US dataswitch to UK
Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
operating communication systems, such as telephone, recording messages, suggesting rewording for clarity or conciseness and paging individuals to inform them of telephone calls. If that's your week, this page is about your job.
The honest answer
Most tasks in this job are the kind AI has learned to do: answering incoming calls, greeting callers, providing information, transferring calls or taking messages. The tasks, though, are not you.
It would be a lie to soften that; greeting visitors, log them in and out of the facility is what this work rebuilds around. The plan below starts there.
Your week, as this page understands it
Operate telephone business systems equipment or switchboards to relay incoming, outgoing, and interoffice calls. May supply information to callers and record messages. The job title says “switchboard operators” or “including answering service”: officially one job, two names. The real job is the part underneath: greeting visitors, log them in and out of the facility, assign them security badges and contacting employee escorts. That is the thing someone has to be right about.
The exposed part of this job is specific, and we won’t pretend it is coming back. But switchboard operators, including answering service is not one task. It is 19 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is greeting visitors, log them in and out of the facility, assign them security badges and contacting employee escorts, and the ledger below shows exactly why.
Where the work sits, by task weight
- shifting to AI
- 58%
- changing shape
- 22%
- staying human
- 20%
These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.
Whole-job exposure score 60 out of 100 (56–65 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, across 19 scored tasks. The number is the support for the sentence above it, not a headline about anyone’s future.
How we know this
What is measured: Every published task statement for switchboard operators, including answering service is rated on five dimensions: can a model produce the output, does the work need a body in a room, does it need a legally accountable person, does it depend on a person being trusted in the moment, and how much data exists. A published formula turns those five ratings into the score; the model never writes the number.
How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.
Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-05. Read the full method.
Your job, task by task
These are the official task statements for this occupation, in plain English, sorted by what the evidence says is happening to each one. The official wording sits under every line so you can check the rewrite against it.
- 1 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
Shifting to AI
11 tasksTasks today’s tools can already do most of. This is the part we will not soften: where these rows are the bulk of your week, the week changes.
Answering incoming calls, greeting callers, providing information, transferring calls or taking messages
This is reading one thing and writing another: calls, greeting callers, providing information in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Answer incoming calls, greeting callers, providing information, transferring calls or taking messages as necessary.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 79 out of 100 (75–83 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Greeting callers, giving information, transferring calls and taking messages is what automated phone assistants now do well.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Relaying or routing written or verbal messages
This is reading one thing and writing another: written in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Relay or route written or verbal messages.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 79 out of 100 (75–83 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Passing messages between people is routine, easily automated communication work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Paging individuals to inform them of telephone calls
This is reading one thing and writing another: individuals in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Page individuals to inform them of telephone calls, using paging or interoffice communication equipment.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 79 out of 100 (75–83 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Paging someone to take a call is a simple automated step.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Performing various data entry or word processing tasks
This is reading one thing and writing another: various data entry in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Perform various data entry or word processing tasks, such as updating phone directories, typing or proofreading documents, or creating schedules.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 93 out of 100 (89–97 allowing for uncertainty): very high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Updating directories, typing and proofreading, and building schedules is core computer work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Changing shape
4 tasksTasks where the machine takes the producing and a person keeps the checking, the deciding, or the answering-for-it. For most jobs this is the biggest group, and it is where "transformation, not termination" is literally visible.
Operating communication systems, such as telephone, switchboard, intercom, two-way radio or public address
The software now makes the first pass at communication systems, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Operate communication systems, such as telephone, switchboard, intercom, two-way radio, or public address.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 48 out of 100 (41–55 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Modern call handling runs through software, though radios and public address systems still sit at a staffed desk.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Monitoring emergency and coding alarms
The software now makes the first pass at emergency, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Monitor emergency and code alarms, make emergency announcements, or route emergency calls to the appropriate location.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 42 out of 100 (35–49 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Alarm routing follows fixed rules, but in a real emergency people expect a person making the announcement.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Contacting security staff members
The software now makes the first pass at security staff members, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 5 · SupplementalSource: “Contact security staff members when necessary, using radio-telephones.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 48 out of 100 (41–55 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Alerting security is a simple, automatable step, though radio traffic still runs through a staffed desk.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Staying human
4 tasksTasks that stay with a person, because they happen in the physical world, because the rules need someone accountable, or because the value is that a specific person does them.
