Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments.

“Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments.” is a core task performed by Receptionists and Information Clerks. Among the occupation's 19 rated tasks, workers place it 19th by importance (#1 most important). About 97% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Schedule appointments. in Scheduling Work and Activities
• Provide information to guests, clients, or customers. in Communicating with People Outside the Organization

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T3.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Greet persons entering establishment, determine nature and purpose of visit, and direct or escort them to specific destinations. · importance 4.7
• Receive payment and record receipts for services. · importance 4.6
• Schedule appointments and maintain and update appointment calendars. · importance 4.4
• Analyze data to determine answers to questions from customers or members of the public. · importance 4.2
• Calculate and quote rates for tours, stocks, insurance policies, or other products or services. · importance 4.2
• Transmit information or documents to customers, using computer, mail, or facsimile machine. · importance 4.1
• Hear and resolve complaints from customers or the public. · importance 4.1
• File and maintain records. · importance 4.1
• Provide information about establishment, such as location of departments or offices, employees within the organization, or services provided. · importance 4.0
• Perform administrative support tasks, such as proofreading, transcribing handwritten information, or operating calculators or computers to work with pay records, invoices, balance sheets, or other documents. · importance 4.0
• Collect, sort, distribute, or prepare mail, messages, or courier deliveries. · importance 3.9
• Keep a current record of staff members' whereabouts and availability. · importance 3.9
• Schedule space or equipment for special programs and prepare lists of participants. · importance 3.5
• Process and prepare memos, correspondence, travel vouchers, or other documents. · importance 3.4

See all tasks on the Receptionists and Information Clerks page.

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
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

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

@misc{singulariki-task-744,
  title  = {Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-744}
}