Side Trip: Tiaong and Candelaria Quezon

The Complex world of a CALL CENTRE INDUSTRY

Brewed coffee as I think of it occupies my sleepy mind, runs thru my blood, a booze that makes me awake, as I sip one or two it make me energize all throughout the night. As I hit the train as tightly squeezing my fit body to be on time and never be late for work. Faded jeans, old rubber shoes, uncombed hair and unshaven a typical look for a call center agent, not to forget the jacket and sun glasses that made this iconic of the modern era of Young Urban Professionals (YUPs). And every day as the clock keeps on ticking, every second counts while beating the time to be on time. Shift starts at 9pm to 6am and life as a night owl is entirely different from what others might think as being a good tax payers with weekends rest days only happens once in a blue moon. Traffic lights tells me that life is a fast pace full of challenge and yet the color tells me when to stop, slow down and go, it is always in a challenging and changing environment.

The industry I learnt to love thru thick and thin, 365 days and a thousand seconds of my life taught me that it is more than a bread and butter after all- it is not “something of something” but rather a job I had and exchange I do’s and stayed married for nine years from day one I signed my contract and it keeps on counting every time I wake up. Just like the vows in wedding, for better or for worse, for health and sickness till do us part? Well, let us see.

This industry plays an important role to shape our economy. Yes indeed, second to Overseas Filipino Workers when it comes to income generating industry plus taxes that makes the industry an epitome in the eyes of our Internal Revenue agency. For some, it is a typical office set up at night, sitting in an air conditioned room answering customers’ questions about products and services with huge pay and no challenge, for some it is a lifestyle for those who do not want to pursue their chosen field of endeavors in line with their course and for the rest it is a job that they cannot understand at all.

In the world of a call center industry, “risk” is a factor and a fact we generally dealt every day. Grave yard shift vulnerable and often jeopardizing our safety from the time we wake up and prepare for office and once we hit the road our mind is like a shifting gears, speed and direction are our main focus that we arrive safely. Oddly speaking, it is a job I learned to love, cursed and embraced its weaknesses within- a blanket of security and scrutiny, a love and hate relationship in a roller coaster ride, a cat and mouse game played in a four corner of the office chasing dreams and reality, it is the complexities within that drives everyone intact.

It seems it may not be that way we live as an employees of the Business Processing Outsourcing(BPO) but at the end  of the day this job is something I am thankful despite of ups and downs, complaints and unwanted changes happens when you least expected.  Life is full challenges and changes and the only difference is that we are used to that changes as the day goes by.

Been in the industry for a decade now and just like every offices in the corner we have performance that being measured from the time we log-in and out in that little tool we call it “Avaya.” That log –in is our life and beyond from day one we had our training until we hit the production floor. Being an agent is like a little soldier sent to war equipped with the things we need to survive and being survivor is a skills we developed and keeps on improving as we venture in this little journey called “LIFE.”

At the end of the day I must say that we are blessed with this simple opportunity that has a big impact being an employee that the pay is enough for us call center peeps to survive.

The perks in a working environment of a call center industry is entirely different from what other industry may offer and it may seems an entirely a different package at all. And having a good pay is not what it seems to be and just like any call center, the perks differs how one’s view the life within being an agent, these includes the performance bonuses and incentives, Rewards and recognition and on the spot incentives given to those who are truly working sincerely ahead of others and not to mention the BIG PAY OUT DAY and the whole nine yards in terms of financial statue.

Most of the time, people think that working in a call center industry pays a big bucks that makes every call center reps rich and live like a king. Reality says the other side of the story indeed and that makes the story sad that people have this preconceived notion that every time they talk to a call center employee the first thing they tells you is that, you are rich and can afford things that life can offer and yes it does but it does not end there at all and it is not true at all that we can buy almost anything we want in life that the boundary between NEEDS and WANTS is no longer important.  Every 15^th and 30^th of the month we get paid, but  what most common people do not understand is that we are not paid in a millions, yes it does tells the story that among the industry in the country we are paid just above the minimum that the law requires and on top of that, it is all depends on the experience, the employer and the account where we will be assigned after the excruciating pain from day one we applied for the open position that was posted on the job advertisement until we hit the production floor.

There are many challenges we face along the way and we are bound all the time these challenges as we continue to strive for the best, and one of this is our metrics we need to maintain in a month to month basis. To a few, our attendance as expected, Average Handling Time (AHT), Quality Assurance grade (QA), adherence, productivity and the Customer Review done by the third party that measures the external Quality Assurance grade for the specific Line of Business(LOB)  we are currently  assigned. Culture is one of the many challenges we need to dealt with, since call center is a mixture of different personalities, it is unavoidable to have some sort of differences and clashes as we go along the way, and this is where our interpersonal skills being tested all throughout our time we stayed as a group, within the team, for the team and by the team. With all sort of things that is beyond our control, being flexible at all times plays an important role to survive and manage oneself to become successful individual at the end of the day.

A job like this in every aspect of being an agent sounds like an answering machine as most people would say and first thing that comes to their mind every time they hear the word “CALL CENTER” compared by most people who misquoted our job and for those who truly understand us, a big THANK YOU! At least we are still human at the end of the day as we can feel and see ourselves outside the cubicle.  By the way, did I mention that special occasions like Christmas, New Year, Reunion, wedding and birthday party are just a few occasion that will be missed once we  sign the contract to be  part of the Call Center industry? I know that we Pinoys(slang for Filipino) love to celebrate these occasion since we are clannish   by nature, whether we agree or not, it is deep rooted in our culture since time immemorial that will never fade away in the time of tide. For nine years working as a call center rep, twice I joined my family for Christmas and New Year, a wedding and while other occasions I just simply let it go. Thinking to go on vacation leave? It is a first come first serve basis and planning ahead is fragile to the point that there is no assurance yet that it will be approved as expected. Oh well, life in a call center industry is like a mice in a box, a race in a maze going circle, it is a roller coaster ride. Thru thick and thin it is the beauty and madness I learn to live, dealt and love as time goes by.