Answer telephones to direct calls or provide information.

Answer telephones to direct calls or provide information. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 25 occupations and seen in 28 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Provide information to guests, clients, or customers. in Communicating with People Outside the Organization .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 28 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 25 (89%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

The Anthropic Economic Index observes real AI use on 5 of these tasks, with a mean mapped-usage share of 0.011% per task.

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Receive incoming telephone or alarm system calls regarding emergency and non-emergency police and fire service, emergency ambulance service, information, and after-hours calls for departments within a city. · Public Safety Telecommunicators · importance 4.8 · exposure with tools
• Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments. · Receptionists and Information Clerks · importance 4.7 · exposure with tools
• Perform administrative tasks, such as answering telephone calls, filing court documents, or maintaining office supplies or equipment. · Court, Municipal, and License Clerks · importance 4.7 · direct LLM exposure
• Answer incoming calls, greeting callers, providing information, transferring calls or taking messages as necessary. · Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service · importance 4.7 · exposure with tools
• Answer patient call signals, signal lights, bells, or intercom systems to determine patients' needs. · Nursing Assistants · importance 4.7 · no direct exposure
• Answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff. · Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants · importance 4.6 · exposure with tools
• Answer telephones and assist customers with their questions. · Tellers · importance 4.6 · direct LLM exposure
• Answer routine inquiries, and refer calls not requiring dispatches to appropriate departments and agencies. · Public Safety Telecommunicators · importance 4.5 · direct LLM exposure
• Answer telephone calls to take messages, answer questions, and provide information during non-business hours or when switchboard is closed. · Security Guards · importance 4.5 · direct LLM exposure
• Monitor emergency and code alarms, make emergency announcements, or route emergency calls to the appropriate location. · Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service · importance 4.5 · exposure with tools
• 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. · Telephone Operators · importance 4.5 · direct LLM exposure
• Answer patients' calls and determine how to assist them. · Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses · importance 4.4 · exposure with tools
• Answer telephone calls from potential customers who have been solicited through advertisements. · Telemarketers · importance 4.4 · direct LLM exposure
• Perform other clerical duties, such as answering telephone, sorting and distributing mail, running errands or sending faxes. · Word Processors and Typists · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Answer incoming phone calls. · Cashiers · importance 4.4 · direct LLM exposure
• Answer telephone inquiries, referring callers to pharmacist when necessary. · Pharmacy Aides · importance 4.4 · direct LLM exposure
• Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages. · Office Clerks, General · importance 4.3 · exposure with tools
• Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals. · Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive · importance 4.3 · exposure with tools
• Perform general office duties, such as filing, answering telephones, and handling routine correspondence. · Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks · importance 4.2 · direct LLM exposure
• Listen to customer requests, referring to alphabetical or geographical directories to answer questions and provide telephone information. · Telephone Operators · importance 4.2 · direct LLM exposure
• Perform patient services, such as answering the telephone or assisting patients with financial or medical questions. · Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan · importance 4.1 · exposure with tools
• Receive and place telephone calls. · Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants · importance 4.1 · exposure with tools
• Answer phone calls and direct calls to appropriate parties or take messages. · Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants · importance 4.1 · exposure with tools
• Perform clerical tasks, such as answering phones or distributing mail. · Brokerage Clerks · importance 4.0 · direct LLM exposure
• Perform clerical activities, such as answering phones, sorting mail, filing, typing, word processing, and photocopying and mailing out material. · Library Assistants, Clerical · importance 4.0 · direct LLM exposure
• Interview clients and take their calls to provide customer service and obtain information on claims. · Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks · importance 3.9 · exposure with tools
• Answer patient call signals, signal lights, bells, or intercom systems to determine patients' needs. · Orderlies · importance 3.8 · no direct exposure
• Perform general administrative tasks, such as answering telephones, scheduling appointments, and ordering supplies or equipment. · Billing and Posting Clerks · exposure with tools

Occupations that perform this

• Public Safety Telecommunicators
• Receptionists and Information Clerks
• Court, Municipal, and License Clerks
• Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
• Nursing Assistants
• Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
• Tellers
• Security Guards
• Telephone Operators
• Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
• Telemarketers
• Word Processors and Typists
• Pharmacy Aides
• Cashiers
• Office Clerks, General
• Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
• Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
• Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan
• Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
• Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
• Brokerage Clerks
• Library Assistants, Clerical
• Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks
• Orderlies
• Billing and Posting Clerks

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-answer-telephones-to-direct-calls-or-provide-information,
  title  = {Answer telephones to direct calls or provide information.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/answer-telephones-to-direct-calls-or-provide-information}
}