Greeting visitors, log them in and out of the facility
This work happens in the physical world: visitors, log them, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Greet visitors, log them in and out of the facility, assign them security badges, and contact employee escorts.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 12 out of 100 (5–19 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Signing visitors in can be automated, but greeting them and handing over a badge needs someone at the desk.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Processing incoming or outgoing mail
This work happens in the physical world: mail, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Process incoming or outgoing mail, packages, or deliveries.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Sorting parcels and handing over deliveries is physical work at the front desk.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Performing various cash handling tasks
This work happens in the physical world: various cash handling tasks, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Perform various cash handling tasks, such as collecting payments, making bank deposits, or managing petty cash.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Handling cash and taking deposits to the bank requires a person with the money.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Show the other 9 tasks
Keeping records of calls placed and charges
shifting to AIThis is reading one thing and writing another: records of calls in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Keep records of calls placed and charges incurred.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 93 out of 100 (89–97 allowing for uncertainty): very high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Logging calls and charges is automatic record-keeping in any modern phone system.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Recording messages, suggesting rewording for clarity or conciseness
shifting to AIThis is reading one thing and writing another: messages in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Record messages, suggesting rewording for clarity or conciseness.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 93 out of 100 (89–97 allowing for uncertainty): very high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Taking down a message and tightening the wording is straightforward writing work for software.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Completing forms for sales orders
shifting to AIThis is reading one thing and writing another: forms in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Complete forms for sales orders.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 93 out of 100 (89–97 allowing for uncertainty): very high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Filling in a sales order form from a request is routine template work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Placing telephone calls or arranging conference calls
shifting to AIThis is reading one thing and writing another: telephone calls in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Place telephone calls or arrange conference calls as instructed.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 79 out of 100 (75–83 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Dialing calls and setting up conference bridges is standard automated scheduling work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Answering simple questions about clients' businesses
shifting to AIThis is reading one thing and writing another: simple questions in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Answer simple questions about clients' businesses, using reference files.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 79 out of 100 (75–83 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Answering simple questions from reference files is straightforward lookup that software does instantly and accurately.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Performing administrative tasks, such as accepting orders, scheduling appointments or meeting rooms or sending and receiving faxes
shifting to AIThis is reading one thing and writing another: administrative tasks in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Perform administrative tasks, such as accepting orders, scheduling appointments or meeting rooms, or sending and receiving faxes.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 79 out of 100 (75–83 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Taking orders, booking rooms and sending faxes is routine administration software handles well.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Placing orders, such as for equipment, supplies or catering for meetings
shifting to AIThis is reading one thing and writing another: orders in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 3 · SupplementalSource: “Place orders, such as for equipment, supplies, or catering for meetings.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 64 out of 100 (57–71 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Placing orders for supplies or catering follows a clear process that software can run end to end.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Monitoring alarm systems to ensure that secure conditions
changing shapeThe software now makes the first pass at alarm systems, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 5 · SupplementalSource: “Monitor alarm systems to ensure that secure conditions are maintained.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 56 out of 100 (49–63 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Alarm panels are already monitored by software, though someone usually has to check the site itself.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Stamping messages with time and date and filing them appropriately
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: messages, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Stamp messages with time and date and file them appropriately.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 38 out of 100 (31–45 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Time-stamping is automatic on a computer, but paper messages still have to be stamped and filed by hand.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
What this job pays, and how many people do it
- Median pay
- $38,630a year, the middle of the range, so half earn more and half earn less.bls-oews, 2025 · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
How we know this
Source: bls-oews
Reference period: May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
Rounding: Shown as published.
- People doing this job
- 34,280in the US, 2025.bls-oews · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
What is deliberately not here: a forecast of how many of these jobs exist in ten years. Where an official projection exists for a market we publish it with its vintage; where it does not, we leave the space empty rather than borrow the other country’s number.
Why this is shifting
The reason is boringly specific. Most of what is shifting here is reading one thing and writing another: calls, greeting callers, providing information in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: answering incoming calls, greeting callers, providing information and relaying or routing written or verbal messages. What it cannot do is be there in the room, and that is still where visitors, log them get done. Which is why this page talks about your tasks changing, not your job ending.
Your move
Over a pint: what I’d tell you if you were my friend
The exposed part of your job is the biggest part, and I am not going to dress that up: answering incoming calls, greeting callers, providing information, transferring calls or taking messages is work today's tools do quickly and cheaply, and that is not coming back.
So, given all that: 58% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 22% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 20% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 19 scored tasks. It is not a forecast about you.
