The year is about to end so we decided to compile call center related videos and Facebook posts that went viral on social media. In case you missed it check out our compilation below.



7. Aegis Malaysia Hits Philippines

Flood is a natural disaster and is avoidable in fact it is starting to become a global issue. Even Malaysia is not safe in terms of flood see the latest video below captured 12/23/2014.
6. Check out the video below of the Youngest Call Center Agent that hit the social media around June 2014. As of this writing the video has reached more than 400,000 views.

5. Call Center Agent Victimized by Fake Recruiter

A BPO job seeker looking for non-voice post was victimized by a woman named "Grace" who pretended to be a recruiter from Sykes. The alleged suspect will first get your trust and ask for your number. “Grace” would then send you a message that you are hired for a non-voice post and you are required to change clothes “Grace” would then accompany you to the store to buy a clothes and once you are inside the dressing room the alleged suspect would run away together with your belongings.

Alleged Suspect who's still at large. 

4. A Facebook user shared her experience about these “recruiters” that posted a Data Encoder job on a Facebook Group for call center employees only to find out that instead of data encoder position they were being recruited for a networking company.  See the screen shot of her FB post below;

3. Alleged Call Center Employee Caught on Video Presumably Stealing a Wallet

The wallet contains 80,000 pesos worth of cash and based on the description on the lanyard (Color Blue with 3 letters) I think he might be working for IBM,WNS  or HGS.
Check out the video below and be the judge if he's guilty or not.


2. Netizen Hits Call Center Employees Due to Lack of Discipline

Check out our take about this concern by clicking on the link below;
http://www.callcenterfocus.com/2014/12/netizen-hits-call-center-employees-due.html

1. Australian Contacts Call Center in the Philippines speaking in Fluent Tagalog.
For a source of good vibes and laugh watch the video of Chris of Maputing Cooking below;

Check out the message from Chris

Oi BPO mates! WATCH and SHARE my hilarious video: White guy calls Philippine contact center in Tagalog  – and your next caller could be Chris Urbano himself. Yep – If this video hits 500k views, I promise to make 5 more calls to Philippine contact centers among the following: Telstra, ANZ Bank, Optus, Citibank, Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, JP Morgan Chase and if you’re the lucky agent who answers my call – I’ll send you a special prize from Wine By Chris Urbano !!!

Here’s the collection of the best call center memes for 2014.

10. Thor Meme – We have seen a lot of Thor Memes like Sari-Sari S-Thor, Thoron, Thorumpo.  Here’s a Thor Meme with a call center twist.

9. Frozen Message to Manager during Storm.

8. Dawson Creek Meme

7. Evil Toddler Meme

6. South Park Meme

Credits to Facebook Page Call Center Philippines

5. John Lloyd Meme

4. Flood Meme

3. Call Center Girl Meme

2. Princess Sarah Meme

1. Call Center Meme via 9gag though it’s not funny but, it’s right to the feels.

BONUS: Check out the funny Prank Call Video Below by clicking on the Play Button

Post by JuzKDing.

Which is your favorite call center meme? If you have anything to add we have now enabled the img tag on the comments section, to reply with an image just type in [img]http://theurloftheimage[/img]. 

If you are wondering where 2014 go, we have created a list of call center news that matters for the current year. A good number of mergers and acquisitions of different companies, call center awards and other call center related news have been compiled.  See our list below.

Number 10. Australian Call Center Acquire BPO acquired PH BPO Company Shore Solutions.

Melbourne, based Acquire BPO completes the acquisition of Shore Solutions the fastest growing Philippine based BPO adding an estimated 2,000 employees to Acquire.

According to Scott Stavretis CEO of Acquire and Shore Solutions  the acquisition of Shore offers several exciting opportunities for Acquire in diversifying their current service offering and bolstering the company’s revenue.

Source: http://acquirebpo.com/acquire-bpos-growth-trajectory-amplified-with-acquisition-of-shore-solutions-inc/#.VJ7I5sAEI

Number 9. Concentrix Acquires IBM BPO Business

Concentrix will pay $505 million to IBM for acquiring its worldwide customer care services business.  With this acquisition Concentrix will solidify its position as a Top 10 provider in the BPO Market.

