Receptionist

Last updated
Receptionist of EA DICE in Stockholm, Sweden Receptionists.jpg
Receptionist of EA DICE in Stockholm, Sweden

A receptionist is an employee taking an office or administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business. The title receptionist is attributed to the person who is employed by an organization to receive or greet any visitors, patients, or clients and answer telephone calls. [1] The term front desk is used in many hotels for an administrative department where a receptionist's duties also may include room reservations and assignment, guest registration, cashier work, credit checks, key control, and mail and message service. Such receptionists are often called front desk clerks. Receptionists cover many areas of work to assist the businesses they work for, including setting appointments, filing, record keeping, and other office tasks. [2]

Contents

Responsibilities

White House receptionist William Simmons at his desk in 1946, conversing with a visitor Photograph of William Simmons, receptionist at the White House, seated at his desk talking with an unidentified visitor. - NARA - 199456.jpg
White House receptionist William Simmons at his desk in 1946, conversing with a visitor

The business duties of a receptionist may include answering visitors' enquiries about a company and its products or services, directing visitors to their destinations, sorting and handing out mail, answering incoming calls on multi-line telephones or, earlier in the 20th century, a switchboard, setting appointments, filing, records keeping, keyboarding/data entry and performing a variety of other office tasks, such as faxing or emailing. Some receptionists may also perform bookkeeping or cashiering duties. Some, but not all, offices may expect the receptionist to serve coffee or tea to guests, and to keep the lobby area tidy. [3]

A receptionist may also assume some security guard access control functions for an organization by verifying employee identification, issuing visitor passes, and observing and reporting any unusual or suspicious persons or activities.

A receptionist is often the first business contact a person will meet at any organization. Organizations usually expect that the receptionist maintains a calm, courteous and professional demeanor at all times, regardless of the visitor's behavior. Some personal qualities that a receptionist is expected to possess in order to do the job successfully include attentiveness, a well-groomed appearance, initiative, loyalty, maturity, respect for confidentiality and discretion, a positive attitude and dependability. At times, the job may be stressful due to interaction with many different people with different types of personalities, and being expected to perform multiple tasks quickly. [4]

Opportunities for advancement

Front desk in a Hampton Inn hotel in New York, USA HamptonInnFrontDesk.jpg
Front desk in a Hampton Inn hotel in New York, USA

Depending on the industry a receptionist position can have opportunities for networking in order to advance to other positions within a specific field. Some people may use this type of job as a way to familiarize themselves with office work, or to learn of other functions or positions within a corporation. Some people use receptionist work as a way to earn money while pursuing further educational opportunities or other career interests such as in the performing arts or as writers.

While many persons working as receptionists continue in that position throughout their careers, some receptionists may advance to other administrative jobs, such as a customer service representative, dispatcher, interviewers, secretary, production assistant, personal assistant, or executive assistant. In smaller businesses, such as a doctor's or a lawyer's office, a receptionist may also be the office manager who is charged with a diversity of middle management level business operations. For example, in the hotel industry, the night-time receptionist's role is almost always combined with performing daily account consolidation and reporting, more particularly known as night auditing.

When receptionists leave the job, they often enter other career fields such as sales and marketing, public relations or other media occupations.

A few famous people were receptionists in the beginning, such as Betty Williams, a co-recipient of the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize. [5] A number of celebrities had worked as receptionists before they became famous, such as singer/songwriter Naomi Judd [6] and Linda McCartney, photographer, entrepreneur and wife of Paul McCartney. [7] Other famous people who began their careers as receptionists or worked in the field include civil rights activist Rosa Parks [8] and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. [9]

Evolution and new technology

Some small-to-medium-sized business owners hire a live remote receptionist in lieu of a full-time, in-house receptionist, thanks to advances in communications technology. [10] As the phrase itself suggests, a live remote receptionist deals with phone calls for a company in another location using telephony private branch exchange (PBX) servers. Most modern receptionist services can take messages, screen and forward calls, answer basic FAQs, and fill out web forms. Many services can also schedule appointments and take credit card orders. Some of the older receptionist services have been around for decades, but these often operate very differently from modern services. [11]