What you have that the software does not is greeting visitors, log them in and out of the facility, plus the years of knowing when something looks wrong before you can say why. That is the raw material for everything below.
This week: one thing
Sit on the machine's side of the desk. Pick one real piece of calls, greeting callers, providing information you would normally do yourself, let whatever software you already have take the first pass at it, and then go through what it produced and write down every single thing it got wrong. One evening this week. Do not fix anything yet. Just catch it.
- What you end up holding
- a written list of the machine’s mistakes, in your handwriting
- How long it takes
- an evening, or an hour if you pick one job rather than one client
If you can’t run software on your employer’s or your clients’ data: Do the same hunt on paper. Take one printed piece of calls, greeting callers, providing information, work through it the way you always do, and mark every point where you made a call rather than followed a rule. Same evening, same list, nothing to log into and nobody to ask permission from. That list is the same artifact: it is the judgment written down.
Over the next 90 days
Change one sentence about what you do. Not on a CV. Out loud, to whoever pays you. From “my job is answering incoming calls, greeting callers, providing information, transferring calls or taking messages” to “I check what the software does and tell you what it means.” Your error list from this week is what makes that sentence true instead of a claim, so use it: show it once, to one person, inside the next ninety days. Same skills, priced as judgment rather than as typing.
Over the next 12 months
Walk toward the end of this job that answers for things, and get it recognised. Pick the one part of greeting visitors, log them in and out of the facility you are already best at, and spend the year making it formal: a qualification, a named responsibility, a specialism people ask for by name. Price it honestly: that is evenings, it is months rather than weeks, and the seats are competitive because everyone in your position is looking at the same door. Before you pay for anything, use CareerOneStop - Find local training. It is free, it is the Labor Department's own service, and it is listed below with the rest of the free routes.
The roads out of here, and why I am not sending you down them
I looked at the obvious moves out of this job, and here is what I found.
I checked the 12 nearest US occupations to switchboard operators, including answering service (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was medical transcriptionists: only about 9% of its durable work is work you already do and it is under the same pressure this job is. I am not going to pretend that is comfortable news: 58% of your own task list is already in the top exposure band. But the answer on this evidence is not a sideways jump into a job with the same problem. It is to walk toward the end of this one that answers for things. “operate communication systems” is the part that stays with a person, and spending a year getting formally recognised for it beats a standing start somewhere else.
How that was checked: this job was compared against all 830 US occupations in this release on their official task statements, and the 12 nearest were examined one by one. A move that turns on an industry, an employer or a qualification rather than on the work itself will not show up in a check like that. And this release carries no licence register, so anything you are weighing needs that looked up separately.
3 moves I checked and rejected
These are the obvious-looking jumps. They are here with their reasons rather than quietly dropped, because the ones that fail are worth knowing about. It is one less thing to turn over at night.
Medical Transcriptionists
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already place telephone calls or arrange conference calls as instructed, and their equivalent is to receive and screen telephone calls and visitors. Across both published task lists that is about 9% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 9% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step. I will not move you off one melting floe onto another: 79% of its own task list already scores in the top exposure band (71/100 in this release), so the same software is eating it.
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already greet visitors, log them in and out of the facility, assign them security…, and their equivalent is to greet visitors and determine whether they should be given access to specific individuals. Across both published task lists that is about 7% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 7% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step. I will not move you off one melting floe onto another: 68% of its own task list already scores in the top exposure band (65/100 in this release), so the same software is eating it.
Public Safety Telecommunicators
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already monitor emergency and code alarms, make emergency announcements, or route emergency calls to…, and their equivalent is to receive incoming telephone or alarm system calls regarding emergency and non-emergency police and…. Across both published task lists that is about 5% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 5% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step.
What I’d stop worrying about
A friend tells you what not to spend fear on. This is that list.
The headline number you read somewhere
The big “X% of jobs” figures are about the whole economy, not about you. The number that describes your job is on this page: 58% of its task weight, across 19 scored tasks. Every row behind it is printed above with the source. Check ours; ignore theirs.
“It’s too late for me to become something else”
You are not starting from zero, and the page shows why: greeting visitors, log them in and out of the facility is work the software cannot do and you already do it. The move above is a repricing of what you know, not a new career. Nobody who has just left college has that.
“I should learn to code”
Almost certainly not. The value in your job is moving toward checking, deciding and answering for the output, not toward writing the software. A weekend of Python will not change your position; the error list from this week will.
