AMC Telephone Operators consolidated at Travis AFB

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LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  The 19th Communications Squadron announced recent changes to telephone operator systems here. As of April 14, calls to 987-1110 will be answered by an operator at Travis Air Force Base.

In an effort to drive down the cost associated with maintaining operators on each installation, Air Mobility Command has established a Telephone Operator Consolidated Call Center used to remotely answer telephone calls for all 10 AMC bases. These bases are: Travis; Dover AFB, Del.; Little Rock AFB, Ark.; Grand Forks AFB, N.D.; MacDill AFB, Fla.; McConnell AFB, Kan.; Scott AFB, Ill.; Charleston AFB, S.C.; Fairchild AFB, Wash.; and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.

"The operator consolidation brings with it several changes that will impact military members, spouses, retirees and callers who frequently use the local operator service," said Mark Cobb, 19th CS Operations Flight deputy commander.

"Under the new consolidated call center, all calls for the operator will first be routed to a call tree with options for making morale calls or 'Hearts Apart' calls without operator assistance, followed by the option to speak to an operator," he said.

The consolidated call center will no longer provide a base locator service or be providing phone numbers for individuals. Little Rock AFB network users will still be able to access phone numbers in Microsoft Outlook using the Global Address List but off-base callers can no longer obtain a base employees phone number.

Additionally, requests for "Meet Me" or conference call numbers will no longer be available thru the operator service, but will be scheduled through the 19th CS Customer Support link on the Team Little Rock Share Point homepage.

"Having operators here locally, familiar with the local area and the needs of local retirees, allowed callers to obtain information specific to the local area including phone numbers for local off base establishments, such as recruiting offices, city and state local government numbers. Now that the operators are consolidated at Travis AFB, operators will no longer be able to provide that same level of information," said Mr. Cobb.

Such information can now be found in the government section of local yellow pages.

Additionally, as operators at Travis AFB begin fielding calls, there may be growing pains until the operators become more familiar with requests specific to Little Rock AFB. For example, a caller may ask for the number to the bank, however, the phone book available to the operators will not have "bank" as an option but instead would have the number listed as Arkansas Federal Credit Union or First Arkansas Bank and Trust.

As the Travis AFB operators field more calls and become familiar with Little Rock AFB, they will develop their own cross references to quickly provide the level of customer service users have come to expect.

(Courtesy of the 19th CS)