Glossary
Switchboard Operator Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential switchboard operator terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key switchboard operator vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in switchboard operator training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Answering service
- Business that answers calls for others.
- Call log
- Record of calls.
- Call volume
- Number of calls.
- Code blue
- Hospital emergency code.
- Directory
- Contact list.
- Dispatch
- Sending help.
- Escalation
- Passing to someone higher.
- Hold
- Pausing a call.
- Hold time
- Time callers wait.
- Message accuracy
- Correct details.
- On-call schedule
- Who’s available after hours.
- Page
- Overhead or pager announcement.
- PBX
- Private branch exchange phone system.
- Script
- Planned wording.
- Transfer
- Moving a call.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Switchboard Operator practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Switchboard Operator training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.