The “obvious” next job everyone suggests
I checked the obvious moves and most of them did not survive. The reasons are printed with the routes above, including the pay and the gate. A move that fails on the numbers is worth knowing about so you can stop turning it over at night.
You are reading the United States figures
The United Kingdom splits this work across more than one official group, of which Telephonists is the closest. The pay and employment figures are not directly comparable, and we do not average them together.
Switch to the United Kingdom page →partial match
The other groups this work is counted across:
In UK official statistics this job is counted as Telephonists and Communication operators. Pay is shown separately for each of those groups (medians cannot be averaged together), while the task list and the scores on this page are for this group only.
Your route through this
Where to go next, and what it costs
Free, and complete
The moves above cost nothing. These are the real services that go with them: public, government-funded, and free at the point of use. Nothing on this page is behind an email address or a payment.
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Find local training
Search what's running near you, from the Labor Department's own database, before anyone sells you a course.
Free to search; individual programs vary, and some are funded
Anywhere in the US:
An American Job Center will sit down with you for free. Find yours by ZIP code.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Licensed occupations finder
Check what your state actually requires before you pay for anything.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
Free
No Space for this job, but one for what is happening to it
Nothing Collab365 runs is built for switchboard operators / including answering service, and we are not going to point you at the nearest one and call it a fit.
There is one that is not about a job title at all. The AI Authority is about being the person who directs these tools at work rather than the person they get compared to. That is worth saying here, because 58% of the work on this page is already inside what they can do.
7 days free, no card needed. Explore up to 2 Spaces before you choose a plan: you pick a plan later, not now.
The AI Authority is a general community about working with AI, not a course for switchboard operators / including answering service. You do not need it to act on anything here: the moves above cost nothing and stand on their own. The data on this page is the same either way.
Noted, and thank you. We’ll email you if a Space for switchboard operators / including answering service launches. Nothing else.
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No deadline on any of this. The page will still be here, and the data is refreshed on a published schedule rather than when someone wants a headline.
Questions people ask about this job
- Will AI replace Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service?
- Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 19 official task statements scored for Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service (United States, SOC 43-2011), 58% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 60 out of 100 (range 56–65, band: high). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.
- Which tasks in “Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service” can AI already do?
- The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Keep records of calls placed and charges incurred” (93/100, very high); “Record messages, suggesting rewording for clarity or conciseness” (93/100, very high); “Complete forms for sales orders” (93/100, very high). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.
- Which tasks in “Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service” stay human?
- About 20% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Perform various cash handling tasks, such as collecting payments, making bank deposits, or managing petty cash” (0/100, minimal); “Process incoming or outgoing mail, packages, or deliveries” (0/100, minimal); “Greet visitors, log them in and out of the facility, assign them security badges, and contact employee escorts” (12/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.
- What should someone working in “Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service” do about AI?
- Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 58% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 20% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.
- How is the AI exposure score for Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service calculated?
- Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 19 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.
Where these numbers come from
Worth knowing about these figures
- The match between this job and its counterpart in the other country is partial, so the two pages count slightly different groups of people.
- 1 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
- Task statements
- onet-dbProcessing: catalogue-bridge → onet-im-rt-weighting → task-scoring → score-aggregation
- Task weights
- onet-db (im-rt)
- Scores
- Rubric task_scoring_v1.0, model claude-opus-5, computed 2026-08-05.
- Pay and employment
- bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))
Figures on this page come from release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Every release keeps its own permanent address, so a figure you cite in March is still there, unchanged, in November.
The plain-English wording on this page is assembled directly from the task statements and the published ratings, not written by hand for this occupation. That is why it is specific, and it is also why we say so.
The routes and free resources further up are today’s, not the release’s (last reviewed 2026-08-05). A route is an offer, not a historical fact, so it moves on its own clock.
Using these figures?
Cite this
Everything on this site is published under CC BY 4.0. Quote it, chart it, sell something built on it. Just say where it came from, and cite the dated release rather than the site, so the figure you quote stays checkable.
Plain text
Collab365 (2026). Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1 (methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0). https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Built with O*NET data (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); ONS data (Open Government Licence v3.0); GAISI task framework (arXiv:2507.22748, MIT); BLS data (public domain).
BibTeX
@misc{collab365futureproof2026q41,
title = {Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1},
author = {{Collab365}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1},
note = {Release 2026-q4.1, methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0, CC BY 4.0}
}Data as of release 2026-q4.1, published . Releases never change after publication; when the figures move, a new dated release is published beside this one and this one stays exactly where it is.