Telephone Operator

Summary

The Telecommunications Equipment Operator performs work a wide variety of different duties and responsibilities relating to provision of telephone and related communications services. The Telecommunications Equipment Operator performs telecommunication support assignments involving a significant amount of customer service in recognizing and routing patient and/or their representatives. employees, and other inquiries to the correct location and program efficiently and promptly.

Duties

• Duties to include but not limited to: 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 request 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: Assists customers concerning telephone extensions. organizational functions, and staff information. Receives telephone trouble calls. maintains a trouble log and notifies the supervisor or telephone technician of troubles. Answers/places non-routine telephone related activities such as international calls and faxes and records the date/time, facility, name of the person. number requested, and other pertinent information. Operates the internal and external paging system to facilities paging requests. Performs telecommunications support work to a variety of technical and/or administrative programs in the network. Set up monitors and send confirmations for bridge-line conference calls. Operates automatic telecommunications systems. and/or performs support and service functions requiring knowledge of telecommunications processing sequences, procedures, user and/or program functions, and or techniques associated with the maintenance of the system. Maintenance of Computer Documentation: Modifies and maintains operation manuals, reference books, and/or instructions associated with programs and systems used in the Telecommunications unit. Modifies and maintains computerized trouble information book, emergency interrupt information books, toll call information books, long-distance information books and emergency cascade call information books. Telecornmunications Equipment Operator: Operates equipment such as printers. code alarms, long range paging system, desk attendant telephone console, overhead paging system, other monitoring equipment as needed. Activates and controls standardized computer system and peripheral equipment specifically related to operations. Tests the telecommunications equipment for operation, monitoring, and controlling operations during processing, and takes prompt action in response to programmed instructions. machine failures, or unscheduled halts. Monitors same and initiates corrective action. Maintains documentation of troubles in the log as well as maintains and troubleshoots equipment, making changes as required based on established procedures. Assists in training other personnel in the proper use, operation and care of telecommunications equipment, specifically the desk attendant telephone console and corresponding headset. Assists the implementation of telecommunications security procedures and performs appropriate system maintenance Preferred Experience: Must speak fluent English Experience providing outstanding customer service Work Schedule: Rotating shifts, 8:00am-4:30pm,4:00pm-12:00am,12am-8am, rotating weekends and holidays. Compressed/Flexible: Not Approved Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Telephone Operator/PD260214A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/11/2026. 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 you possess 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 general 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. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 2 years above high school. Education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of general experience and education. You must have an combination of general experience and education. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13053844. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 09/11/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit