Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1922-10-18
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT The 4
WLLMAR Telephone EXCHANGE?
Local Public Service Corporation Serves 1855 Patrons
In Willmar-Operators Duties
= No Light Task

| to spend eight hours in the Exchange
and also on holidays must they be at
their posts. The significance Of eight
hours to an operator and sitting at the
board is apparent only if one goes
into the exchange room for oneself
and watches the work being done: The
| first impression seems to be the mon
otony of the work. The operator is
seated for period of several hours
at a time, converses with no one ex-
cept on strict business, must be court
eous in speech, patient and accomo-
dating, takes number after number,
connects and disconnects, asks mum
Der please" hundreds of times, hears
abuse from ignorant and non-thinking
phone users and the many items which
makes an operators work as great
care and perhaps more so than many
other occupations.
| IS MINUTE RESTS
It is little wonder that the altrustic
side of the big Bell corporation saw
the NECESSITY of providing rest
room and fifteen minute rest for
each shift of several hours. These Is
minutes are welcomed by the -operat-
ors. That there is a strain on the ner
vous system is acknowledged. There
are therefore two shifts day for each
operator. She may have her hours
from to II o'clock in the morning and
in the evening from to o'clock.
DAILY SCHEDULE
The following is the approximate
schedule of hours which are rotated
among the operators.
to IL A. NJ. and 5 to 8 P. M.
9 to P. M. and to 9 P. M.
1880 to II A. NJ. and 1890 to 5 P. M.
to $50 P. NJ. and $3.50 to 10 P. M.
to - A. M. and 1 to 5 P. M.
10 to P. NJ. and 5 to 10 P. NJ.
z to II A. M. and - to P. M.
The night operator at work and al
one in the Exchange takes up her
work at ten o'clock P. M. and closes
her shift at Z in the morning. We
would call the position of night op.
orator as one of the lonesome sent
incl" Can't say that we envy her for
her position.
THE BUSY HOURS
During the morning hours which
are the busiest during the day the
largest number of operators are at
the boards at one time. During the
afternoon the ladies are kept busy
apd. always have some call to- take
care of but during the morning the
rush is still greater. The hour for this
unusual phone activity is from 8 to
1880 A. M. During these hours every
housewife in Willmar hurries to send
in her orders to the stores, the bust
ness man has important matters to
discuss over the wire, local and long
distance not to mention the multiples
of social and conversational messages
! that engage many of the fair sex at
the phone at great length while the
dinner burns in the oven.
$3.50 A DAY
| To furnish an example Of the num-
| Der of calls Accommodated in an aver
age day the records were taken and
the average was found to be the great
number of $3.50 local calls day. This
small force of operators accommodate
this number of calls each day. Then
we have the toll or long distance calls
which number on an average some
S49 calls day or SO an hour. There
are 3 operators who have charge of
the toll calls during the busy morning
hours. The busy hours for tolls are
from $3.50 A. M. until P. M. Market
reports constitute the greater part Of
the toll calls. $3.50 local calls day
that is some 400 calls per hour /.
! During the month of February of
this year one day some 1923 local