Advances in touch screen and 2-way video technology is changing the way some receptionist work. New types of virtual video receptionist systems now allows for live, in-house or remote receptionists to manage office lobby areas from remote locations. These virtual receptionists not only answer phones but also greet walk-in visitors by utilizing a motion detection camera to "see" visitors as they enter the building. The remote receptionist is then displayed in a video window on a wall-mounted LCD, kiosk or desktop all-in-one computer. The video receptionist and visitors can then communicate via 2-way video, allowing the receptionist to manage one or many office lobby areas from a central location.

The advancement of office automation has eliminated some receptionists' jobs. For example, a telephone call could be answered by an automated attendant. However, a receptionist who possesses strong office/technical skills and who is also adept in courtesy, tact and diplomacy is still considered an asset to a company's business image, and is still very much in demand in the business world.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remote work</span> Employees working from any location

Remote work is the practice of working from one's home or another space rather than from an office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secretary</span> Office occupation supporting management

A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evaluation, communication, and/or organizational skills within the area of administration. There is a diverse array of work experiences attainable within the administrative support field, ranging between internship, entry-level, associate, junior, mid-senior, and senior level pay bands with positions in nearly every industry, especially among white-collar careers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waiting room</span> Area where people wait for an appointment or event

A waiting room or waiting hall is a building, or more commonly a part of a building or a room, where people sit or stand until the event or appointment for which they are waiting begins.

A voicemail system is a computer-based system that allows people to leave a recorded message when the recipient is unable to answer the phone. The caller is prompted to leave a message and the recipient can retrieve said message at a later time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office</span> Room where administrative work is performed

An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is an earlier usage, as "office" originally referred to the location of one's duty. In its adjective form, the term "office" may refer to business-related tasks. In law, a company or organization has offices in any place where it has an official presence, even if that presence consists of a storage silo, for example, instead of a more traditional establishment with a desk and chair. An office is also an architectural and design phenomenon, including small offices, such as a bench in the corner of a small business or a room in someone's home, entire floors of buildings, and massive buildings dedicated entirely to one company. In modern terms, an office is usually the location where white-collar workers carry out their functions.

A person responsible for providing various kinds of administrative assistance is called an administrative assistant or sometimes an administrative support specialist. In most instances it is identical to the modern iteration of the position of secretary or is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carly Fiorina</span> American businesswoman and politician (born 1954)

Cara Carleton "Carly" Fiorina is an American businesswoman and politician, known primarily for her tenure as chief executive officer (CEO) of Hewlett-Packard (HP) from 1999 to 2005. Fiorina was the first woman to lead a Fortune Top-20 company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Switchboard operator</span> Former telephony occupation

In the early days of telephony, companies used manual telephone switchboards, and switchboard operators connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks. They were gradually phased out and replaced by automated systems, first those allowing direct dialing within a local area, then for long-distance and international direct dialing.

A virtual office is part of the flexible workspace industry that provides businesses with any combination of services, space and/or technology, without those businesses bearing the capital expenses of owning or leasing a traditional office.

In telephony, an automated attendant allows callers to be automatically transferred to an extension without the intervention of an operator/receptionist. Many AAs will also offer a simple menu system. An auto attendant may also allow a caller to reach a live operator by dialing a number, usually "0". Typically the auto attendant is included in a business's phone system such as a PBX, but some services allow businesses to use an AA without such a system. Modern AA services can route calls to mobile phones, VoIP virtual phones, other AAs/IVRs, or other locations using traditional land-line phones or voice message machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interactive kiosk</span> Computer terminal that provides access to information, communication, commerce etc.

An interactive kiosk is a computer terminal featuring specialized hardware and software that provides access to information and applications for communication, commerce, entertainment, or education.

A newsroom is the central place where journalists—reporters, editors, and producers, associate producers, news anchors, news designers, photojournalists, videojournalists, associate editor, residence editor, visual text editor, Desk Head, stringers along with other staffers—work to gather news to be published in a newspaper, an online newspaper or magazine, or broadcast on radio, television, or cable. Some journalism organizations refer to the newsroom as the city room.

