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The call center is a fact of modern life. More and more of us are
destined to interact with a call center regularly to get assistance
on various services: banking, Internet, computers, cell phones,
credit cards, appliance repair, etc. Advances in information
technology have made distance largely irrelevant in giving
knowledge-based service to customers. The center staff, often called
an agent, could be in town, out-of-town, out of the country, in an
office, at home, wherever. Because of business process outsourcing (BPO)
arrangements, even the question of who exactly is giving the service
over the phone has become irrelevant. The agent could be employed,
contracted or working for another company.
New BPO buildings are popping up in major cities
around the country, prompted by optimistic projections about the
growth of IT-enabled services in the country fuelled by demand from
North America and Europe. Government and academic institutions alike
are rolling out programs to support this exciting sunrise industry
which plays into Philippine strengths: English fluency and service
friendliness.
I’m as encouraged as everyone else that
IT-enabled services is a terrific opportunity for the country. But
my experiences in dealing with call centers have not been entirely
satisfactory. I strongly suspect that my experience is not unique
and, more importantly, I fear that the problem can be traced to
unsound management practices that have become endemic in the call
center industry. Essentially, I suspect that despite claims that
call centers represent knowledge-age work, the management practices
are a throwback to the dawn of the industrial revolution.
My fears were reinforced by my last major call
center encounter. I was finishing an important research report when
my Internet access at home died on me. I called the call center
immediately to report the problem. I ran the usual gauntlet of
automated responses telling me to press particular numbers and
finally to enter my phone number. The agent gave her name (which I
wrote down) and after asking a few questions on my situation, asked
me to give my phone number. I gave my number, privately irritated
since I already punched in my number when I called the center. After
a series of obviously scripted questions, she eventually told me
that the problem was due to a technical glitch in the company’s
network. I was assured that the problem was being addressed by the
technical team and they were trying their best to resolve it at the
soonest time.
I called again two days later since the service
had not been restored. I was greeted by an automated message
apologizing for the service problems and giving the assurance that
they were working on the problem. My calls everyday thereafter was
met with the same automated response. I would occasionally go past
the automated message to talk to an agent about my problem but
always ended up being told, in the same mechanical way, of the
“technical problem” and the promise of eventual service
restoration.
After a week of not getting my work done, my
frustration was at its peak, and I went past the automated message
to speak to an agent again (my seventh). In the middle of the
scripted diagnosis of my problem, I interrupted him and said: “You
know, I’ve been hearing scripted explanations to my problem for
more than a week. Could you give me a supervisor who can help me
solve the problem?” After my continued insistence, he eventually
gave me the name of his supervisor but refused to put her on the
line, explaining that it was not their procedure. The agent put me
on hold once, ostensibly to consult the supervisor, but came back to
tell me that she was on another line. I asked for a return call from
the supervisor.
(Continued next week.)
Dr. Benito Teehankee is the chairman of the
human resource management department of the Ramon V. del Rosario Sr.
Graduate School of Business of the De La Salle Professional Schools.
He may be emailed at teehankeeb@yahoo.com.
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