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A switchboard (also called a manual exchange) was a device used to connect a group of telephones manually to one another or to an outside connection, within and between telephone exchanges or private branch exchanges (PBXs). The user was typically known as an operator. Public manual exchanges disappeared during the last half of the 20th century, leaving a few PBXs working in offices and hotels as manual branch exchanges.
The electromechanical automatic telephone exchange, invented by Almon Strowger in 1888, gradually replaced manual switchboards in central telephone exchanges. Manual PBXs have also for the most part been replaced by more sophisticated devices or even personal computers, which give the operator access to an abundance of features. In modern businesses, a PBX often has an attendant console for the operator, or an auto-attendant avoiding the operator entirely.
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