Night at the Call Centre

His characters had spent nights in the call centre. Chetan Bhagat shared the insecurities in the urban middle class in his book ‘One Night @ the Call Centre’. In reality, call centre services are offered to the mass over the telephone. These services include from transmission of request to the concerned authorities to solution of problems in the household chores. In this concern, the middle class youth takes up the job of working late night shifts answering phone calls from the western countries.

In a call centre, one to one communication through a network happens. On one side, a client comes up with a query regarding any product or service. This phone answering system has yielded a common criticism from the staff about dealing directly with the customers. This has added to the stress in the people working on the other side. Following the model of the queuing theory, this circle seems endless to the people working shifts.

In call centre se rvices, another most important thing is the team play. The team puts in all their efforts usually for sales purposes or promotion products or services. Sometimes interesting stories are heard from people in terms of complaints regarding a particular product. Alternatively, in other times, it becomes a similar story of ignorance about the tele-caller amongst the common person. The worst part, in accordance to the service staff, is that of the scrutiny on the calls held. There is an argument which says that this type of close monitoring tendencies enforce the gradual weathering of human privacy.

The call centre services also include keeping a database of not only the clients, but also their feedbacks. With a statistical understanding of the feedbacks on the product or services offered, a possibility arises to find out the exact repercussion amongst the customers. In this way, a proper tabulation can be made in accordance to the requirements of the customers for a ce rtain kind of goods and service. Proper study can also let the manufacturers the demand of the customers.

Going back to the pun that Chetan Bhagat made in his book ‘One Night @ the Call Centre’, it is found that a character gets a call from the almighty God. God has been portrayed as a friend, who helps them in their worst situation of life. The phone answering system, which has been built in the characters through the passage of time, had let the appearance of God through their phone only, not as an avatar in front of their eyes.