Phone operator vs central communications specialist

The differences between phone operators and central communications specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a phone operator and a central communications specialist. Additionally, a central communications specialist has an average salary of $41,083, which is higher than the $30,289 average annual salary of a phone operator.

The top three skills for a phone operator include patients, customer service and phone calls. The most important skills for a central communications specialist are customer service, data entry, and traffic flow.

Phone operator vs central communications specialist overview

	Phone Operator	Central Communications Specialist
Yearly salary	$30,289	$41,083
Hourly rate	$14.56	$19.75
Growth rate	-4%	8%
Number of jobs	87,484	63,117
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	53	53
Years of experience	2	2

What does a phone operator do?

The primary job of phone operators is to help customers by answering questions, providing information, and transferring calls. They handle special billing requests from customers such as credits or refunds for bad connections or incorrectly dialed numbers and third-party charges. They may also handle emergency calls and aid children or people with disabilities to make phone calls. Other tasks of phone operators include calculating and quoting charges for services, operating telephone switchboards, and monitoring automated systems for collect calls placement.

What does a central communications specialist do?

A central communications specialist is in charge of overseeing the public and media relations of an organization. Although their duties may vary upon their company or industry of employment, it usually involves handling media requests and press releases, developing newsletters and press kits, facilitating communication lines with clients, and coordinating with media partners and advertising agencies. Moreover, in some companies, a central communications specialist may also participate in utilizing social media and other web platform strategies to raise brand awareness and public interest.

Phone operator vs central communications specialist salary

Phone operators and central communications specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Phone Operator	Central Communications Specialist
Average salary	$30,289	$41,083
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $36,000	Between $31,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	-	Portland, OR
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	BMO Capital Markets
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between phone operator and central communications specialist education

There are a few differences between a phone operator and a central communications specialist in terms of educational background:

	Phone Operator	Central Communications Specialist
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Phone operator vs central communications specialist demographics

Here are the differences between phone operators' and central communications specialists' demographics:

	Phone Operator	Central Communications Specialist
Average age	53	53
Gender ratio	Male, 22.7% Female, 77.3%	Male, 41.9% Female, 58.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.3% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 3.2% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 14.3% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 3.2% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	19%	19%

Differences between phone operator and central communications specialist duties and responsibilities

Phone operator example responsibilities.

Manage incoming calls from patients and medical professionals by utilizing telephonic paging system and manual messaging.
Answer phone calls for att and directv
Up sell customers to DirecTV bundles as well as internet, cell phone service, long distance and home phone service.
Illistrate confidentiality of veterans when discussing concerns as it relate to medical treatments in compliance with HIPPA regulations.
Up sell customers to DirecTV bundles as well as internet, cell phone service, long distance and home phone service.

Central communications specialist example responsibilities.

Manage, create and edit internal and external communication collateral, providing high-level management copywriting and document creation support.
Interpret medical abbreviations (SIG codes).
Follow all HIPPA and other confidentiality laws.
Dispatch helicopter teams to scene call flights.
Assist customers to the parking lot with groceries.
Resolve complex verification problems relate to interactions between all functional areas of the AVN, FAA and its user organizations.

Phone operator vs central communications specialist skills

Common phone operator skills

Patients, 15%
Customer Service, 15%
Phone Calls, 13%
Telephone Calls, 9%
Front Desk, 4%
Computer System, 4%

Common central communications specialist skills

Customer Service, 28%
Data Entry, 23%
Traffic Flow, 7%
Sops, 7%
FDA, 6%
Financial Transactions, 5%

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Phone Operator vs Central Communications Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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