Information Officers and Switchboard Operators
Respond to personal, written and telephone enquiries and complaints about an organisation's goods and services, provide information, establish telephone connections and redirect people to other sources.
A busy Monday on the council switchboard
You are an information officer and switchboard operator at a regional council, answering calls and helping people at the front desk. It is Monday morning. Rates notices went out on Friday, so the phones are ringing and people are lining up at the desk with questions.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I want the person in charge of roads. There is a huge hole outside my house and my car got damaged. I have called twice already and nobody rang me back. Put me through now.
Transfer him straight away to the roads team's number
The line rings out because nobody is at their desk, and he is back on hold with you. A transfer without checking is only a guess.
Take his details, say who will call and by when, and log it
The roads team calls him that afternoon. He is still annoyed about the car, but he knows someone is dealing with it. A clear promise and a real record are worth more than a transfer.
Tell him the roads team is busy and he should email them
He puts the phone down angry and tells the neighbours. Sending someone away feels efficient, and loses the person's trust.
I want to see the person who handles dog complaints. My neighbour's dog barks all night. I have been told by three people that someone else deals with it. I just want an answer.
Walk through who handles it, find them, and introduce her
The animal officer comes out and listens, and a visit is booked. She leaves with a name and a date. Getting a person to the right person is the heart of the job.
Give her the main phone number to ring for dog complaints
That is the number she has already tried twice. She is polite but leaves frustrated. A number only helps if someone answers it.
Tell her you are not sure and suggest she checks the website
She has already tried the website. She goes home without an answer and writes a complaint about the desk.
Put me through to the mayor now. It's urgent. Don't ask what it is about. I'm calling on behalf of the councillor and she'll be furious if I'm held up.
Take a message and say when the mayor will return calls
He is not thrilled, but the message is passed on within the hour. People calling for others need a way to be reached, not a gatekeeper.
Put him through, since he said it is urgent
The mayor is in a meeting and is interrupted over something that could have waited. You were told it was urgent, and you did not check.
Ask politely what it is about so you can direct it, and offer to take a message
He gives a reason, and it is routine. The message goes in and he is satisfied after a pause. Asking is right, though a firm way to say it matters.
How it went
By three the line is quiet and your notepad is full of names and call-backs. Information work is about knowing who knows, staying polite when others are not and being useful in thirty seconds. Does being the first voice someone hears appeal to you?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The caller who could not say where he was
A fictional case set in the customer information desk and phone switchboard of a regional council.
The situation
Beth worked the switchboard at Tallowood Shire Council. One quiet afternoon a man called and said he needed help, then started to cough and could not finish his sentence. He mentioned a road name and a farm gate before the line went unclear. The call was not about council business and the script said to transfer it to customer service. Beth was the only person who had heard what he said.
What they did
She stayed on the line and asked him calmly where he was and whether he needed an ambulance. She wrote down the road name and the gate details as he gave them. While he stayed on the line, she signalled to a colleague to ring the emergency number from another phone and read out what she had noted. When help was on the way, she told the man and stayed with him until she heard a voice in the background.
How it turned out
Paramedics reached him within the time they had hoped. He later sent the council a card to thank whoever had stayed on the line. Beth's team added a short checklist for urgent calls to the switchboard folder.
What would you do?
- What do you think Beth was thinking as she listened to the unclear call?
- Why was it better to ask a colleague to call than to hang up and ring herself?
- How would you stay calm when someone else is in difficulty?