our experts will contact you. 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