Job Specification

Purpose of Position :

To provide reception services to institution staff, inmates and the general public in Ontario's largest maximum security detention centre with an operational capacity of 1650 inmates, plus 320 in the Toronto Intermittent Centre.

Duties / Responsibilities :

1. Screening and directing multiple-line telephone switchboard calls to the institution, transferring calls to correct extensions, taking messages verbally, paging staff, referring callers to other branches or ministries using lists of frequently called numbers, federal and community directories.
Answering factual inquiries, e.g., visiting hours, facsimile numbers, office hours and mailing address.
2. Receiving visitors, e.g., ministry, the public, inmate families and advocates, professional visitors; verifying identification and notifying appropriate staff member of visitors, issuing identification tags.
3. Updating/accessing internal phone/staff list for number retrieval.
4. Processing incoming mail, including opening, screening and sorting into delivery locations or other predetermined categories, logging registered/designated (i.e. courier) mail, routing to sections within the facility, Ministry, government and public sector, and/or redirecting mail.
5. Processing regular and courier outgoing mail, including sorting, weighing, metering, and preparing for delivery to facilities, other ministries and Canada Post.
6. Preparing the delivery of mail and newspaper to the different areas within the institution.
7. Processing outgoing shipments of large items for dispatch by courier including selection best courier option, completing waybills, manifests and customs forms.
8. Typing a variety of material and composing routine correspondence such as letters, forms, memoranda, reports, purchase orders, office requisitions and local tenders, as well as proof reading material for accuracy and making necessary corrections.
9. Maintaining ongoing inventory and ordering stationery as required.

Knowledge :

Knowledge

Job requires knowledge of:
- multiple-line switchboard and receptionist procedures to provide reception services to the institution by stacking, forwarding and transferring calls to various departments;
- institutional policies/procedures to respond to factual inquiries, such as visiting hours, facsimile numbers, office hours and mailing addresses, and to manage or redirect unusual calls;
- phone number directories for other branches, ministry or community programs and services to redirect calls;
- Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS) to answer general inmate inquiries;
- a personal computer to provide typing assistance e.g. labels, envelopes, memos.
- relevant Canada Post regulations such as requirements for designation of mail into classes, e.g. first to fourth, parcel post, airmail, to ensure correct postage is affixed;
- mailing procedures such as weighing and metering mail, logging registered mail in order to provide accurate processing;
- directory of other institutions and institutional departments to sort incoming/outgoing mail into delivery locations;
- ministry/institutional rules regarding the opening and sending of inmate mail.

Skills :

- Reasoning skills to prioritize incoming calls and to recognize and act upon unusual calls, e.g. emergency/accident calls; determine what information is authorized to be provided to callers.
- Job requires identifying the correct program area number requested by accessing a phone/staff listing.
- Analytical skills when identifying incoming and outgoing mail for sorting by destination, method of delivery or other category, e.g. first, class, courier, etc.
- Problem-solving skills to determine correct destination of incorrectly addressed mail.
- Sound judgement to recognize and deal with challenging callers and decide when to refer caller to appropriate staff person.
- Oral communication skills to screen and direct multiple-line telephone calls to the institution, e.g., transferring calls, taking messages, paging staff; to answer factual inquiries, such as, visiting hours, facsimile numbers and office hours; and to receive visitors, e.g. ministry, the public, inmate families, professionals.
- Written communication skills to receive and send messages to staff.
- Professionalism, tact and courtesy when responding to callers and visitors,
- Job requires keyboarding skills to Ministry standards.

Freedom of Action :

Job requires working in accordance with institutional/office procedures when performing reception/mail duties, e.g., providing factual information while ensuring confidentiality and, a phone/staff listing to retrieve telephone numbers for callers; outgoing mail is sorted according to predetermined categories, classes of mail and postal rates as set by Canada Post. Work is reviewed on ongoing basis by the supervisor for adherence to procedures as well as the promptness of service and courtesy. Job requires referring matters not covered by established procedures to supervisor, e.g. persistently irate telephone callers or visitors.