[10068]

How do you get jobs like that?

I guess I ain't got it so bad, technically I could have my iPod playing in one ear, the headsets I use to take calls only take up my right ear

 

[c0mfortably_numb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sduibek At my job they run an application called Witness on all of our computers. (I work in a Tech Support call center) Witness basically records everything you say on the call, and captures a video feed of everything displayed on your PC's monitor. (yes, EVERYthing)

Yea I complained about this as well in one of my older posts, a call center I worked at in South Florida, ran witness on all the workstations.

Not only is it creepy, it's highly annoying!! You have to enter phone extension wait for to ring back and enter the password, god forbid if your system crashes, then you have to relogin into witness again

Call centers are evil places, my bathroom time was also something else monitored, and according to them I shouldn't even have even been using the restroom on company time I was being paid to work not to take breaks

Also you where not allowed to go to any website, not even on your lunch break, there wasn't a proxy preventing it per-se but it was grounds for immediate termination if they saw you on the internet, there where also people called floor walkers that watched everything you do.

 

[jlo mein]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sduibek At my job I can wear basically whatever I want, sometimes I don't even shower.

Come on...have some respect for your coworkers and take 5 minutes in the morning to rinse off at least.

 

[10068]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlo mein Come on...have some respect for your coworkers and take 5 minutes in the morning to rinse off at least.

It's cool man, they're all just computer junkies and drug addicts anyway. It's true!

 

[10068]

Yeahhh.... mine is not that bad. We are an outsourcer, working with over 25 telecommunication companies worldwide. So we get to be lax with our rules because all of our Contracts with different companies require different sets of policies and procedures.

We have what's called the "Best Effort" - basically as long as you're fixing the customer's issue (this is Tech Support remember) they really don't care. If I have to poll Google and some crazy internet Forum to fix an issue, more power to me. It's actually pretty awesome.

You also get a bigger bonus each Quarter if you forward on helpful information to your team-mates. (like how to track down evil Third Party subscription providers)

ALSO, they have "BOBs" - Burst of Brilliance. Basically if you get QA'd on a call and get a great score, have a customer ask to tell your Sup you did a good job, and a couple other things, you get a little card saying how awesome you are. I've got 6 already

Quote:

Originally Posted by c0mfortably_numb Yea I complained about this as well in one of my older posts, a call center I worked at in South Florida, ran witness on all the workstations. Not only is it creepy, it's highly annoying!! You have to enter phone extension wait for to ring back and enter the password, god forbid if your system crashes, then you have to relogin into witness again Call centers are evil places, my bathroom time was also something else monitored, and according to them I shouldn't even have even been using the restroom on company time I was being paid to work not to take breaks Also you where not allowed to go to any website, not even on your lunch break, there wasn't a proxy preventing it per-se but it was grounds for immediate termination if they saw you on the internet, there where also people called floor walkers that watched everything you do.

 

[c0mfortably_numb]

If I could find a laxer call center like that wouldn't be so bad I guess...

This place all they cared about was metrics, they used to walk around with boxes of pizza, "Hey can you work through lunch, you can take a slice of pizza if so" I kindly declined as I worked anywhere from 10-14 hours a day and wanted my half hour lunch break.

Around the time I handed my 2 weeks in they started something called "The phrase that pays" If you say some silly crap on the phone and QA hears you, you could pick a prize (I felt like I was back in kindergarten)

One of the phrases was "I'd be happy to help you with that" of course they didn't like when I used it when a customer was threatening to cancel there account

lol

I still have the piece of paper just for comedic reasons, they say by using the phrases:
*Makes the merchant feel like a valued customer
*Decreases customer frustration and hostility
*Improves Agents scores
*Minimizes escalations
*Provides more opportunities for positive feedback and recognition
*Opportunities to pull prizes from the Prize Bucket

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sduibek Yeahhh.... mine is not that bad. We are an outsourcer, working with over 25 telecommunication companies worldwide. So we get to be lax with our rules because all of our Contracts with different companies require different sets of policies and procedures. We have what's called the "Best Effort" - basically as long as you're fixing the customer's issue (this is Tech Support remember) they really don't care. If I have to poll Google and some crazy internet Forum to fix an issue, more power to me. It's actually pretty awesome. You also get a bigger bonus each Quarter if you forward on helpful information to your team-mates. (like how to track down evil Third Party subscription providers) ALSO, they have "BOBs" - Burst of Brilliance. Basically if you get QA'd on a call and get a great score, have a customer ask to tell your Sup you did a good job, and a couple other things, you get a little card saying how awesome you are. I've got 6 already

 

[10068]

Quote:

This place all they cared about was metrics

I know how that is

Cingular Wireless customer service was like that. i HATE, HATE, customer service. stupid arseholes complaining about charges THEY made, wanted a credit from me for THEIR mistake. What? Needless to say I walked out of that job.

Nice pizza incentive... lol

As far as the key words/phrases... yeah, they are lame. Amazingly though, they do work. As a rule of thumb, most people are:
1) lazy
2) stupid
3) homogenous

So you toss 5 or 6 key words into your call, and suddenly they like you better. I love the human psyche

Random Aside: I've had people tell me they refuse to pay $12.99 shipping charge. And they make 200$ an hour.

Anyways, at my job unless I want to fail QA for that call, i HAVE to say:
"I'm sorry you're having that problem"
"I can definitely help"
"If I understand correctly.... (insert issue here)"

The third one is actually VERY smart, saves tons if time if you make sure you're fixing the right issue. Because like I said most people are stupid and lazy, so they'll quickly describe the issue and want it quickly fixed, but they used all the wrong terminology.

Overall, Call Centers are a tough-@$$ job. But I like it, it makes me a more well-rounded person.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer One more thing that makes me happy to work for myself

I don't trust myself. So I monitor myself. But I'm so lazy, I don't catch myself slacking off.

-Ed

 

[stevesurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sduibek Nice pizza incentive... lol

Sudee - if you achieve you quota of one million satisfied customers a day, you may have a large sausage and meatball

It's time to set up surveillance on your boss so you can have a Green Day everyday!