the number. In the 1960s, once most phone subscribers had direct long-distance dialing, a single type of operator began to serve both the local and long-distance functions. A customer might call to request a collect call, a call billed to a third number, or a person-to-person call. All toll calls from coin phones required operator assistance. The operator was also available to help complete a local or long-distance number which did not complete. For example, if a customer encountered a reorder tone (a fast busy signal), it could indicate "all circuits busy," or a problem in the destination exchange. The operator might be able to use a different routing to complete the call. If the operator could not get through by dialing the number, she could call the inward operator in the destination city, and ask her to try the number, or to test a line to see if it was busy or out of order. Cord switchboards used for these purposes were replaced in the 1970s and 1980s by TSPS and similar systems, which greatly reduced operator involvement in calls. The customer would, instead of simply dialing "0" for the operator, dial 1+NPA+7digits, after which an operator would answer and provide the desired service (coin collection, obtaining acceptance on a collect call, etc.), and then release the call to be automatically handled by the TSPS. Before the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was common for many smaller cities to have their own operators. An NPA (area code) would usually have its largest city as its primary toll center, with smaller toll centers serving the secondary cities scattered throughout the NPA. TSPS allowed telephone companies to close smaller toll centers and consolidate operator services in regional centers which might be hundreds of miles from the subscriber. In the mid-1980s the Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) opened their own Operator Services offices with a system called TOPS (Traffic Operator Position System) to act as local and intraLATA telephone operators. With this the BOCs took intraLATA call traffic from AT&T as well as services which were once provided on a cordboard (Toll Stations, Mobile and Marine [Ship-to-Shore]). Operators from AT&T returned to work for the BOC as the intraLATA traffic was cut to the BOC. In the early 1990s AT&T replaced TSPS with OSPS (Operator Service Position System). The OSPS position was a computer terminal which the AT&T operator entered billing information.