Description
Provide information by accessing alphabetical, geographical, or other directories. Assist customers with special billing requests, such as charges to a third party and credits or refunds for incorrectly dialed numbers or bad connections. May handle emergency calls and assist children or people with physical disabilities to make telephone calls.
- • Listen to customer requests, referring to alphabetical or geographical directories to answer questions and provide telephone information.
- • Suggest and check alternate spellings, locations, or listing formats to customers lacking details or complete information.
- • Offer special assistance to persons such as those who are unable to dial or who are in emergency situations.
- • Observe signal lights on switchboards, and dial or press buttons to make connections.
- • Operate telephone switchboards and systems to advance and complete connections, including those for local, long distance, pay telephone, mobile, person-to-person, and emergency calls.
- • Provide assistance for customers with special billing requests.
- • Monitor automated systems for placing collect calls and intervene for a callers needing assistance.
- • Perform clerical duties such as typing, proofreading, and sorting mail.
- • Interrupt busy lines if an emergency warrants.
- • Provide relay service for users who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- • Promote company products, services, and savings plans when appropriate.
- • Operate paging systems or other systems of bells or buzzers to notify recipients of incoming calls.
- • Update directory information.
- • Keep records of calls placed and received, and of related toll charges.
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Public Service & Safety
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Source
Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
