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Boston Career Explorer

Office and Administrative Support

Telephone Operators

Provide information by accessing alphabetical, geographical, or other directories. Assist customers with special billing requests, such as charges to a third party and credits or refunds for incorrectly dialed numbers or bad connections. May handle emergency calls and assist children or people with physical disabilities to make telephone calls.

Also called: 411 Directory Assistance Operator (411 Directory Assistance Op), Directory Assistance Operator (Directory Assistance Op), Information Specialist, Live Source Operator (Live Source Op), Long Distance Operator (LD Operator), PBX Operator (Post Box Exchange Operator)

Median pay in Greater Boston
$47,940
$23.05/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
Not published
Massachusetts 2024–2034
Not published
Typical U.S. entry requirement
High school diploma or equivalent
plus Short-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$47,930$47,930$47,940$47,940$79,300

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Observe signal lights on switchboards, and dial or press buttons to make connections.
  • 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.
  • Listen to customer requests, referring to alphabetical or geographical directories to answer questions and provide telephone information.
  • Update directory information.
  • Suggest and check alternate spellings, locations, or listing formats to customers lacking details or complete information.
  • Perform clerical duties such as typing, proofreading, and sorting mail.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Higher exposure84 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 73
  • Language-model AIOE 92
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 87

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure is higher for this job, though observed AI use is little or none so far. Looking up directory information, connecting calls, and updating listings are tasks that automated systems and AI tools can do. Federal projections expect fewer of these jobs as automated phone systems spread. Calmly helping callers in an emergency still relies on people.

Likely to change

  • Looking up directory and listing information
  • Connecting and routing calls

Still relies on people

  • Helping callers who lack complete information
  • Staying calm and helpful in emergency calls

What federal projections say

“Capital/labor substitution - share decreases as companies continue to adopt automated phone systems.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

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    Your familiarity with phone systems and connections carries over. Pay is higher at $103,090 and AI exposure is lower, but growth is slow at 0.9%.

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.

Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

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