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Hello. I worked at a call center that did scheduling for a large hospital system, which included all the local offices as well. We had to trick callers (patients) into thinking they were calling the local office. It would be all well and good until it came time to pronounce the Dr's name. "Oh we're a off-center call center, not your office".
I have also seen this for a Apartment Leasing call Center. People would call in thinking they were calling to local leasing office, only to be speaking to a call center, sometimes on the other end of the country. "I don't know, you'll have to ask the leasing office, we're just the central call center".
Maybe I just happen to run into these two scenarios (one I worked, the other I've just seen/heard of), but I don't think they are very smart, nor customer friendly. I guess if it saves a $1 or two though, right? How common are these? Have you ever worked at one? Thoughts? Comments? Stories?
Last edited by leadingedge04; 04-14-2015 at 09:01 PM..
Centralized call centers for larger corporations are normal. Sometimes there isn't one, there are several and may be located in different regions.
It's poor form that training doesn't include how to properly pronounce the names of the doctors you're fielding calls for. Perhaps you can suggest a sheet with the names phonetically spelled out. Not that anyone is learning phonics anymore, but it may help.
Yes, my last job was one of those third party call center places. We had a huge amount of company knowledge blocked from us and when they blocked so much it was making us look uncaring or not knowledgeable I was not surprised when we lost the contract and they hired all new people in another state who did not know what they were missing.
A. It's more common than you think.
B. Agree with you that it might save money but not so smart or customer satisfaction focused.
If I told you detailed stories, I might get sued! But I will say it hurt my heart to mislead people to meet job expectations.
I actually find those types of call centers helpful for making appointments with a dentist or doctor, since it can be done outside of business hours or when the receptionist is understandably busy with patients who are physically at the office - it's a welcome alternative to leaving a message on the answering machine.
Doctors, landlords, plumbers, electricians, and many self-employed people always used answering services to answer calls, during off hours. Some of them use it during normal hours as a rollover line. My father used one, when I was a kid.
For companies with a national footprint like Wells Fargo or Capital One, they may have their own call centers. I can assure you that the call center reps are not sitting in the local bank branch.
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