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It all depends on how far back you want to go. The first phones were only ever connected to an operator. The operator would answer when you lifted the handset and they (invariably women) would connect you to the person you wanted, by plugging jack plugs into a board.
Automatic dialling was invented by an undertaker, called Almon Brown Strowger, when he discovered that his trade was being passed to a competitor, by the telephone operator.
To dial, you put your finger in the hole, corresponding to the number, pull the dial ring right round to the finger stop, then remove your finger.
The dial would return under spring pressure. In doing so, the switch inside, would intterupt the voltage on the line, in precise pulses. The pulse would cause an automatic switch to move at the exchange, selecting a line at each pulse and stopping at the final pulse, selecting the final line.
As more phones came on line, more numbers were required. Each successive turn of the dial would operate a sequence of switches at the exchange. After each number the pulse would be passed to another switch. The last correct number, would connect you to the person you wanted.

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