Job Description: Telephone Operator / Switchboard Operator
Company: SterileCo. LLC
Work Location: VA Central California Health Care System, Building 1, 2615 E. Clinton Avenue, Fresno, CA 93703
Anticipated Start Date: October 1, 2026
Work Arrangement: On-site
Schedule: Rotating day, evening, overnight, weekend, and federal-holiday shifts
Position Availability: Anticipated positions are contingent upon contract award, successful VA onboarding, and completion of applicable personnel-vetting requirements.
Position Summary
SterileCo. LLC is seeking dependable, professional, and customer-focused Telephone Operators / Switchboard Operators to support the VA Central California Health Care System in Fresno, California.
The selected employees will be part of an eleven-operator team responsible for maintaining continuous telephone and switchboard coverage twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, including federal holidays. Operators will answer and route incoming calls, assist with outgoing calls, process emergency communications, operate paging and radio systems, document service issues, and provide timely assistance to patients, employees, visitors, and other callers.
This position requires excellent judgment, clear communication, attention to detail, confidentiality, and the ability to remain calm and professional during high-volume periods, emergencies, and crisis situations.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The Telephone Operator / Switchboard Operator will:
- Answer incoming internal and external calls politely, efficiently, and professionally.
- Answer calls in priority order and route each caller to the appropriate department, office, clinic, employee, or service.
- Maintain a courteous and helpful attitude during heavy call volumes, emergency situations, and periods of operational stress.
- Assist patients, VA employees, visitors, and other users with placing commercial and Federal Telecommunication Systems calls.
- Coordinate and patch calls through one or more telephone stations when required.
- Clearly explain when a requested call cannot be completed and provide appropriate assistance when possible.
- Accept authorized collect calls and accurately record applicable times and charges.
- Prevent unauthorized long-distance calls and unauthorized collect calls.
- Respond immediately and professionally to emergency alarms, medical codes, bomb threats, fires, disasters, police incidents, and other urgent notifications.
- Follow all established VA emergency procedures, scripts, reporting formats, and escalation requirements.
- Receive and transmit communications through two-way radios.
- Operate overhead paging, pocket paging, visual paging, radio, and code-paging systems.
- Index and locate VA patients and employees through the designated computer system.
- Operate emergency communication equipment associated with patient emergencies, alarms, police, fire, and disaster response.
- Maintain accurate records of telephone equipment malfunctions and telephone-service complaints.
- Verify reported telephone problems and promptly notify the Information Resources Management Service.
- Access the Phone Message Manager system daily and transmit accurate messages to the appropriate VA office.
- Record a clear and concise description of each caller’s request when sending electronic messages.
- Assist with reporting and recording telephone trouble calls and moves, adds, and changes.
- Operate switchboard consoles, fax machines, computer terminals, office equipment, paging systems, and associated communication devices.
- Follow updated telephone directories, communications guidelines, standard operating procedures, and VA policies.
Equipment and Systems
Operators will be expected to learn and properly operate the following Government-furnished systems:
- Cisco 8841 telephone consoles
- Cisco 7915 sidecars
- Cisco Agent Desktop
- Lynx notification system
- Phone Message Manager
- Console switchboard equipment
- Computer terminals
- Fax machines
- Two-way radios
- Overhead, audio, visual, pocket, and emergency code-paging systems
The VA may introduce additional equipment during contract performance, and employees must participate in required training for newly implemented systems.
Required Qualifications
Candidates must demonstrate:
- Strong telephone etiquette and professional customer-service skills.
- Clear, courteous, and confident verbal communication.
- The ability to communicate effectively with patients, medical-center personnel, visitors, emergency responders, and outside callers.
- The ability to remain calm, organized, and accurate during emergencies and high-volume call periods.
- Strong listening skills and the ability to quickly determine a caller’s needs.
- The ability to prioritize calls and follow detailed operating procedures.
- Basic computer proficiency and the ability to learn multiple telephone, paging, messaging, and communication systems.
- The ability to operate telephone instruments, standard office equipment, radios, and computer applications.
- Accurate data-entry, documentation, and message-recording abilities.
- Dependability and punctuality, with the ability to report for assigned shifts consistently.
