Telephonists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who operate telephone switchboards to connect calls manually; persons responsible for answering and directing telephone communications; professionals managing voice transmissions by routing calls through telephonic equipment
2. Workers who handle the function of linking communication lines by means of switching devices; those engaging in receiving and transferring telephone conversations; attendants who facilitate voice message routing via telephonic connections
3. Operators tasked with manually or electronically connecting telephone calls; people who respond to incoming phone requests and redirect them appropriately; telecommunications facilitators overseeing the physical or automated linking of callers

Etymology: The telephone was barely a decade old when people needed a name for the staff who connected its calls. "Telephonist" is built from "telephone" plus the suffix "-ist", meaning one who does or works with something. The first half comes from Greek roots: "tele-" meaning "far" and "phone" meaning "sound" or "voice", so the telephone is literally a device for distant voices. The suffix has a long pedigree of its own. It passed from Ancient Greek through Latin and Old French into Middle English, where it became a productive way to name practitioners, as in "artist" or "chemist". "Telephonist" simply applied that old pattern to a newly invented machine, so the word describes its job as directly as possible. The plural "telephonists" is the form of "telephonist" used for more than one such operator.

Synonyms: switchboard operator, operator, call handler, receptionist