This position is functionally located at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Health Administrative Service Line (HAS) and reports to the Supervisory Telephone Operator. The primary purpose of the position is to provide comprehensive telephone and telecommunications support to the Philadelphia VAMC and all associated sites.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/16/2025. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: General Experience: You must have one year of general experience to include progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates the ability to complete the indicated competencies of the position. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have two years of education above high school. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the one year of education above high school. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Information Management Technical Competence Telecommunications Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. The employee sits comfortably to do the work. There is some moving around to adjust equipment, carrying of light items such as papers, books. Monthly/Quarterly, the operator must ambulate throughout the campus to conduct power fail phone checks, nurse call alarm checks, and other alarm monitoring checks as established by department policy. This may require being away from the regular work station for several hours. 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/.
The Telephone Operator provides a welcoming and positive first impression of the VA Philadelphia Healthcare System by processing incoming, outgoing, networked, and interoffice calls regarding hospital services, patient information and providing emergency notification information. The incumbent of this position performs work in the VA Philadelphia Telephone Operations Center, which encompasses a variety of different duties and responsibilities relating to provision of telephone and related telecommunications services to all facilities within VA Philadelphia as well as performs telecommunications support assignments which involves a significant amount of customer service in recognizing and routing patient and other inquiries to the correct VA Philadelphia location and program. Major duties include but are not limited to: Operate centralized telephone system to receive and connect incoming and outgoing calls; Utilize complex computerized equipment and telecommunications software; Interview incoming callers to route calls to appropriate destination; Operate internal and external paging system; Respond to alarms and acts as key member for various emergency situations; Dispatch information according to alarm requirements for facility wide alarm systems; Perform testing of all communication and alarm systems daily; Troubleshoot telephone and computer related problems. Work Schedule: ???????Days, Nights, Weekends, Holidays Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Telephone Operator/PD00744A