Call Center Part 1 : Nature of Work

Well, crazy as it may seem but I studied my body’s reaction towards the work that I’m having. First of all, let me describe the nature of my work so you get a clear picture of what’s going on a call center. Customer Service Representatives or call center agents (well, for most, they prefer the first one because it sounds better but either way; that’s ok) are [a]sitting all day long; for 8 hours. [b]We keep on talking for 2 hours nonstop, then 15 minute break and calls again for more than 2 hours. We’ll take our 1 hour lunch break then go back to taking calls then break again, then calls. I hate repeating the process! Anyway, we just keep on talking and talking nonstop unless it’s the glorious “avail” time (meaning after you you’re your call, there’s a 1-2 minute gap before another call comes in). [c] You are in front of the computer all day, not just a computer but a really slow computer! It’s like a computer from Charles Babbage’s time! [d] For my account, we handle billing and general inquiries. We take the blame from the customer who was tricked by the company. I am on the customer’s side! We get all the irate, shouting, crying, and cursing customers. [e] And if customer asks for a supervisor, we have to wait for the stupid code and for an available supervisor which will add up to the customer’s anger. The shortest time I waited for a supervisor would probably be 4 minutes. [d]We have goals that we have to hit:

AHT – Average Call Handling Time (should be about 3-4 minutes, we are required to have at least 60 short calls for a day)

Transfer Rate – we have to transfer the call to a proper department

Callback Rate – we SHOULD make sure that every customer doesn’t call back within 7 days, to ensure Customer Satisfaction.

Sales – not that much but I’m going to include it anyway

Attendance – and of course, the most famous thing I think I would never pass.

And we have to have a 100% Customer Satisfaction survey from customers. If we didn’t get surveyed, well, sorry! You wouldn’t have a huge chance of passing the goals.

Disclaimer: Not all call centers have these goals; this is just base on the company I am working for.

And there’s more! [e] Our lunch is not that full 1 hour, we are required to go to our assigned seat station and check if there’s someone using it. Guys and gals, that’s right! We don’t have our own station! We don’t have our own computers; we don’t have our own headset (which is very much a drawback for me since I’m really sensitive with smell) and we have to report to our “Team Leader” (TL/supervisor) 15 minutes before that. I just want to thank God from here, because I have the coolest TL ever. We have to bring our own alcohol to spray on that computer which was used by previous agent. [f] We have to work on a graveyard shift, because we have different Time Zones! We are like vampires, we work late at night (and I’m talking very late in here; around 10pm), then go home in the morning when the sun is up. And last, [g] you are not that inspired to go to work because you can’t even put pictures on your station because, as I’ve said, the station is not YOURS! Ok, so that is the nature of a work of a call center agent. My goal is to present to you the pros and cons of call center agents. For those who are aiming to work in a call center after graduating, I know it’s easy to get in but you’ll regret afterwards. Mark my word.