What If There Were No Call Centers?

While I was scouring a particular topic from a forum, my attention was stucked in a topic I have never thought before and had me pondered for a moment. What if there were no call centers?

As we all know, the call center craze has been widely felt in our country today. Since its inception in 1997 (i'm not really sure), the industry has grown exponentially and has provided a lot of job opportunities to Filipinos. It's growth has prompted the growth of other industries and has improved our economy significantly.

If there were no call centers, I guess I would probably be staying in our province in Butuan practicing the degree I've earned in college and be overworked yet underpaid. The streets of Emerald Ave. in Ortigas Center, Ayala Ave. in Makati, and Eastwood City in Quezon City and North Cybergate in Alabang would not be as glitzy, lively and illuminated at night as they are today. We will not see much of those towering skyscrapers and humungous condomininiums erected around those business districts if not because of the presence of call centers.

If there were no call centers, there would probably be few 24-hour stores like Ministop and 7-11 and the ubiquitous fast food chains like Jollibee and McDonald's would close at 10:00PM. Posh coffee shops like Starbucks and Seattle's Best would not be very popular and would not be selling like hot cakes as they are today. Those stores have become so famous to call center employees that even call centers use them as incentives to motivate agents in boosting up sales or improving csat scores.

If there were no call centers, we won't see managers aging less than 30 years old, receiving 6 digit monthly salary. Climbing up the ladder would take one employee ages or sometimes waits till the next person above him retires or passes away (hehehe). Unlike in call centers where promotion is so fast that a year or even less, is enough for one agent to get promoted to supervisor. And the list goes on.

The call center industry has made a great impact in the improvement of the lives of call center agents and helped leapfrog our economy. It's presence in our country has created a multitude of opportunities and it's tremendous growth has spurred the growth of other industries. Indubitably, the call center industry has contributed significantly in propelling our country towards development.

System Outage

System outage is common in call centers specially those who have just started their operation or who have just transferred to a new location. I am not a techy person and I don't know exactly why there is such but I guess, technology really sucks sometimes. We all know that call centers rely all of their operations through the internet and computer and no matter how the company takes care of those things, system outage is inevitable.

Management dreaded this outage as it's a disruption to the normal operation of the call center and it might even mean a loss of revenue. But for us agents, it's a good thing as it gives us a moment of temporary relief from stress. When it occurs, one could really feel the sudden shift of atmosphere on the floor. Agents who are exhausted and lackadaisical suddenly become exhilarated and exuberantly boisterous. As what my teammates would say, it's utter bliss.

My current company has this problem too since we have just transferred to a new location. Though the building is nice and the facilites are awesome, system glitches happen once in a while. I am pretty sure though that there would come a time that this problem will be remedied.

Whenever I hear a buzzing sound and the floor starts to become chaotic, I can sure say that the system is out again. It may be an outage of citrix or avaya, but most of the time both. There was even one time in my previous call center where the system outage affected the entire account and we can no longer connect to the internet. And mind you this happened for the entire shift. Good thing though that the management did not send us all home. We just stayed in the office, made team huddles and took the opportunity to bond with one another. T'was one of the happiest days in our campaign. Beside chitchatting and gossiping that day, we got paid too. How I wish system outage happens everyday.. Hehehehe..

Call Center Hopper

The call center industry has been reported to have the highest attrition rate amongst all industries. This can be due to several reasons: resignation, termination, job hopping to name a few. Based on experience, I should say the latter has been very common for most agents. I, for one is guilty of that.

Call center hopper was the term coined for call center agents who hop from one call center to another frequently. We really can't blame them if they do that. Let's just say they haven't found the right company yet that offers what they are looking for. For 2 years in this business, I've been to 5 call centers already including my current one and the entire process of hopping gave me ambivalence. I was happy because finally, the agony I've gone through in my previous company had come to an end and the feeling of excitement towards the environment and facilities of my new company and the joy of meeting new people had engulfed me. I was sad at the same time because bidding farewell to my colleagues in my previous company made me cry for a while. Parting is indeed such a sweet sorrow.

Call center hopping is not really a good thing. Aside from the fact that you'll have to start all over again from scratch in your new company, adjusting yourself to your new environment and people around you comes along with it. Having a lot of call centers in your resume strikes a negative perception against you. This might put your application in the new company at risk as the interviewer might think that you are not worth to work for them as there is a big chance that you'll leave them as soon as you find another call center better than them.

Another disadvantage is that you'll find yourself stuck in being an agent while the colleagues you left in your previous call center were already promoted to higher positions such as team leader. The longest I've stayed in one company is just 6 months while the shortest one is 2 months. With this kind of duration, promotion is rarely possible. As far as I know, it takes at least a year for an agent to be promoted to team leader. Some got promoted right after regularization but that seldom happens if you work in huge call centers with thousands of employees.

I'm on my third month now in my current company. I love it here. I am happy with my account, my teammates and my company and I hope that this would be my 5th and last call center.

So for those who are still contemplating on hopping to another call center, why not try to be patient with your current company, work hard and find ways on how you can enjoy your job. Who knows you might be promoted if you stick a little bit longer.

Shifting Schedule

One of the challenges that agents face in their work is the shifting of their schedules. Shifting shedule is common in call centers who have 24/7 operations. This is done to make sure there are enough agents staffed to answer calls whenever a customer calls in anytime of the day.

I am lucky that in my current company, our schedule changes every quarter. As far as I know, most call centers change schedules once every month. But, I was surprised when a friend of mine told me that agents working for a directory assistance campaign shifts schedule every week. This must be very difficult to do thinking that your body clock hasn't adjusted yet to your current schedule and then here comes another schedule just after a week. No wonder why directory assistance campaign has a very high attrition rate compared to other accounts. I asked her why she's still there, and she told me she's already used to it.

Coping up with shifting schedules really varies from person to person. Some can adjust right away, others might take some time, while a few can barely endure it. If you fit the latter, then the call center may not be the right work for you.

One of the things I really hate is when schedule changes without prior notice. Since all agents are aware of this "flexibility gauger" thingy, they are expected to adjust immediately and to adhere to the schedule adherence policy. This means that there should be no reason for being late no matter what happens regardless if you live in the boondocks or got stuck in the horrendous traffic of the metropolis. Even if you were not informed of your new schedule, that doesn't mean you can get away with the sanctions. Because schedule adherence is one of the priorities in the call center world, failure to comply is sanctioned beyond expectations. One incident of tardiness equals one memorandum and if it continues, termination might be the final verdict. Agents are responsible of knowing their own schedule as most companies will post it to a place conspicuously, thus, not knowing your new schedule is a very lame reason.

The secret to be able to cope up with this shifting schedule is to maintain a routine and manage your time. So 9 hours of work, plus 8 hours of sleep equals 17 hours. You still have 7 hours left. One hour commute to and from work and 1 hour of time to dress up, so you still have 4 hours to run some errands.

Free from Discrimination

The call center industry is said to be one of those industries who have zero tolerance for discrimination. Regardless of your sexual preference, age, educational background and whatnot, if you have the skills suited for a call center job, you are welcome to work here.

In my 2 years of stay in this business from different call centers, I can say that most call center agents are in between the age of 20 - 30 years old. While a big chunk of agents can be considered youth, there are a few who are nearly the age of retirement. In my previous call center, I had a teammate, her age is 56 years old, that is 4 years less than retirement. Though she's the oldest among all employees, she never showed that she's a worthless granny. Her vigor and enthusiasm manifest her dedication and love for work. Everyone on the floor including our manager adores and respects her.

Aside from seeing hardworking grandpapas and grandmamas, the presence of gays and lesbians proved that call center is indeed for everyone. Queers are prevalent in this industry and they come in different forms and sizes from agents up to the top management level. I guess this industry is next to the entertainment world in terms of gay employment. It's indubitably true that gays are a source of fun and laughter wherever they are placed. Their boisterousness and facetious stories of their love and misadventures certainly never fail to make everyone laugh.

It is just so heart-warming knowing that there are already companies in our conservative country who do not show indifference and hostility to these people who are long been disparaged and underrated. Climbing up the ladder should not be gauge on someone else's educational background, age or sexual preference, but rather on their performance and their capabilities to handle higher positions. Thanks to the call center industry for providing a niche where no discrimination exists.

In-House Call Centers

As many call centers have sprouted around the metro, finding the right company to work for seems to be a little complicated nowadays. This can be due to the fact that many new players in this business are offering higher compensation packages than those who are already well established.

For most neophytes, compensation is preponderant than any other things, while for some, it is stability that weight more. Whatever it is you think paramount, it still depends upon the purpose why you are seeking a job in the call center. If you just want to work in this industry to fill in the the hiatus while waiting for the licensure examination result, a company that offers a higher compensation might be more important for you. But if you want to make it a career, a company who have been in this business for quite a while or who have stood the test of time, might be the one you are looking for.

Personally, if I wasn't happy and satisfied with my current company and account, I have already been working in a company that is prestigious and offers a compensation more than what I am currently receiving. I will definitely go for in-house call centers if things here will start to become sour. In-house call centers are call centers of huge companies who's customer service operations are being offshored rather than being outsourced.

Working in in-house call centers have several advantages. Agents of these in-house call centers pride themselves as employees of their companies, thereby enjoying the prestige and honor of their companies. They even call themselves "world-class employees". Unlike agents of outsourced call centers who are merely employees of their call center itself and not of their company's clients that they are working for. Aside from that, there is no fear of lay-off in the event that the account will be pulled out. This is so true for outsourced call centers. One of my friends had that fate when their client pulled-out their business and moved it to another outsourced call center because their call center failed to meet the metrics set by their client. (This might no longer be true as one of the biggest in-house call centers is rumored to hand down its operations back to outsourcers) And of course the most wonderful thing of all, most in-house call centers offer higher compensation packages and benefits than those well established outsourcers. In a nut-shell, in house call centers offer better packages and promising employment , thus making them desirable and sought after call centers.

For those who are still searching for the right company, I have listed below the address of some of the huge in-house call centers in the metro. Goodluck!.

Dell Customer Contact Center Eastwood City-Libis
2nd Floor, 1800 Eastwood Ave. Bldg.Eastwood City Cyberpark188E. Rodgriguez Ave.Bagumbayan, Quezon City

JP Morgan Chase Bank
31 Floor Philamlife Tower8767 Paseo De Roxas, Makati City

HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Philippines) Inc.
39th Floor PBCom Tower6795 Ayala Avenue corner V A Rufino St.Makati City 1226 Philippines

Absenteeism and Lies

In every call center, policies regarding attendance are strictly enforced as compared to any other industries. The reason behind this is because most call center companies are paid by their clients on a per call basis. This means that the more agents are absent, the more calls are abandoned, thus a loss to the company. But no matter how rigid this policy is, absenteeism is still prevalent among call centers.

When a call center agent calls his company's sick line to report his absence, is he really sick? Some maybe sick but most are just lying.

Most of the shallow yet overused sickness as a reason to be absent are sore throat, toothache, back pain and I never thought of this very awkward yet funny and effective reason, lbm.. (this agent might have used up all of the known petty illnesses and the last thing that came in to his mind was lbm) Honestly, I have almost been terminated because of absences. Thanks to my stats, it saved me from being jobless. I have used some of the sickness stated above except the last one. Hehehehe..

Not all agents who are absent because they are sick are indeed sick, most of them just malingered because they don't feel like going to work. They would rather go back to sleep and savor the wonders of sleeping at night, which most of them are deprived of or go to bars and hang out with friends and guzzled on hard liquors as if there is no tomorrow.

I will never ever forget this extemely funny incident related to me by one of my officemates. He texted his supervisor informing him that he can't come to work because he's sick. But the truth was, he just went to a bar with his friends. When my officemate was having a wonderful time grinding on the dance floor and already tipsy, he bumped to the person on his back. Wanting to apologize, he glanced at that person but he was so startled to see that the person behind him was his supervisor, staring straightly back at him. You think he was screwed? After he gained sanity from his drunken stupor, he immediately approached his supervisor and asked him jestingly, "why are you here, you're suppose to be with our team?" Smart enough, he asked that question right away before his sup could utter a single word. Knowing that both of them shirk their work and just partied, his sup gave him a wink. You know exactly what that means.. Hahaha.. very bad supervisor...

Email/Chat Support

Answering calls after another for the entire shift is just so exhausting and seems so difficult to do. Aside from the fact that you can't indulge to much in eating your favorite ice cream as you might lose your voice, being cursed to death by your customers aggravates the already irksome situation. These are the common reasons why working in a call center might no longer be desirable for most agents. I guess the only redeeming feature working here is the compensation package and nothing more.

Having worked on the phone for 2 years from 5 different call centers, I can already consider myself as a certified call center hopper. I find myself already tired and fed up from answering calls. I even begin to loathe answering our very own phone at home. But here I am still working in this business. The only reason why leaving this industry is so difficult for me is none other than the pay. I am pretty sure most call center agents would say the same thing.

Before you file your resignation and hop in to the next call center, why not try to apply for chat support? This job is similar to voice support but the only difference is that conversation is done through chat. Quite interesting, isn't it? I, myself is a chat support agent. I've been doing this for 3 months now and I am loving it. Hopefully, I would be staying here for good.

With this new job I have, worrying about my voice is already a history. I can now eat my favorite rocky road ice cream with chocolate syrup and minced almond peanuts on top of it anytime and as long as I want. As a hardcore party animal, partying there and everywhere is no longer an illusion. Oh lovely..

For those who have the same sentiments like me, I have listed below some of the call centers in the metro that have email/chat support positions. May you find that call center that will satisfy your pursuit of happiness.

TRANSCOM ASIA (NUCOMM INTERNATIONAL)
5/F. Ortigas Building, Ortigas Ave. Otigas Center, Pasig City

PARAGON INTERNATIONAL CONTACT CENTER
27/Flr. RCBC Tower 1, Ayala Ave. Makati City

SYKES ASIA
19/F One San Miguel Bldg., San Miguel Ave. cor. Shaw Blvd., Ortigas, Pasig City

ALORICA
33/F Wyunsum Corporate PlazaF. Ortigas Jr. Ave, Ortigas Center, Pasig City

ADVANCE CONTACT SOLUTIONS, INC.
9th, 10th, 11th, 18th and 20th Floor, Citibank Center, 8741 Paseo de Roxas Avenue

IBM DAKSH 3/F Edsa Central PavillionEDSA cor. Shaw Blvd.Mandaluyong City

Call Center Humor

Call center agents are human beings too, prone to commit mistakes especially during a conversation. Despite the stringent training in English communication and constant exposure to native speakers of English over the phone, grammatical lapses in between conversation are sure to happen.

On the other hand, if agents have their own show of embarrassing yet funny moments, customers too have their own show of ignorance and stupidity. Truly, these humorous moments are one of the reasons why working in a call center is full of fun.

Here's a compilation of call center booboo's taken from different call center forums.
Have fun reading!!!

1. Sir, kindly state your first and last name starting off with your area code?

2. Sir, do you happen to remember your first name, please?

3. So how long is the camera?

4. Ma'am, please turn off all electrical appliances within the vicinity of your modem. This might be causing the interference.

5. Customer: So what do I do now?
Agent: Click on the OK button, and now let's keep our fingers crossed...

6. Customer: So are you a boy or a girl?
Agent: Well, let's just say a little bit of both....(Nyah!)

7. Sir, let us not tamper with the Safe mode. It was placed there for a purpose!

8. Customer: Mr. Stanley just stepped out of the house. This is his wife.
Agent: Can you ask him to step back in again, ma'am?

9. Customer: So do I turn the camera over?
Agent: Yes, sir. You would have to turn yourself over. Right, Sir.

10. Agent: (gave an assumptive question to get the billing add) So ma'am, you are still living at P.O. Box...
Customer: Honey, I dont live in a box. I have a house.

11. Agent: Do u have an email address?
Customer: Yes. it's blah blah blah, and then the LETTER 2 @aol.com

12. Agent: Im sorry ma'am but im not pulling up a listing for that exact match in my database. Not even for the address.
Caller : Can u give me credit for this call?
Agent: (checking service provider id) im sorry ma'am but youre using a payphone. I cant give u credit for this call Caller: I paid a goddamn dollar and fifty for this call! I want it back!
Agent: Well I cant make the coin go out of the phone ma'am.
Caller : I want my dollar and fifty!!!!
Agent: (exasperated) Please hold for the coin.

13. Cust: I have a problem with my internet, I can't connect.
Agent: What is your connection, is it a dial-up or a dsl
Cust: Its a dial-up.
Agent: When did you tried connecting?
Cust: Just now while talking to a friend.
Agent: How many phones do you have?
Cust: Just this one.
Agent: Have you tried connecting while not using your phone?
Cust: Do I need to do that?
Cust: Yes sir because your connection is dial-up.

14. Agent: What is your browser? Cust: Internet Exploder.

15. Agent: Ok lets fix your issue here... Kindly do this and "press any key" to boot from CD?
Cust: ahh.. I missed it... where's the "press any key" in my keyboard?!

16. Tech: Thank you for callin'.... (cust butts in irrately)
Cust: Why my keyboard is not arrange in alphabetical order?!

17. Agent: So sir, what seems to be the problem?
Cust: Help me remove Earthlink in my PC... Earthlink is slowly taking over my PC!

18. Cust: What's your supervisor's name?
Agent: darna Cust:Spell that?
Agent: d-a-r-n-a...darna of team 4
Cust: And what's your name?
Cust: Ding

19. Tech: Thank you for calling America Online, my name is Rick, how can I help you. Customer: My screen is very fuzzy and out out focus. It was fine yesterday, but a download from your company caused this. Tech: Well lets check a few things on your computer. (Customers Wife in the Distance: Dam it Jim, you've got my reading glasses again. Use your own.) Customer: Opps, sorry my fault, bye.

20. Agent: Thank you for calling .... how may I help you? Cust: I could not print. My computer is telling me that it could not find my printer. I moved the printer and placed it in front of my monitor but it still could not find my printer.