Jobs / Office and administrative support / 43-2011.00
Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
Operate telephone business systems equipment or switchboards to relay incoming, outgoing, and interoffice calls. May supply information to callers and record messages.
- US jobs
- 34,280
- Median wage
- $38,630 a year
- Job family
- Office and administrative support
Can agents do the work of switchboard operators, including answering service?
We read the evidence for the whole job family, Office and administrative support: Most tasks (no change in 12 months)
Agents complete 60% or more of the tasks (or projects) on two direct benchmarks from independent institutions.
Evidence: OSWorld-Verified, 90.2% of tasks completed; SpreadsheetBench, 83.1% of tasks completed.
23% of this occupation's work, by O*NET work activities, is measured by a direct benchmark.
- 22%Operate communications equipment or systemsNot measured
- 11%Provide information to guests, clients, or customersNot measured
- 8%Communicate with others about operational plans or activitiesMeasured
- 7%Monitor safety or security of work areas, facilities, or propertiesNot measured
- 6%Perform administrative or clerical activitiesMeasured
- 5%Operate audiovisual or related equipmentNot measured
- 5%Sort materials or productsNot measured
- 4%Maintain safety or securityNot measured
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in office and administrative support, not always this occupation's tasks.
Direct evidence
Work benchmarks mapped primary to this family. They set the step when they report how many tasks agents complete.
- 45.9%Claude Opus 4.6 · 16 Mar 2026Emerging
- OSWorld-Verifiedby HKU, Salesforce AI Research, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Waterloo90.2%Intelligence-Indeed Agent · 25 Jul 2026Saturated
Also relevant
These benchmarks cover part of this family's work, or have no result yet. They do not set its step.
- 54.5%arito · 13 Sep 2026Emerging
Context only
These benchmarks span many occupations, or they test how agents behave. They give context but do not set the step.
- 42.9%TTE-MatrixAgent + DeepSeek-V3.2 · 10 Nov 2025Emerging
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Operate communication systems, such as telephone, switchboard, intercom, two-way radio, or public address.
- Answer incoming calls, greeting callers, providing information, transferring calls or taking messages as necessary.
- Greet visitors, log them in and out of the facility, assign them security badges, and contact employee escorts.
- Monitor emergency and code alarms, make emergency announcements, or route emergency calls to the appropriate location.
- Record messages, suggesting rewording for clarity or conciseness.
- Page individuals to inform them of telephone calls, using paging or interoffice communication equipment.
- Relay or route written or verbal messages.
- Perform various cash handling tasks, such as collecting payments, making bank deposits, or managing petty cash.
- Place telephone calls or arrange conference calls as instructed.
- Process incoming or outgoing mail, packages, or deliveries.
- Perform various data entry or word processing tasks, such as updating phone directories, typing or proofreading documents, or creating schedules.
- Perform administrative tasks, such as accepting orders, scheduling appointments or meeting rooms, or sending and receiving faxes.
Other job titles for this occupation (36)
CBX Operator (Computerized Branch Exchange Operator) · Central Communications Specialist · Communications Operator · Communications Specialist · Information Specialist · PBX Operator (Private Branch Exchange Operator) · Switchboard Operator (SB Operator) · Switchboard Receptionist (SB Receptionist) · Telecommunications Clerk · Telecommunications Operator · Answering Service Telephone Operator · Combination Operator · Command and Control Specialist · Communication Center Operator · Communications Coordinator · Complaint Operator · Desk Operator · Exchange Operator · Line Technician · Operator · PBX Service Adviser (Private Branch Exchange Service Adviser) · Police Communications Operator · Police District Switchboard Operator (Police District SB Operator) · Private Branch Exchange Switchboard Operator (PBX Switchboard Operator) · Route Clerk · Service Operator · Switch Technician · Switching Clerk · Tandem Operator · Telegraph Office Telephone Clerk · Telephone Answering Service Operator · Telephone Service Representative (Telephone Service Rep) · Telephone Switchboard Operator (Telephone SB Operator) · Test Operator · Through Operator · Traffic Operator