Concentrix has three existing delivery centers in Manila, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao City. Concentrix will be operating an additional 6 delivery centers previously under IBM management. These centers are located in Naga City, UP-Ayala, Nuvali in Sta. Rosa, Eastwood, Makati and Ortigas.

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/01/30/14/concentrix-expands-ph-operations-after-merger-ibms-bpo-business

Number 8. Teleperformance Buys Aegis BPO Operations in PH and other Countries

Teleperformance, the global leader in outsourced multichannel customer experience management, has completed the acquisition of Aegis USA Inc., a major outsourcing and technology company in the United States, the Philippines and Costa Rica  for  $610 million dollars.

After the transaction, Aegis said it will still retain the rest of its BPO business in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa, Peru, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and UK with more than 37,000 employees.

Teleperformance MOA site

Source: http://www.teleperformance.com/media/2154055/140807-teleperformance-pr-aegis-closing-en-fin.pdf

Number 7. Convergys Acquired Stream for $820 Million

Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) and Stream Global Services, Inc., both premier providers of customer management services, today announced entry into a definitive merger agreement under which Convergys will acquire Stream for a total enterprise value of $820 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments, from funds managed by Ares Management and Providence Equity Partners, as well as from LiveIt, the BPO investment arm of Ayala Corp.

Convergys and Stream Photo source Facebook

Source: http://www.convergys.com/company/news-events/newsroom/news_release.php?newsid=5087

Number 6. Best BPO Companies Awarded by ICT 

"The International ICT Awards Philippines was launched in 2007 by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (CanCham) in close cooperation with the then BPAP (now IBPAP). All of the subsequent International ICT Awards Philippines events have been and continue to be organized by CanCham in association with IBPAP."

Best Company of the Year
Winner: Accenture, Inc.
Runner-up: Cognizant Technology Solutions Philippines, Inc.

Best Employer of the Year
Winner: SPI Global
Runner-up: Accenture, Inc.

Best Filipino-owned Company of the Year
Winner: Pointwest Technologies Corp.
Runner-up: i-Tech Global Business Solutions, Inc.

Best Global In-house Center of the Year
Winner: Lexmark Cebu Shared Service Center
Runner-up: Global Business & Finance Services (GBHS)-SunPower

Most Innovative Company of the Year
Winner: Maersk Global Services Centers (Phils.) Ltd.
Runner-up: Lexmark Research and Development Center

Best Non-Voice Excellence Company of the Year
Winner: MicroSourcing
Runner-up: Maersk Global Services Centers (Phils.) Ltd.

Best Voice Excellence Company of the Year
Winner: The Results Companies

Hall of Fame Award – “Best Employer of the Year”
Convergys Philippines Services

Photo Source Facebook Page ICT Awards

Source: http://ict-awards.org.ph/2015/winners/2013-winners/2014-winners/

Number 5) List of Call Center Companies that Provides Excellent Training

Training magazine the 50 year old professional and development magazine has released its Training Top 125 for 2014. Training Top 125 is a worldwide ranking of companies or organizations that shines in training and development of individuals.

Since Training Top 125 awards global companies, we decided to gather BPO and In-House companies that have branches or subsidiary in the Philippines. Here’s the list.

2014 Rank	2013 Rank	Company Name	Business
17	20	Capital One	Finance/Banking
20	16	Automatic Data Processing, Inc	Business Service
33	110	Afni, Inc	Contact Center Provider
42	93	Wells Fargo & Co.	Finance/Banking
62	35	Allied International Credit	Business Services
76	89	Tech Mahindra Ltd.	IT Services & Solutions
112	87	Cognizant Technology	Solutions Technology
117	no data	Aditya Birla Minacs	Business Services

ADDED: HALL  of FAME AWARD VERIZON: No. 1 in 2013 and 2012; No. 3 in 2011, No. 4 in 2010. Representative: Lou Tedrick, Staff Vice President - Workforce Development, Verizon

Number 4) Avaya + Google Joined Force to Create Agents Anywhere

Avaya and Google are proud to announce Avaya Agent for Chrome, a Chromebook application designed for flexible contact centers.

It would be great if this would be implemented here in the Philippines because based on the Youtube video the disaster recovery plan feature could benefit us since it can route calls to another location in times of storm and other natural disasters.