The front office is the part of a company that comes in contact with clients, such as the marketing, sales, and service departments. The term has more specific meaning in different industries.

Hot desking is a work office organization system where each space is available for any worker, rather than reserved for a specific worker, so different workers may use the same spot along the day or week. The "desk" in the name refers to a table or other work space being shared by multiple workers on different shifts as opposed to every staff member having their own personal desk. A primary motivation for hot-desking is cost reduction through space savings—up to 30% in some cases. Hot desking is especially valuable in cities where real estate prices are high.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skype for Business Server</span> Real-time communications server software

Skype for Business Server is real-time communications server software that provides the infrastructure for enterprise instant messaging, presence, VoIP, ad hoc and structured conferences and PSTN connectivity through a third-party gateway or SIP trunk. These features are available within an organization, between organizations and with external users on the public internet or standard phones.

A medical assistant, also known as a "clinical assistant" or healthcare assistant in the US is an allied health professional who supports the work of physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health professionals, usually in a clinic setting. Medical assistants can become certified through an accredited program. Medical assistants perform routine tasks and procedures in a medical clinic.

A virtual assistant is generally self-employed and provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients remotely from a home office. Because virtual assistants are independent contractors rather than employees, clients are not responsible for any employee-related taxes, insurance, or benefits, except in the context that those indirect expenses are included in the VA's fees. Clients also avoid the logistical problem of providing extra office space, equipment, or supplies. Clients pay for 100% productive work and can work with virtual assistants, individually, or in multi-VA firms to meet their exact needs. Virtual assistants usually work for other small businesses but can also support busy executives. It is estimated that there are as few as 5,000 to 10,000 or as many as 25,000 virtual assistants worldwide. The profession is growing in centralized economies with "fly-in fly-out" staffing practices.

Hoteling is a method of office management in which workers dynamically schedule their use of workspaces such as desks, cubicles, and offices. It is an alternative approach to the more traditional method of permanently assigned seating. Hoteling is reservation-based unassigned seating; employees reserve a workspace before they come to work in an office. An alternate method of handling unassigned seating is hot desking, which does not involve reservations; with hot-desking, a worker chooses a workspace upon arrival, rather than reserving it in advance. The use of the term has declined in recent years.

Office administration is a set of day-to-day activities that are related to the maintenance of an office building, financial planning, record keeping and billing, personal development, physical distribution and logistics, within an organization. An employee that undertakes these activities is commonly called an office administrator or office manager, and plays a key role in any organization's infrastructure, regardless of the scale. Many administrative positions require the candidate to have an advanced skill set in the software applications Microsoft Word, Excel and Access.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Personal assistant</span> Job title

A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task. It is a subspecialty of secretarial duties.

References

  1. ↑ "Receptionist Job Information | National Careers Service". National careers service.direct.gov.uk. 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  2. ↑ "Receptionists Day". Days Of The Year. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
  3. ↑ "BBC News - Brent Council's virtual receptionist labelled a 'gimmick'". Bbc.co.uk. 2013-08-21. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  4. ↑ "Hotel Receptionist Job Information | National Careers Service". Nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk. 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  5. ↑ Ryder, Chris (20 March 2020). "Betty Williams obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  6. ↑ Mussen, Dale (14 May 2014). "National Receptionist Day". WYRK . Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  7. ↑ Funeral held for Linda McCartney, CNN.com 20 April 1998, retrieved from Archive.org on 24 July 2012
  8. ↑ Shipp, E. R. (October 25, 2005). "Rosa Parks, 92, Founding Symbol of Civil Rights Movement, Dies". The New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  9. ↑ Horowitz, Jason (November 26, 2015). "For Carly Fiorina, Peripatetic Childhood Helped Build Worldview". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Receptionist". NHS Careers. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  11. ↑ Erickson, Charles (May 10, 2015). "Longtime Stroudsburg answering service endures with old school approach". The Pocono Record. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.