Call Centers + Exact Compliance

[Anriana]

My call center is about to move to exact compliance, ie your break is scheduled for 5:15, you need to log out at exactly 5:15. Currently we have a 15 minute grace window.


The call center's average AHT is about 11:30 so this seems like a really stupid idea that is going to result in a lot of people sitting out of the queue for a few minutes before logging out.


Does anyone else work in a call center with exact compliance? How does it work? Is it hard to meet?

[gunsage]

When I worked as a tier 2 back in 2003, this is how it worked. Say you work a 8:30 hour shift (yeah, unpaid lunch). Now, supposedly, you're supposed to be able to take your first break 2 hours into your shift. One problem, two words: break phone. I. HATED. BREAK PHONE. But I loved working it.

You have to call up to ask if now's good to take a break. The problem? Well, the problem was with how they determined if you were good to go or not. Instead of considering how long you'd been on the phones without a break, they went by how many people were currently in break and put you in a queue. The worst part was instead of guaranteeing you a time or noting that you were actually in a queue or EVEN CALLING YOU BACK WHEN IT SHOULD'VE BEEN YOUR TURN TO GO, they'd say something along the lines of "Oh hey, not right now, but check back in...oh...15 minutes? Alright buddy, you have a good one, now!" *click*

Now, I'm a relatively patient person, but both me and my wife (then girlfriend) dealt with this a number of times where we'd get delayed...again...and again...AND AGAIN. And each time, Captain McFuckface was in his cheery ass little tone that we wanted to strangle him with his own intestines each time he spoke. The Ops desk didn't like me on the break phone...primarily because I followed policy, but also called people back and gave guaranteed times.

How did I construct such magic? Simple...if the guaranteed time was close enough, I said they were already in break. Further, if they got stuck on a call after a guarantee, I didn't make them wait longer as most guys did, I told them to go NOW. Yeah...they loved me. What it sounds like is going on in your department is similar to mine: schedule adherence.

The stupid part about this is if you get stuck on a call, it still counts against you. The good news is that since we're the tier 3 department, it's not really an offense or anything, provided that you're not being an ass and taking your breaks/lunch 2 hours early or something. I guess it can work both ways, but for general call center work, unless they plan to dock you if you take your break late, I wouldn't worry about it. Otherwise, EVERYBODY PANIC.

[tollbaby]

ours is like that... It's not so hard to get used to. Our managers are fairly lenient though, in that if a call eats up 3/4 of your break, they'll ask you to simply inform them how many minutes late you are, and then they'll either let you take your break then and inform the planner of the difference, or they'll ask you to take your break after all the scheduled breaks have ended (usually a 1/2 hour wait).

[Misanthropical]

We don't have that in my call center, thanks the gods! With the team I'm on, we all take our breaks together, it's not a big deal to our boss as long as we come back.

[smileyeagle1021]

I like how my company does it, they require "exact compliance" but only require 93% or better for the week average... which really means you have half an hour a day that you can be off on your break and not get in trouble, which is pretty lenient... and most managers will even adjust your breaks if you go over by more than 10 minutes so it doesn't count against the 93%... and my favorite part, they've even said that they would much rather have you take another couple minute break between breaks rather than blow up on your next customer (which I shamefully must admit I use to run to the bathroom between breaks because I go through an extreme gulp of diet pepsi and over half a gallon to a gallon of water during my shift).

[Caveat Emptor]

Have to be better than 98% compliance for the month. You can sign out three minutes before scheduled, as long as you are sure to sign back in 15 minutes later.

[Gravekeeper]

We're pretty flexible here too.

You have a scheduled break time. When it hits you just go into off mode ( On the system but not accepting calls ) or if its a few minutes before and you're on a call you know will take a few minutes, go into off mode. Then just clock your break start when you actually get off the call.

Of course, thats for people that actually get breaks. I get none most the time because I'm alone. ;p