A receptionist is an employee taking an office/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 specifically employed by an organization to receive or greet any visitors, patients, or clients and answer telephone calls.
The business duties of a receptionist may include answering visitors' inquiries 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.
On the 1980s ABC sitcom Bosom Buddies, the character of Amy Cassidy worked as a receptionist for the advertising agency of Livingston, Gentry & Mishkin.
The character of Cerie Xerox from the 2006 sitcom 30 Rock is both a receptionist and a personal assistant to Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon. She works at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City and is associated with the cast and crew of the fictional comedy sketch series TGS with Tracy Jordan.
On the 2007-2008 FX Network television series Dirt, actress Kyra Oser played a receptionist in all thirteen episodes from season one.