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Office & Admin43-2021.00Specialization

Telephone Operators

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.

$38,080
Median Pay
Less than 6 months
Training
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High Disruption Risk
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View Communications Equipment Operators

This is a specialization of

Communications Equipment Operators

Career Overview Video

AI Impact Assessment

AI Resilience Score

Score 0/6: high AI task exposure, declining job demand, limited human advantage creates significant risk from AI disruption

🔴High Disruption Risk

How we calculated this:

AI Exposure
High+0

89% of tasks can be accelerated by AI

Job Growth
Declining+0

-28% projected (2024-2034)

Human Advantage
Weak+0

EPOCH score: 8/25

Total Score0/6
Methodology: v2.0 - GPTs are GPTs / BLS / EPOCH Additive ScoringUpdated: 2026-01-09
View full methodology →

Key Responsibilities

  • 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.
  • Listen to customer requests, referring to alphabetical or geographical directories to answer questions and provide telephone information.
  • Update directory information.
  • Suggest and check alternate spellings, locations, or listing formats to customers lacking details or complete information.
  • Perform clerical duties such as typing, proofreading, and sorting mail.
  • Offer special assistance to persons such as those who are unable to dial or who are in emergency situations.

Education & Training

Typical Entry Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Time to Job Ready

0-1 years

Based on Job Zone 2. For formal education duration only, see education_duration.

Technology Skills

Computer aided dispatch softwareHandheld computer device softwareMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft WordOperating system softwareVideo conference softwareWord processing software

Key Abilities

Oral ExpressionOral ComprehensionSpeech RecognitionSpeech ClarityWritten ComprehensionProblem SensitivitySelective AttentionNear VisionDeductive ReasoningInductive Reasoning

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Compensation Details

$29,770
10th Percentile
$38,080
Median
$59,230
90th Percentile

Based on 4,600 employed workers

Also Known As

411 Directory Assistance Operator (411 Directory Assistance Op)Central Office Operator (CO Op)Change Number Operator (Change Number Op)Charge Operator (Charge Op)Communications Operator (Communications Op)Customer Service AssistantDirectory Assistance Operator (Directory Assistance Op)Directory Operator (Directory Op)Emergency Operator (Emergency Op)Information Operator (Information Op)

Data from O*NET 30.1 and BLS Occupational Employment Statistics

O*NET Code: 43-2021.00