Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

In another thread I explained how, like many people, I get irritated by companies answering their 'phones with press 1, 2, 3, 4..music etc.

I had assumed that this was done to direct customers to different members of staff with each one specialising in a particular business activity.

BUT, after speaking to a young man recenty, who works in a call centre for a mobile 'phone company (not VM), he said that after all the different menus that customers are forced through, the majority of them get through to exactly the same people!

I asked if they at least received notification at their work stations as to what the customer had indicated what the call was about, so they had a rough idea of what to expect even before speaking to them and he said not

So, what IS the point of all these menus? Is it to delay calls to help keep backlogs down at peak times?

How does this work at VM?

I'm genuinally interested, should anyone know the answer :)

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

It works the way you think it does

Answering the prompts directs you the appropriate team as well as providing them with details as to where you left the automated system

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

Also, some of the options do come through to the same department, however on our computers/phones it will tell us what type of call it is, e.g. if a customer comes through to me in sales, the customer will have been asked a couple of things before they get through to me and it will come through to me as either a cable sales call or a national/offnet sales call and then our targets are determined by those options.

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

This has been on the news recently ...
http://www.pleasepress1.com/

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

We use a numbering system in our call centre (a housing association customer call centre) and the numbers do actually transfer through to people who are trained in the specific service areas available to the customer in the initial menu (I think there are now seven options).

What we don't do is have a second menu of further menu options as VM does. We tend to keep it simple.

There are some customer service advisors who are proficient in more than one service area, so they will receive different types of calls - the types of call they receive is determined by line managers.

The calls will flash up to tell the advisor what the type of call is (i.e. which menu option the customer chose) so they are prepared - it also flashes up on a screen so the whole call centre can see what calls people are on, or whether they're available, or on a break - it's a brilliant system and works well, as long as there are enough people trained in all the service areas answering calls.

Where the system can fall over is first thing on a Monday morning, but that's fairly typical for call centres only open Mon to Fri ;)

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

Pressing buttons before speaking to large companies is something that is here to stay....

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

My doctor's surgery has 7 options in their menu!

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

And I bet they all end up at the receptionist :)

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

I suspect it will be replaced by voice recognition. Some companies already use that.

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

They used to have 10 options on their menu and used a premium rate number (09xx) but after complaints they changed to a geographical 01189 number.

Yes they all ended up at the receptionist.

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

It doesn't really work that well though, as although it might be able to understand you it has to interpret what you said as well and correspond that with an option. Even Siri only works with a certain number of commands.

I had to phone Lloyds TSB the other day to get my online banking password reset, so I told the voice recognition that I wanted to reset my online banking password got put through to someone who then told me I needed the internet banking department and had to put me through to them.

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

I agree it isn't good enough yet, but it will improve. (I was responding to Doug's suggestion that button pressing was here to stay)

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

Voice recognition..it's got to get a lot better before I trust such a system to work.

I just press the any other option button in the hopes I get a live body at the other end and that applies to all the various CS systems.;)

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

So while your busy pressing buttons running your 'phone bill up, the surgery is making money from you :shocked:

I have just watched a programme from the 1960's that featured call centres. It said that each employee was given a 15 min break every 2 or 2 and a half hours.

What is the system today? Have modern health and safety requirements meant that staff get more breaks than staff in the 1960's, or have breaks decreased with the desire for "efficiency" and to meet targets?

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

I've found repeatedly pressing '0' usually makes the machine give up and simply put you in a queue to talk to a human.

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

I work in a call centre, although thankfully no longer on the phones. We currently offer 2 x 10 minute paid breaks, plus 1/2 hour (unpaid) lunch in a 7 1/2 hour working day. We also operate on 16-37.5 flexi contracts, which means that you can be rostered in for 7.5 hours per day, but you can be sent home early unpaid if it is quiet.

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

So if you work a 7.5 hour day and have a morning break, a lunch of half an hour and an afternoon break, that's a break, on average, every 2 and a bit hours, so about the same as the 1960's??

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

Yes.

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

:tu:

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

Was very similar at an insurance company I worked for about 15 years ago. Apart from their 45 minute lunch break I believe it was one 10 or 15 minute break in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each group of staff was treated as a cell and some cells (or maybe it was just some people in those cells) could cover more than one area of business other than sales. They were always rushing around as in their short break they had to use the loo, grab a snack and anything else they had to get done.

The cell layout and how they were treated made me think of poorly treated cattle.

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

I work in a call centre for Virgin Media, we work 8.5 hour days but within that we get 2 x 15minute breaks and a 1 hour lunch in the middle, it can vary slightly if we work a Saturday but mostly it's as I've written above.

Edit: a Saturday or a Sunday

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

Interesting, I had thought that working conditions would have worsened with the passage of time as companies strive for greater efficiency and cost savings etc.

Re: Question for VM (or other) Call Centre staff.
 

Some things are set out in the Working Time Regulations http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1373

Most companies do an unpaid lunch break so that is 'extra'