Call Center Funnies - April 2008

We all need a laugh or two each day to relieve stress or to put things in lighter perspective. Here's a cartoon courtesy of http://www.callcentercomics.com/.

You can also check out Will & Guy's Call Center Classics

If you have any cartoons or other funny call center stuff, please share with us.

Enjoy!

Call Center Reps - Are You Being Paid Your Full Wages?

Several large U.S. corporations are being sued for not paying worktime wages to call center reps. Here's an article by Destinationcrm.com giving any overview of this issue and here is one from Earthtimes.org with the specifics of the lawsuit against AT&T Midwest.

The unpaid worktime in dispute is the time that a call center rep needs to log into or out of the acd phone system and other required software programs necessary to do their job. The lawsuit allegest that these companies only paid the reps for the time that they were available to take incoming calls. The time it takes for a rep to properly log into and out of their work programs varies from company to company but could be as much as 30 minutes/day.

If you don't know how your paid worktime is actually tracked by your company - ask!

Free Ice Cream Cone & More Freebies - April 2008

As a followup to my previous entry, "Your Call Center Salary - Stretch It With Extra Cash & Freebies - March/April 2008", attached is link from realsimple.com with a list of "23 Surprising Things You Can Get For Free".

I found there is one correction to the Real Simple list: the annual Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's this year is not April 17 (that was last year's date). This year the date is April 29, 2008. Here's a shop locator. Hope you have a Ben & Jerry's shop near you to enjoy on this day!

Call Center Workstations – Don’t Be A ‘Turtle Head’

The attached photo is typical of many call centers particularly the posture of the reps at the workstations. They are what I call “turtle heads” – backs hunched over, neck and head all scrunched down looking down at their computer screen. Sitting like this constantly 8 hours a day can do serious damage to your back, spine, neck and posture – which can lead to all other types of health issues. On a daily basis, it can contribute to headaches, fatique and lower call center rep productivity and quality. While most call centers provide ergonomically correct chairs for the reps, I find many fail to correct some of the other primary points of rep’s workstation that force the rep to sit incorrectly their entire shift. One primary point is the level of your computer screen. You should not have to look down to see it – instead it should be positioned at eye level or slightly below it. This can easily be corrected by the purchase of a plastic riser that any office supply vendor sells. Here is how http://www.wiki.com/ explains How To Set Up An Ergonomically Correct Workstation and here is what the Department Of Labor’s OSHA has to say about Computer Workstations.

If you feel that your call center needs to improve the ergonomics of its workstations, then bring these articles to your management’s attention. However, it’s important to keep in mind that your call center management does have an annual budget for office supplies and equipment that must be adhered to. If they can’t make these ergonomic improvements immediately, be patient and give them a chance to try to get the needed funds into next year’s budget. In the meantime, you may want to brainstorm with your supervisor or call center director some low cost immediate solutions. Bringing an important issue like to management’s attention - along with an attitude that shows respect for the budget and an eagerness to work with them as a team player to find reasonable solutions - demonstrates your leadership abilities and will truly impress them.

Shocking Call Center

Periodically, I have reps report to me that they are getting "shocks" from their headsets or phones. After I've convinced them that management isn't purposely electroshocking them to keep them awake on the job, I've had each incidence thoroughly investigated - brought in electrician to make sure all the phones, computers and rep workstations are safely wired and grounded, replaced headsets, replaced phones, etc. but never really found anything wrong. Yet, these occurances kept periodically happening - and randomly throughout the call center.

Yesterday, I stumbled upon the first plausible explanation I have ever found which can be found here in the article "Static In The Call Center" by Steve Fowler of Fowler associates and found on www.edsjournal.com. Finally! - some answers and some solutions.

If your call center is experiencing this type of problem, be sure to forward on this article to your Supervisor.