
What are the Duties of the Telephone Operator?
- Assistance to customer inquiries. Telephone Operators are the first people that customers hear after making a phone call to a company.
- Office Duties. ...
- Deriving Calls to the Right line. ...
- Operating the Pager System per speaker. ...
What are the duties of a phone operator?
What are the main tasks for Telephone Operator?
- Process documents that serve as input for the development of their tasks
- And also, Review and enter information into the computer system corresponding to their work
- Provide information on the services and materials of your unit, both internal and external customers
- Administratively support academic and corporate activities, as appropriate
What is the job of a telephone operator?
What are the Duties of the Telephone Operator?
- Assistance to customer inquiries. Telephone Operators are the first people that customers hear after making a phone call to a company.
- Office Duties. ...
- Deriving Calls to the Right line. ...
- Operating the Pager System per speaker. ...
How to call the operator on a cell phone?
There is no way to get an operater by dialing "0" on the cell phone, only dialing 611 for customer service. Remember cell phones don't exactly work like home phones (you can't make/rcv collect calls for example).
What is the job description of an operator?
Their duties and responsibilities often include:
- Monitoring and maintaining warehouse equipment and machinery
- Setting up manufacturing equipment
- Overseeing training of new or Junior Machine Operators
- Using machine equipment to complete tasks
- Performing routine inspections of manufacturing equipment
- Evaluating the efficiency of each unit regularly, identifying improvements as needed

What does a telephone operator do?
Telephone operators check a variety of telephone directories and other information resources to help callers find a current contact number for a second party.
What skills do you need to be a telephone operator?
Telephone operators must have excellent interpersonal communication skills, including strong speaking and active listening skills. Critical thinking and analytical skills are also crucial for performing well in this occupation. Some positions may demand fluency in a foreign language such as Spanish. Most positions require initial tests to determine suitability for the work, which often include both listening and speaking exams.
What is a telephone operator?
Telephone operators, also known as switchboard operators, were responsible for manually routing phone calls through a switchboard. They would plug and unplug the lines into the switchboard to route the call to the appropriate telephone.
How to reach an operator after a call is made?
Even after the process was fully automated you could still reach an operator for assistance by dialing 0 on your (land-line) phone. Some services, like placing a collect call or some international calls still required manual intervention.
What does 00 mean on a phone?
Long distance operators are also mostly obsolete, but there are more of them, particularly to handle international dialling issues. When you dial “00” you are routed to your prefered long distance carrier and enter their voice response system. Almost all special service calls can be set up by computer (collect, third-party, credit card, ship-to-shore, satellite calls (to locations not on a standard satellite system with direct-dial)), etc. An operator will become involved if you have problems, but is not necessary for 99% of calls. The exception to this is if you are dialling internationally: if you need operator assistance for an international call and you know the number, if you dial the full number with the “01” prefix (instead of the normal “011”), an operator will come on to assist with completing the call though you will have a voice prompt to set up a collect call first.
What is 0 on a phone?
Local operators are mostly obsolete now, though there has to be someone reachable by dialing “0.” Each company that provides local telephone service is regulated by State and Federal regulations. They must provide supervision (operator) services for the phones on their network. In essence, when you dial “0” from a landline, you are routed to your telephone’s supervision service. Often you reach a computer that will accept voice response and route you to the necessary services, sometimes without ever dealing with a human. The local telephone operator service though will mostly cover troubleshooting problems with your service and the occasional emergency call for someone who did not dial “911.”
What are the three types of operators?
There are three types of “operators” as well: local telephone, long-distance, and information. They are reached by different dialing codes: local operators are reached by “0”, long distance by “00” and information by “411”.
When did dial service become more available?
From the 1920s through the 1950s, as dial service became steadily more available, fewer operators were needed to connect manual calls. Increasingly, operators connected long distance calls, or provided assistance with local calling, or assisted reaching those with manual service.
Has the occupation of telephone operator disappeared?
With the exception of those operators needed to direct callers to individual extensions of large organizations, the occupation of telephone operator has largely disappeared.
What is the responsibility of a telephone operator?
To some Telephone Operators, it is also their responsibility to Promote company products, services, and savings plans when appropriate.
What is a telephone operator?
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. They also listen to customer requests, referring to alphabetical or geographical directories to answer questions and provide telephone information.
What is a switchboard operator?
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.
How many hours does a telephone operator work?
In a typical work week as a Telephone Operator, you can expect to work 40 hour work week.
What is a monitor system?
Monitor automated systems for placing collect calls and intervene for a callers needing assistance.
