Telephone Operator

Summary The incumbent serves as a Telecommunications Equipment Operator performing work which encompasses a wide variety of different duties and responsibilities relating to provision of telephone and related communications services. The Telecommunications Unit is comprised of multiple attendant telephone consoles, various emergency alarms, police radio communication equipment, and a facility short- and long-range paging system.

To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement—07/21/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement:
Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS‑04 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS‑03. The grade may have been in any occupation— but must have been held in the Federal service.

An SF‑50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF‑50 has an effective date within the past year it may not clearly demonstrate one-year time-in-grade as required by the announcement. In this instance you must provide an additional SF‑50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note:

Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• General
  
  Experience:
  
  You must have one year of general experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS‑03 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include— but are not limited to— progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position to be filled.
• Education:
  
  Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have two full years above high school.
• Combination:
  Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education.

• Duties include but are not limited to:
  
  Principal Duties and Responsibilities:
  
  Information receptionist — operating facility automatic call distribution telephone system — maintenance of computer documentation — and telecommunication equipment operator.
• Information Receptionist:
  Personally provides information of a routine nature and receives and directs callers to the appropriate areas.
• Provides general telephone and visitor referral services.
• Refers callers to appropriate facility or program area based on specific requests or by ascertaining the nature of the call.
• Operates Facility Automatic Call Distribution Telephone System:
  Operates telephone system to receive and route incoming and outgoing calls utilizing complex computerized equipment and telecommunications software.
• Interviews with incoming callers and routes the calls to their proper destination.
• Provides telephone and organizational information to callers.
• Regularly provides customer service to a variety of difficult calls requiring personal involvement on the part of the employee— such as threatening, abusive, or distraught callers.
• Initiates trace with local telephone and police authorities on threatening or emergency-related calls.
• Answers recurring types of telephone calls such as internal network and routine long-distance calls.
• Maintains a record of all calls requiring emergency interruptions— toll calls—and long-distance calls showing the time the call was placed, the staff person requesting the call, and the number that was requested.
• Furnishes information…