In order to convince you that they can cut you off, they ask you to put the phone down and then to check the line. The customer puts the phone down and then picks up again…there is no ring tone and it appears as though the line has been cut off. The caller then calls back saying that they have retsored the line but that this should convince you to pay up. How is this done? Well, when you put the phone down the caller does not, they simply press the mute button, keeping the call open and silent thus giving the impression that the line is dead when in fact it isn’t.

The only way your line can be cut is if a true BT engineer does so, or you are affected by any of the many ways in which the ‘last mile’ circuit between the local BT exchange and your premises is severed. This could include scenarios such as:

1. Road works cut through the cable by accident
2. Someone has been able to vandalise the green BT cabinet which serves your premises
3. Cable thieves have ripped up the copper cable between the local exchange and your premises (an increasingly UK-wide problem)

My advice is stay vigilant and if you don’t think you owe BT any money then you probably don’t!

The Times reports that at least 2000 jobs will be re-patriated to the UK. The reason for the move according to a BT spokesman is to improve customer service, though you do have to wonder whether cost cutting is a far more realistic reason, considering BT’s recent financial losses.

Interestingly this comes at the same time as reading on the Channel 4 website that people in the UK are choosing insurance companies based on whether or not they have UK based Call Centres and English speaking staff. Research commissioned by YouGov reports that ’78% of consumers consider UK-based call centres an influencing factor when choosing an insurer, preferring to speak to somebody in this country than abroad’ and also reported that 18% of respondents would even pay more for their insurance if their company had UK based call centre staff.

Considering that BT has reduced its property portfolio in recent years, you have to wonder where they will be locating these 2000+ staff… Perhaps they will set up virtual contact centres where staff can work from any location, including home, or maybe have team members disparately located within BT buildings across the UK?

I do feel that this kind of move by organisations to bring back the ‘English-speaking call centre’ has been a long time coming. Cost cutting is all well and good, but actually listening to what customers want is far more beneficial to organisations.

Author: Karen Jones

Clearly if this were to be implemented, there is room for abuse by employees who may have just a cold, or who really aren’t suffering that badly. Employers would be placing a lot of trust on their employees not to abuse the policy, and may find it difficult to put in place any measures to counter any abuse. When the swine flu was first announced in the media, there was an increase in the number of UK employees calling in sick. As the country with the 3rd highest number of swine flu cases, something needs to be done to protect our businesses and fragile economy from mass absenteeism.

Some organisations are now preparing appropriately for ensuring business continuity with a vastly reduced workforce. A former colleague at BT told me that internally they are preparing for a third of the workforce to be absent at any one time. One of their key strategies is to employ flexible working where possible.

Where several companies are now allowing employees to access their emails securely from home, few companies understand how they can provide seamless working through incoming call re-routing, and rely on employees to use mobile phones to communicate with suppliers, customers etc. There are several disadvantages with this strategy including; batteries running out, extended use of mobile phones without headsets possibly causing headaches, lack of mobile signal in several parts of the UK and in many cases higher call charges for callers. By seamlessly re-routing individual DDI numbers, the caller has no idea that you are not situated at your office desk and the customer experience remains consistent, fuelling positive brand perception.

Deploying a robust and flexible telecoms resilience strategy during this heigthened swine flu pandemic, I believe gives employers the power to say to employees, ‘ok, take time to recover at home, but here are the tools you need should you feel well enought o carry on working.’ Or for the employee who is forced to stay at home to look after sick relatives, flexible working should allow them the opportunity to work around their caring responsibilities.

I believe that the employer has the capability of managing those employees from a distance through flexible working while not pre-judging those who may or may not have swine flu, so that everybody wins.

Author: Karen Jones

In contrast BT is required to ensure that its exchanges provide a resilience of 9.9999% so that in the case of floods, fires or any other emergency event, phone calls still can be served from the exchange. Unfortunately many companies do not have a sufficient business continuity plan to accomodate for these strengths and weaknesses within their telecoms circuits.

An innovative new solution to serve such customers is being launched into the market. The Portable Recovery Unit from GemaTech is a subscription based service, whereby for a small annual fee and a cost per use if it is activated, should the worst happen and the cable between the exchange and office buidling is cut, or the pipes above the switch burst, the PRU can be installed within the exchange within 4 hours to re-route incoming calls to alternative mobile phones and landline phones. What I like about this product is that it is so simple and effective that any type of business can benefit from it. The initial investment is low and if the worst happens, you have a rapid response to recovering your customer’s incoming calls without relying on your last mile circuit provider, who could take considerably longer to restore your normal service.

Author: Karen Jones