- The ability to work independently while coordinating effectively with supervisors, fellow operators, VA personnel, and emergency-response teams.
- Availability to work assigned day, evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday shifts.
- Willingness to complete all required VA orientation, system training, privacy training, cybersecurity training, and annual refresher training.
- Ability to comply with VA confidentiality, security, safety, and workplace-conduct requirements.
Preferred Qualifications
Preference may be given to candidates with:
- Previous telephone operator, switchboard, call-center, dispatch, receptionist, or customer-service experience.
- Experience in a hospital, medical center, healthcare facility, government facility, or emergency-communications environment.
- Experience using Cisco telephone systems or Cisco Agent Desktop.
- Experience operating paging systems, two-way radios, or emergency-notification equipment.
- Experience documenting service interruptions, complaints, incidents, or emergency calls.
- Familiarity with patient confidentiality, the Privacy Act, the Freedom of Information Act, or healthcare-information security.
- Experience working in a continuously staffed operation requiring shift handoffs and uninterrupted coverage.
Performance Expectations
Operators must support the following service standards:
- Incoming calls must be answered within three rings.
- Calls must be answered politely, efficiently, and in priority order.
- Telephone service must remain continuously staffed without interruption.
- Staffing must remain adequate during employee absences, breaks, meal periods, heavy workloads, inclement weather, and unexpected personnel shortages.
- Operators must follow emergency procedures without delay.
- Messages, logs, incident records, and equipment-malfunction reports must be complete and accurate.
- The overall telephone-operation team is expected to work toward an average call-answer time of fewer than ten seconds and an abandoned-call rate below five percent.
Security and VA Onboarding Requirements
The selected candidate must:
- Successfully complete the required VA personnel-vetting and credentialing process.
- Be eligible for a Tier 1/Low Risk background investigation.
- Provide all information and documentation required for VA suitability processing.
- Complete initial VA orientation and training before independently performing work.
- Sign and acknowledge the VA Contractor Rules of Behavior.
- Complete VA Cybersecurity Awareness and Rules of Behavior training before receiving system access.
- Complete required VA privacy training before receiving access.
- Repeat applicable security and privacy training annually.
- Maintain eligibility for physical and electronic access throughout employment.
- Immediately report known or suspected privacy or security incidents through the established reporting process.
Failure to complete required training or maintain applicable credentials may result in suspension of system access and removal from work under the contract.
Workplace and Administrative Requirements
- Employees must wear the identification badge issued by the VA while working.
- Employees must be included on the approved personnel roster before performing work at the facility.
- Individuals who are not listed as regular or alternate personnel may not be permitted to work at the VA location.
- Employees must wear comfortable, professional clothing appropriate for an office environment.
- Employees who drive or park at the VA facility must maintain automobile liability insurance.
- Parking is limited to designated areas, and the VA does not provide special parking arrangements for contractor personnel.
- Employees must safeguard Government-furnished equipment and immediately report damaged or defective equipment.
- Employees must comply with applicable federal, state, local, and VA fire, safety, privacy, and security requirements.
Privacy and Confidentiality
Operators may have access to patient, employee, facility, emergency, and other sensitive VA information. Employees must protect all information encountered during their duties and use it only for authorized contract purposes.
Operators must comply with:
- The Privacy Act
- The Freedom of Information Act
- VA privacy and information-security policies
- VA Rules of Behavior
- Facility-specific communications and emergency procedures
- Restrictions concerning the unauthorized use, copying, disclosure, storage, or transmission of VA information
Unauthorized disclosure or improper handling of VA information may result in loss of access, removal from the position, disciplinary action, or other contractual and legal consequences.
Application Requirements
Interested applicants should provide:
- A current résumé
- Telephone and customer-service experience
- Experience with switchboards, call centers, paging systems, radios, or emergency communications
- General shift availability
- Earliest available start date
- Confirmation of availability for weekends, overnight shifts, and federal holidays
- Professional references
Compensation and final shift assignments: To be determined based on the approved staffing schedule, candidate experience, and contract requirements.
Pay: $24.49 - $29.49 per hour
Work Location: In person