Check out the Video Below;

Source: http://www.avaya.com/blogs/archives/2014/12/avaya-google-the-who-how-and-what-of-an-exciting-alliance.html

Number 3) List of BPO Companies that are prepared During Unsafe Condtions
It all began from a simple monitoring of Facebook post of call center employees, from initial list of 10 companies the list have grown to 50 companies. With your help and through the emails that we received from employees of various call center companies, we were able to see how each company ensures the safety of its employees during unsafe situations.

Click on the link below to see our list.

http://www.callcenterfocus.com/2014/09/list-of-bpo-companies-that-are-prepared.html

Number 2) Call Center Agent Takes His Last Call

Call center agent shot dead, stabbed to death, suicide, a TL who drowned during a team building event. Those were the sad news that involved call center employees. The best one that I have read for this year is about a call center agent who took his last call.

I consider my self lucky if I have not received any irate callers in a shift or if avail time is higher than 30 minutes however, there's a call center agent that took his last call and said goodbye to irate callers after winning the lottery.

The said call center agent from Davao del Norte was the lone winner of 6/55 draw taking home Php 70,166,400.

So if you are from Davao and you have a colleague who suddenly went on NCNS then AWOL, there might be a chance that he's the guy who one the lottery.

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/656651/call-center-agent-from-davao-norte-bags-p70m-lotto-jackpot

Number 1) Top 45 BPO Companies Based on Revenue

The Top 45 Call Center or BPO companies based on revenue has been revealed, the numbers will not make a big impact if we did not compare it to last year's top 36 call center companies. Check our comparison below. 

After the acquisition of Stream, Convergys will now have a total revenue of Php 26.911 billion however, the combined revenue still fall short compared to Accenture’s  Php 32.429 billion. 

Combining the revenues of Telephilippines and Aegis will result to Php 14.196 which is enough to make it to 3rd spot while 24/7 will slide to 4th. 

Thomson Reuters Corp Pte. Ltd’s position has slid down by 13 points in terms of position same as its revenue which shed Php .388 billion. We are hearing stories that by February, Thomson Reuters Corp Pte Ltd will outsource some of its service desk roles to a third party provider which could affect hundreds of employees. 

So which story / news do you like the best lets head on to the comments section to discuss. 

We have created a list of BPO labor cases which are listed on the NLRC decisions page for NCR dated January – September 2013.  See the mandate of NLRC based on their website.

The National Labor Relations Commission is a quasi-judicial body tasked to promote and maintain industrial peace by resolving labor and management disputes involving both local and overseas workers through compulsory arbitration and alternative modes of dispute resolution. It is attached to the Department of Labor and Employment for program and policy coordination.

