crisis helpline operator
Crisis helpline operators provide advice and support to distraught callers via the telephone. They have to deal with a diverse range of issues such as abuse, depression and financial problems. Helpline operators maintain records of the phone calls according to regulations and privacy policies.
crisis helpline operator crisis helpline operators provide advice and support to distraught callers via the telephone. They have to deal with a diverse range of issues such as abuse, depression and financial problems. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include health care occupation-specific ethics, crisis intervention, company policies, apply quality standards in social services, protect vulnerable social service users.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £30,087 a year for Welfare and housing associate professionals n.e.c. (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £26,107 to £34,682 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 3229). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Technicians and associate professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only crisis helpline operator, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 3. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Public Safety and Security
- Law and Government
- English Language
- Telecommunications
- Customer and Personal Service
- Geography
- Communications and Media
- Computers and Electronics
What you'd actually do
- Provide emergency medical instructions to callers.
- Question callers to determine their locations and the nature of their problems to determine type of response needed.
- Determine response requirements and relative priorities of situations, and dispatch units in accordance with established procedures.
- Receive incoming telephone or alarm system calls regarding emergency and non-emergency police and fire service, emergency ambulance service, information, and after-hours calls for departments within a city.
- Relay information and messages to and from emergency sites, to law enforcement agencies, and to all other individuals or groups requiring notification.
- Record details of calls, dispatches, and messages.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does crisis helpline operator do?
Crisis helpline operators provide advice and support to distraught callers via the telephone. They have to deal with a diverse range of issues such as abuse, depression and financial problems. Helpline operators maintain records of the phone calls according to regulations and privacy policies.
What skills does crisis helpline operator need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include health care occupation-specific ethics, crisis intervention, company policies, apply quality standards in social services, protect vulnerable social service users, contribute to protecting individuals from harm. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace crisis helpline operator?
Our AI-durability model gives crisis helpline operator a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.