Telephone Operator

Summary

TELEWORK: Authorized

This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN 6), Asheville VA Medical Center, Health Administration Service, Asheville, NC. The primary duties of the position involve operating telephone switchboard equipment to connect incoming and outgoing calls. The work involves routing calls to their proper destinations and providing telephone and organization information to callers.

Duties

Duties:
This position is responsible for the operation of the medical center's switchboard. Must use courtesy, tact, diplomacy, good hearing, manual dexterity, good speech, and voice modulation in dealing with customers, staff, employees, etc.
Assists with placing and receiving long distance telephone calls. Receives and places regular and special long distance calls (over tie lines, commercial circuits or other systems or networks such as Wide Area Telephone Service, Federal Telecommunications Systems, .
Provides routing and alternate routing service for calls which must go through to assure rapid, reliable and effective dissemination of significant operational or other information.
Handles calls of varying priority, requiring pre-empting of circuits, selective handling, particularly under accelerated or emergency conditions.
Maintains constant surveillance over switchboard equipment, circuit capacity and utilization, nature and volume of calls being placed, in order to keep appropriate high level officials apprised of telephone events, trends or conditions which may have significant implications or potential influence on national command or area security.
As the operator, the position is responsible for handling a full range of calls including highly complex calls requiring personal involvement. Gives advice and assistance when needed in placing long distance calls and assists supervisor in training personnel in use of the Federal Telecommunications System and the Wide Area Telephone Service lines.
Regularly handles a variety of difficult calls requiring extensive personal involvement. Examples of such calls include (1) next of kin calls; (2) emergencies such as cardiac arrest, sprinkler, refrigeration, oxygen or other alarms; (3) calls requiring tactful handling of confused, abusive or threatening individuals; (4) calls from relatives of patients demanding to speak to medical staff about the condition or treatment of the patient; (5) calls from the public when the nature of the call is unclear; (6) emergency calls to locate particular physicians or medical support personnel when their response is critical; (7) calls from mentally incompetent, alcohol or drug addicted persons requiring special attention from the operator; (8) calls involving physicians on rotation where locating is complicated by continual turnover; (9) calls from affiliating physicians or consultants and attending physicians when location is complicated by varying schedules and (10) calls such a rapid pace that the tempo of pressure creates unusual demands for the operator.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-4:30 PM
Position Description/PD#: Telephone Operator / PD04103A
Telework: Authorized according to agency policy.

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