Case Number	Date	Company	EE Won	DISM	PDF Link of the Decision	X
NCR-10-15723-12	1/30/13	Teleperformance Philippines	1		http://bit.ly/tpnlrc	1
NCR-09-13853-12	4/23/13	TELETECH CUST. CARE MNGMT PHILS.	1		http://bit.ly/teletechnlrc	1
NCR-11-16926-12	5/6/13	TELEPERFORMANCE PHILIPPINES		1	http://bit.ly/tpnlrc1	2
NCR-08-12866-12	5/13/13	KGB PHILIPPINES		1	http://bit.ly/kgbphilippines	1
NCR-01-01143-13	5/28/13	INFOSYS BPO LTD.		1	http://bit.ly/infosysbpo	1
NCR-10-15505-12	5/29/13	VXI INC.	1		http://bit.ly/vxiglobal	1
NCR-09-14158-12	5/29/13	RAINMAKER ASIA FORMERLY Q INTRCTN		1	http://bit.ly/rainmakerbpo	1
NCR-07-10947-12	5/30/13	PREMIER BPO INC.	1		http://bit.ly/premierbpo	1
NCR-04-06499-13	5/30/13	PACIFIC HUB CORPORATION		1	http://bit.ly/pacifichub	1
NCR-01-00955-13	5/30/13	TELETECH CUST CARE MNGMT PHILS., INC	1	1	http://bit.ly/teletechnlrc1	2
NCR-08-11791-12	5/31/13	IBM SOLUTIONS DELIVERY, INC.		1	http://bit.ly/ibmsolutions	1
NCR-08-12642-12	5/31/13	RMH TELESERVICES ASIA PACIFIC INC		1	http://bit.ly/rmhteleservices	1
NCR-08-12908-12	5/31/13	WNS GLOBAL SERVICES PHIL.	1		http://bit.ly/wnsglobal	1
NCR-01-01638-13	5/31/13	STELLAR GLOBAL SOLUTIONS PHILS.		1	http://bit.ly/stellarbpo	1
NCR-10-15653-12	5/31/13	TELEXPRESS CONTACT CENTER		1	http://bit.ly/telexpresscc	1
NCR-12-18362-12	5/31/13	CALLBEST OUTSOURCING SERVICES, INC.	1		http://bit.ly/callbest	1
NCR-12-17506-12	5/31/13	TRG GLOBAL SOLUTIONS PHILIPPINES INC.	1		http://bit.ly/TRGglobal	1
NCR-01-01566-13	5/31/13	SUTHERLAND GLOBAL SERVICES	1		http://bit.ly/sutherlandnlrc	1
NCR-12-17560-12	5/14/13	HSBC ELEC. DATA PROCESSING (PHILS.) INC.		1	http://bit.ly/hsbcnlrc	1
NCR-09-14259-12	6/10/13	24/7 CUSTOMER PHILIPPINES, INC.		1	http://bit.ly/247nlrc	1
NCR-09-13694-12	6/14/13	GENPACT PHILIPPINES		1	http://bit.ly/genpactnlrc	1
NCR-09-14104-12	6/17/13	ACCENTURE, INC.	1		http://bit.ly/accentnlrc	1
NCR-10-15084-12	6/27/13	VXI GLOBAL HOLDINGS INC.	1	1	http://bit.ly/vxinlrc1	2
NCR-10-14984-12	6/28/13	APAC CUSTOMER SERVICE, INC.	1		http://bit.ly/apacnlrc	1
NCR-09-13818-12	6/28/13	FIRSTSOURCE SOLUTIONS LIMITED	1		http://bit.ly/firstnlrc	1
NCR-09-13586-12	7/19/13	24/7 CUSTOMER PHILIPPINES, INC.	1		http://bit.ly/247nlrc1	2
NCR-08-12153-12	9/24/13	VXI GLOBAL HOLDINGS, INC.	1		http://bit.ly/vxinlrc2	3
NCR-08-12665-12	9/25/13	INGRAM MICRO PHILS.		1	http://bit.ly/ingramnlrc	1
TOTAL			15	15

We were able to gather a total of 29 cases and it shows that 15 cases were in favor of the employee and 15 for the company. The x column means the number of labor cases found against the company based on the decisions page. We have tagged some decisions as 1 1 if we feel that both parties have won the case example case NCR-01-00955-13. You can click on the link below "PDF link to the Decision"  column to see the document.

Below are the cases where the decisions contain a different case or a broken link, we were not able to determine the outcome of the cases below.  We were able to verify if the case is BPO related by using the Track Your Case option located on the website.

1.   - vs -
VXI GLOBAL HOLDING BV (PHILIPPINES)INC.

Case Number: NCR-01-01053-12

Filed on: Jan. 18, 2012

Current status: DISPOSED

2.   - vs -

GXS PHILS.

Case Number: NCR-12-18652-12

Filed on: Dec. 28, 2012

Current status: DISPOSED

3.   - vs -
STREAM INTERNATIONAL GLOBAL SERVICES PHIL.

Case Number: NCR-09-13948-12

Filed on: Sep. 18, 2012

Current status: DISPOSED

The list above could serve as a guide in case that you want to file a case against your company. If you feel that you have been illegally dismissed you can consider going to NLRC to file a complain.
Take note though that this could take a lot of time one of the decisions that we have read was dismissed (NCR-01-01638-13) due to lack of interest.

Note: Some of the cases might have some appeal so it's possible that the decisions might have overturned. Not all cases have the same output,  your case might have different result since every case has distinctive traits which has it's own merits that should be checked by a legal professional.

Source: http://nlrc.dole.gov.ph/?q=node/146

It’s good to see that as early as now some BPO companies have already informed their employees to be safe. We were able to gather some posts by call center companies announcing their BCP and shuttle schedules.

24/7 SOS posting Advisory and Shuttle Schedules

Acquire BPO Shuttle Schedules

CVG Shuttle Schedules

TP on safety of its employees.

Transcom advising everyone to safe and dry.

