An insider reports that a Tmobile call center has outlawed customer service reps having pens and paper out in the open. According to our source, the outsourced Business Care facility in Sarnia, Ontario is concerned about reps making off with data. Pens, paper, pencils are not to be left out on the work areas. If they are used, they must be put back inside the desk and locked after use. This has “made life considerably less pleasant for them…There are a number of reps who write faster than they type, so they use a notepad as a sort of buffer.” Even photographs and other paper items on cubicle walls will have to be laminated to insure they’re not used as illegal writing surfaces. The tipster says Startek-run call center is conducting an audit today to insure compliance with all of its new, policies. It’s a good thing that no one working at Tmobile might have access to a small electronic device capable of data input and transmission.
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Don’t treat your workers like slaves in a sweatshop and you’ll find that people tend to be less inclined to engage in such behavior. Use your head.
This is a necessary ‘evil’. I don’t want anyone stealing my credit info, so smart move.
I wouldn’t want this crappy job though.
This is full of stupid. CSRs need access to consumers’ personal info to do their jobs. If you’re concerned about non-trustworthy CSRs writing personal info down on paper and stealing it, you may want to rethink your hiring policies.
@gomakemeasandwich: I see what you’re saying and I accept your point to a certain degree. But isn’t all that locking down and total mistrust a big reason why people get pissed off and want to make more money on the side in the first place? That sounds like an extremely crappy environment to work in.
I’m with a lot of the other guys here. When I worked in a call centre, it was a lot easier to note down a postcode, account number, error codes, model numbers or names to refer back to while you were on another screen (the systems I used could be anything from 2 to 6 non-integrated systems, so really helped speed up the job). It’s also a help when you have 20 seconds between calls to type notes up on the system – much quicker to write shorthand notes than type longhand for non-trained typists (i.e. most call centre people).
I can’t imagine having to do those call centre jobs without pen and paper, but admittedly I’ve not had to deal directly with credit card numbers for the most part. When I did, the account details were accessed through surname/postcode and only the last 4 digits of the card number were visible to me – this would be confirmed before continuing the call. Much safer not to give people access to the full information (why would a T-Mobile telephonist need your full credit card number?) than to treat them like they can’t be trusted – that will often backfire.
Then again, if these places weren’t so mercilessly stat-oriented, high-pressure and low paid, maybe they could attract honest people who cared enough not to from their employer and customers in the first place…
I believe this is for PCI Compliance. Depending on how much money you take in via credit cards, dictates what level PCI Compliance your organization needs to run at or otherwise face fines from VISA/Mastercard/AMEX or the ultimate punishment of not being able to take credit cards at all. (Business Suicide)
More information can be found here.
PCI Compliance Guide
@Technick: Does it actually mention this in the PCI Compliance Guide (sorry, too lazy to read it all)?
It seems to me that they should be worried about massive theft, not the theft of a few customers’ credit card numbers by a rouge CSR with a pen and pad. A single CSR isn’t going to be able to go home with that many CC numbers.
My old company uses call centers who also employ similar practices. No pens, pencils, or paper are allowed. THOUGH….they DO try to spice up the place with a bunch of motivational posters and signs (typically the ones you see in Kindergarten classrooms…no joke).
Its actually funny because some of our clients want the call center to push their products…so they give away promotional items to the call center works….and usually, they give pens.
Ha.
I use to work for a call center for onstar, they said that as a requrment of being part of some credit card groupe call centers that take cc info are not suppose to have pens or paper (it does make sence for security) no cellphones / camera phones too but this wasnt a reality
@Technick:
It’s not technically a PCI DSS requirement, but the regs state that the company needs to take increased steps to maintain the security of personal information. If an incident occurs, the FTC would levy much smaller fines if a company can demonstrate that they tried. If good security controls aren’t in place, the fines would be really bad.
Love,
An Investigator for a Global Call Center Company
I definitely only clicked on this because I thought the title said they were banning Penis and paper.
tmobile does not forbid the use of paper, pens, and pencils.
an outsourced company is not owned by tmobile.
Sarnia is the asshole of Canada.
The only saving grace is that due to all of the chemical manufacturing plants there for some reason female births outnumber male births something like 3:2 when it should be 1:1
[www.cbc.ca]
So being a dude in Sarnia should increase your odds
That aside, horrible policy.
Even though this is an outsourced call center, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still a T-Mobile directive. My experience with T-Mobile has gone from great to horrendous in the space of four years. Anyone know if they were bought out/restructured?
@SkokieGuy: You’ve clearly never worked in a call center. Neither have the people who are agreeing that this is a good idea.
aphexbr is right. The way most systems in call centers are set up, you can’t have multiple screens open to view info, so writing things down is a necessity if you don’t want to have to keep clicking back and forth between workflows. I can’t imagine the nightmare it would have been working at Chase and not being able to write things down when working accounts.
You can’t simultaneously bitch about how awful customer service is and deny CSRs the tools to make their jobs easier. I defy any of the people agreeing with this policy to memorize 2-3 16 digit account numbers, click back and forth between slow and often times counterintuitive workflows all while someone is screaming at you and resolve their issue in under 2 minutes. Several hundred times a day. All for $9/hr and the ever-present threat of your job being sent to Mumbai or Manila.
There are ways to ensure the security of customer data without crippling a CSR’s ability to serve the customer.
@dotcomrade:
prisoners have no business having access to anything especially someones personal data
My wife works for Startek and it is T-Moblie corporate policy for there to be no pens or paper in any call center. It doesn’t matter whether or not the call center is outsourced or within the company.
Maybe they just need to watch New Jack City already and start making everyone work naked.
@furball:
Call centers literally the worst attrition rates for almost any job.
I used to work at a T-Mobile 3rd party call center and we weren’t allowed pens and paper but we were however allowed laminate boards and sharpies(well not alowed but nobody cared). Personally I just used notepad to write down certain information or just typed it in the account notes. Not to hard
*shudder* So cold. So very cold. I honestly feel very sorry for anyone who has to work in such a soul-sucking job.
*makes a note – on paper – to be nice to a CSR*