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Tue 11 Jan, 2005 08:07 am
What do you think -- this bother you or not?
Quote:It is the opening line on so many phone conversations these days: This call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes.
The taped message is so common that many callers might assume that no one is ever listening, let alone taking notes. But they would be wrong.
Monitoring is intended to track the performance of call center operators, but the professional snoops are inadvertently monitoring callers, too. Most callers do not realize that they may be taped even while they are on hold.
It is at these times that monitors hear husbands arguing with their wives, mothers yelling at their children and dog owners throwing fits at disobedient pets, all when they think no one is listening. Most times, the only way a customer can avoid being recorded is to hang up.
"You could have a show on Broadway just playing the calls," said Mike Schrider, president of J.Lodge, a call-monitoring service based in Hammonton, N.J.
[...]
The growth of monitoring has also been fueled by the advent of Internet phone technology, which has substantially cut the cost of long-distance calls and made call monitoring as easy as clicking a mouse. Sophisticated software that automatically records conversations has increased the number of calls monitors can assess.
As more call centers move offshore, companies are starting to outsource the monitoring, too.
Seattle P-I
My sentiments, exactly. I love the idea of someone hearing my thoughts after being put on hold after finally working my way to the tertiery level of their phone tree.
I suspected this was happening, why would the "monitoring for quality assurance purposes" switch off when they put you on hold?
LOL -- well, there is that POV, rog and Phoe.
And since I don't have any pets to reprimand, that isn't something I worry about.
As a nature of my work I spend a lot of time on hold; I wear a headset much of the time (got tired long ago of cauliflower ear), and many times am having conversations, occasionally of a slightly confidential nature, with others off the phone while I am on hold.
You think someone like that shouldn't be concerned either?
I don't mind at all. In fact, I hope they feel guilty about leaving me on hold for 10 minutes while my kids scream in the background.
Phoenix32890 wrote:No, it doesn't bother me. I would love to see the looks on their faces when they hear me cussing them out for keeping me on hold so long! 
yup...and how much I hate their f*cking company....and their customer service sucks...and how stupid they are.....and don't care about my business....perhaps this will give the companies a real look at their consumer.
Kristie wrote:Phoenix32890 wrote:No, it doesn't bother me. I would love to see the looks on their faces when they hear me cussing them out for keeping me on hold so long!
yup...and how much I hate their f*cking company....and their customer service sucks...and how stupid they are.....and don't care about my business....perhaps this will give the companies a real look at their consumer.
But should you feel guilty about having a bad attitude, or are you justifiably angry about real mistreatment? I suspect the latter is true. I wonder if "your call is important to us" and related phenomena have some significance about the modern world that deserves serious study by sociologists.
Brandon9000 wrote:Kristie wrote:Phoenix32890 wrote:No, it doesn't bother me. I would love to see the looks on their faces when they hear me cussing them out for keeping me on hold so long!
yup...and how much I hate their f*cking company....and their customer service sucks...and how stupid they are.....and don't care about my business....perhaps this will give the companies a real look at their consumer.
But should you feel guilty about having a bad attitude, or are you justifiably angry about real mistreatment? I suspect the latter is true. I wonder if "your call is important to us" and related phenomena have some significance about the modern world that deserves serious study by sociologists.
Any time I am on hold it is usually for a complaint or problem I am having. Who calls a company to say "Hey, great job! I love your service!"
I mean that when you swear at the phone when on hold, your reaction is probably justified and quite understandable, at least as a reaction to that class of situations in the modern world.
I usually don't swear so much as grumble and complain loudly to my husband about how ridiculous the situation is. I just hate companies now days. They don't care about anything except their bottom line. I try not to get sh*tty with the reps because it isn't their fault really....but sometimes they just don't get it and I get a little snotty.
Kristie wrote:I usually don't swear so much as grumble and complain loudly to my husband about how ridiculous the situation is. I just hate companies now days. They don't care about anything except their bottom line. I try not to get sh*tty with the reps because it isn't their fault really....but sometimes they just don't get it and I get a little snotty.
You are separated by layers of management from those truly responsible, and it is understandable and justified for you to strike out blindly against your oppressors. I do the same and feel no guilt about it.
I spent a couple of years as a Telephone Operator... back in the early eighties.
We were extensively monitored and reviewed, and the process was continuous.
Ma Bell was Big Brother.
New technology has been recently developed which expands the capacity to monitor calls... I shudder to think of the possibilities.
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