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.
U.S. Workers
3,950
Median Salary
$39,130
10-Year Growth
-27.5%
Annual Openings
300
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
16 of 16 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Listen to customer requests, referring to alphabetical or geographical directories to answer questions and provide telephone information.
AI: Fully automatable - Speech recognition plus directory databases allow AI to listen to requests, consult alphabetical or geographic listings, and provide telephone information automatically, so this is fully automatable.
Observe signal lights on switchboards, and dial or press buttons to make connections.
AI: Fully automatable - Modern telephony software can monitor signaling and programmatically dial or actuate connections without manual button-pressing, making this fully automatable in typical systems.
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.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated telephony/VoIP systems can operate switchboards and complete local, long-distance, mobile, person-to-person, payphone, and emergency routing in software, so this is fully automatable.
Suggest and check alternate spellings, locations, or listing formats to customers lacking details or complete information.
AI: Fully automatable - Fuzzy matching, spell-correction, and geocoding tools let AI suggest and check alternate spellings, locations, or listing formats reliably, so this is fully automatable.
Calculate and quote charges for services such as long-distance connections.
AI: Fully automatable - Calculating and quoting charges is deterministic and can be automated using rate tables and billing systems, so AI can fully perform this task.
Monitor automated systems for placing collect calls and intervene for a callers needing assistance.
AI: Fully automatable - AI systems can monitor call platforms, detect when a caller needs assistance, provide automated guidance or routing, and execute interventions such as transfers or scripted help.
Consult charts to determine charges for pay-telephone calls, requesting coin deposits for calls as necessary.
AI: Fully automatable - Consulting rate charts and prompting for required coin deposits is a deterministic lookup and IVR/AI can perform it automatically.
Provide relay service for hearing-impaired users.
AI: Fully automatable - Real-time speech-to-text and text-to-speech relay services are well within modern AI capabilities and can provide full relay support for hearing-impaired users.
Promote company products, services, and savings plans when appropriate.
AI: Fully automatable - AI conversational agents can identify appropriate moments to promote products and present targeted offers during interactions.
Operate paging systems or other systems of bells or buzzers to notify recipients of incoming calls.
AI: Fully automatable - Operating paging, bell, or buzzer systems is a straightforward control task that AI/automation can reliably perform.
Update directory information.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can validate, format, and update directory databases from inputs or user requests with minimal human intervention.
Keep records of calls placed and received, and of related toll charges.
AI: Fully automatable - Logging calls and recording toll charges are routine, rule-based processes that software and AI systems can fully automate.
Provide assistance for customers with special billing requests.
AI: Partial - AI can handle many special billing requests (adjustments, proration, inquiries) through data and rules, but complex disputes and authorization-sensitive cases usually need human review, so it is partially automatable.
Perform clerical duties such as typing, proofreading, and sorting mail.
AI: Partial - AI can fully automate typing and proofreading and can classify scanned mail, but physically sorting postal mail still requires onsite mechanical systems or human handling.
Interrupt busy lines if an emergency warrants.
AI: Partial - AI can detect likely emergencies and recommend or initiate interruptions, but legal, safety, and policy constraints typically require human authorization or oversight, so it is only partially automatable.
Offer special assistance to persons such as those who are unable to dial or who are in emergency situations.
AI: Partial - AI can detect emergencies and route or assist callers, but providing the full scope of special assistance (empathy, complex triage, legal responsibility) typically requires human intervention, so it is partially automatable.