an able company who furiously plug and unplug wires from myriad inputs, busily routing.

[blwings]

"Contrary to prevailing notions, the elevator inspector dispatch room is not filled with long consoles staffed by an able company who furiously plug and unplug wires from myriad inputs, busily routing."

I wonder if it is an able company that is busily routing in this sentence. Or is it a dispatch room that is routing?

 

[5jj]

It's the able company.

 

[Tdol]

We don't need to furiously plug and unplug wires nowadays- that sort of behaviour belongs to the telephone exchange days of long ago, not modern digital technology.

 

[Skrej]

Back in the early days of the telephone, you didn't actually dial the number of the person you wanted to speak with directly yourself. You dialed into an a switchboard, where you told the the operator the number of the person you wished to speak with. The operator then switched around some cable plugs (hence the name 'switchboard') to make the connection. That's where the term 'operator' comes from - an operator being a person who operates a machine.

Here is a very short video showing some of the process.

Here's a 13 minute video with a bit more detail.