The Loneliness of the Long Distance Call Handler

Only the things we do has changed . . .

The landscape of the country has chnaged. There's no disputing that. We now live in a 24/7 society. Everything has to be delivered in an instant. The arrival of social networking and the internet mean that information can be obtained in a second. Computers dominate our lives. If you don't have even a basic working knowledge of how to get by you are in trouble. The information you need is available in an instant. Companies who used to send stuff out now say "it's on our website" . . . and that's all there is to it. So you need something - well there's always an app for it!

The towns that once thrived are now ghosts, mere shadows of their former selves. Thrift shops fill town centres. My home town now feels like a commuter town. It has felt like that for many years. The need to work out town has been there for many years.

Peace and tranquility - no sales sheets here!

I work in a call centre that is based twenty three miles away. It is not the first time I've done this work. I have worked in two call centres prior to this one, attempting to sell car insurance and working for a utility company selling policies designed to look after your boiler and central heating. Now I'm attempting to sell breakdown cover working for a famous breakdown organization here in the UK.

The journey takes between 45 minutes and an hour, depending on traffic. You see the same glazed look on drivers every morning as they crawl along in traffic. The feeling of tension can be felt as the cars stop and start. The knowledge that the time you have made up whizzing along the country roads have been lost as you hit the main roads. The main roads aren't the only things that got hit. It saddens me to see animals lying on the road, dead from having been hit by some person who couldn't have cared less about the poor defenceless creature, let alone the speed limit. The other day I counted five dead animals. So sad.

The radio is good company. A witty DJ goes an awful long way to alleviating the monotony of the journey. Good music or a good story is a great way to help you commute!

Once upon a time, two film enthusiasts called Mitchell and Kenyon filmed working class Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century. It truly is worth watching. The way they chronicled working class Britian is fascinating. At first glance it would appear like a million miles from life today. It isn't really. The modern day factory is now the call centre. We need a modern day Mitchell and Kenyon!

Now, instead of wearing flat claps and making things, the modern day factory worker wears "office wear" or something with the company logo and starts their "shift". There's no "clocking on" in the traditional sense, it's done on your 'phone . . . no surprise there then you might say.

Here's a question - how would you define customer service? Is it helping people with their enquiries or twisting the conversation to suit the company's needs and persuading people to have something? There's a very fine line in my opinion from actually helping people  (the reason I decided to get into the "profession" in the first place) to being a glorified "salesman". Yes, people need to know what products are on offer but there are times when you hear yourself speaking and wonder "who the hell is this person?" You wonder how much of the corporate way of thinking you have subconsciously bought into. It does make you say "no, this is not the way of the world and companies should not exploit its customers." Thirty years of "Reaganomics" and the ghosts of Mrs.Thatcher's exploits linger on sadly. We need to take a more ethical approach to our working practices. We need to show more compassion towards our fellow human beings. We should answer to human beings' needs, not their shareholding.

There is some satisfaction to working in a call centre. The opportunity to talk to different people from all walks of life has always appealed to me. Every now and then there's something to laugh about during a call, someone who has a fascinating annecdote to tell and someone who's getting on in life who brings a smile to yourself when they thank you for being kind to them and showing some empathy to their situation. That is job satisfaction.

I'll always strive to make people happy.  It is in my DNA. How I'll end up doing that - well, only time will tell. Strive to help someone, do something positive that has some impact on their life. I'll keep on trying.

Until the next time,