The Bell study sounds similar to research John Seeley Brown references from Xerox, in The Social Life of Information (2000), particularly chapters 4 & 5 discussing research of Julian Orr.

Xerox repair techs' secret weapon was the morning pre-dispatch coffee session, where war stories were swapped.

A similar later reference noted information transfer (or lack) between techs and phone operators --- physically separating the two cut down on the operators' knowledge and effectiveness.