What is operator assistance?
Operator assistance refers to a telephone call in which the calling party requires an operator to provide some form of assistance in completing the call. This may include telephone calls made from pay phones, calls placed station-to-station, person-to-person, collect, third number calls, calls billed to a credit card, ...
How long is a person to person call on Bell?
In the Bell System, an operator-assisted call had a 50% premium, but only on the initial period, usually three minutes. A person-to-person call is an operator-assisted call in which the calling party requests to speak to a specific party and not simply to anyone who answers.
What is a third party call?
A third number call or third party call is an operator assisted telephone call that can be billed to the party other than the calling and called party. The operator calls the third number for the party to accept the charges before the call can proceed.
What is messenger conference call?
A messenger, usually a boy, would go to the recipient's location to advise him or her to come to a central location at a designated time to receive a phone call. An operator-assisted conference call is one in which the conference call is managed by an operator.
Is the caller charged for the call?
The caller is not charged for the call unless the requested party is reached. This method was popular when telephone calls were relatively expensive. The alternative, in which the calling party agrees to talk to whoever answers the telephone, is known as station-to-station.
Operator Career Path
Learn how to become an Operator, what skills and education you need to succeed, and what level of pay to expect at each step on your career path.
Operator Insights
Read what Operator professionals have to say about their job experiences and view top companies for this career.
What is a phone call?
Phone calls are a wireless or wired connection made over a telephone or a mobile phone between two people. Two parties are involved in a phone call, the caller and the receiver. A caller dials the number of the one he wants to call, and the recipient hears a bell or a tune to which he picks up the call. The call establishes a connection between them through which they can communicate. The voice is converted into signals and is transmitted through wired or wireless technology.
What is transferred telephone call?
Transferred telephone calls to intended recipients after screening them properly.
What is a PBX phone?
PBX represents Private Branch Exchange, which is a private phone network utilized inside an organization or association. The clients of the PBX telephone framework can call internally (inside their organization) and remotely (with the rest of the world), utilizing diverse correspondence stations like Voice over IP or ISDN.
What is customer service?
Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.
What is an outbound call?
An outbound call is made by the call center representative to the customers on behalf of the company. Such calls help increase sales and generate revenue for the organization.
What is high demand phone?
high Demand. Phone calls are a wireless or wired connection made over a telephone or a mobile phone between two people. Two parties are involved in a phone call, the caller and the receiver. A caller dials the number of the one he wants to call, and the recipient hears a bell or a tune to which he picks up the call.
Why do Bell operators pronounce numbers?
Operators were trained so that they pronounced numbers in a special Bell System-approved way, to avoid confusion, since five and nine often sound similar enough to cause a mix-up. Five as “figh-uhv” and nine as “nigh-yun.”
When was the phone invented?
Just enough to rule out the early phone era. In October 1876 , Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the phone at a news event attended by major newspapers. There was no generator or crank to get an operator’s attention, no dial to choose a desired recipient, and no long distance.
When did coin telephones start?
Coin telephones were not equipped to dial long distance calls until the 1970s in most areas. The Operator would call a special rate & route operator who would quote a coin rate step, based on the number called. The Operator would then instruct the caller: please deposit $1.05 for the first three minutes.
Do operators have a headset?
Operators have a headset and a computer. Sometimes they have a telephone but often the computer is dealing with all of that. The systems they have access to give them the information they need and allow them to control the flow of the call (answer, hang-up, transfer, etc). 941 views.
Did operators say "thank you"?
The goal was efficiency and speedy service, so words were not wasted. Operators didn’t often say thank you to other operators; they said right. [ 3] Occasionally, human nature and courtesy would intervene and thank you would be offered. Surely could be used when responding to a thank you. They didn’t chitchat or tell callers to “have a nice day.”
What is an operator in Delta?
An operator is more than possessing a certain skill set. An operator is someone who carries with them the wisdom that comes with experience and maturity. This is why the most senior operators are often assigned to Delta’s Recce troop for instance.
What units were considered operators?
Once upon a time you had to be a member of one of two units in US Special Operations to be considered an operator. Those units were SEAL Team Six and Delta Force and only those who passed selection and training were entitled to call themselves that, not support personnel or those on the periphery.
What is a singleton operator?
The operator is someone who can be deployed as a singleton and trusted to do his job with minimal or no supervision. You can send him into denied areas to conduct low visibility operations and you can also trust that he will abort the mission rather than take unnecessary risks that could get that mission compromised. He is not a 23-year-old wearing Multi-Cam with a bunch of high-tech toys strapped to the side of his rifle.