This is really a good sign that BPO companies are now ensuring the safety of the employees.  However in real life scenario call center employees would still do whatever it takes just to get to work because we are afraid of getting infractions or NCNS. 

Check out the photo below that we got from another call center employee that was able to document her travel during the typhoon. As you can see from the photo they have to take a truck just to get to work. 

 Photo Source: https://lovestoargue.wordpress.com/tag/walang-pasok/

You can check out her blog from the link above it contains her valuable insights about working in the call center industry.

Of course if you can't make it to work you might have to call in to workforce to inform them since SMS is not allowed. 

You might want to check our post about Call Center Employees should not be forced to work during unsafe condtions by checking on the link below;
http://www.callcenterfocus.com/2014/09/bpo-workers-should-not-be-forced-to.html

Training magazine the 50 year old professional and development magazine has released its Training Top 125 for 2014. Training Top 125 is a worldwide ranking of companies or organizations that shines in training and development of individuals.

Since Training Top 125 awards global companies, we decided to gather BPO and In-House companies that have branches or subsidiary in the Philippines. Here’s the list.

2014 Rank	2013 Rank	Company Name	Business
17	20	Capital One	Finance/Banking
20	16	Automatic Data Processing, Inc	Business Service
33	110	Afni, Inc	Contact Center Provider
42	93	Wells Fargo & Co.	Finance/Banking
62	35	Allied International Credit	Business Services
76	89	Tech Mahindra Ltd.	IT Services & Solutions
112	87	Cognizant Technology	Solutions Technology
117	no data	Aditya Birla Minacs	Business Services

BEST PRACTICE AWARD WINNER 
Automatic Data Processing, Inc.

The companies above provides an excellent training to new hires so expect a quality learning session that could last for 2 months. As for regular employees you would experience exceptional coaching, mentoring and career development.

Some BPO companies would cut down training days to lower costs, which could lower down the quality of employees. Other companies give bonds to new hires or trainees so, don’t be surprised if your employment contract would include a training bond. Based on our experience training bonds could go high as
Php 100,000 plus 1 year stay in the company which if not fulfilled you have to shoulder the training bond. A training bond is normal because it’s the company’s way of ensuring that you won’t resign after training.

Is your company listed above? If not your company might be listed on 2015 Training Top 125 awards which will be announced February 9, 2015.

To see the list of all companies click the link below:
http://www.trainingmag.com/training-magazine-ranks-2014-top-125-organizations
Note: Since the BPO industry is so huge we might have missed some companies also we are not trained in various call centers so, please let us know via the comments section. Thank you.

A viral video has been spreading online because a taxi driver was having a heated argument with his passenger. It appears that the taxi driver doesn't have enough money to break the 500 peso bill.

As of this writing the video has been shared more than 3000 times and has been viewed more than 93,000 times.

Plate Number and the Taxi Company

With this type of scenario it would appear that UBER service is way better because of the professionalism that the drivers are showing towards their passenger.

If this taxi driver is working in a call center, he would be terminated on the spot for cursing to his customer.

Please share this video as requested by Facebook user Mark Buraga so that the Taxi driver and the company could get reprimanded. See his post below;

“I was late for my Final Exam in Ateneo because of this guy from RED ANGELO taxi. I've been calling the company but no one is answering. He didn't have change for my 500 so we had to go to the nearest gas station (petron jupiter) to break my 500. In Petron he took his fare and didn't take me back to Ateneo, he left me there. Kindly share, I want to make sure that the only thing he'll be driving for the rest of his life is a pedicab. I want his license suspended. Maraming Salamat Po!”

You can check the Facebook video Below;

Post by Mark Buraga.

If You can’t see the video above you can check the Youtube version.

I have been in the call center industry for almost 9 years  and to be honest I still have a lot of slip ups pronouncing some English words.

The Poem entitled “The Chaos” written by Gerard Nolst Trenité proves that English is a tough language because there are a lot of irregularities in spelling and pronunciation.  According to sources if you can pronounce the words correctly on this poem, you are speaking English better than 90% of the native English Speakers in the world.

Here's a part of the poem:

If you are ready, read the whole poem aloud with the correct pronunciation.

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.



Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.

Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.

Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.

Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.

Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

Pronunciation — think of Psyche!
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough —
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!*

If you want to know how an English speaker have pronounced the words with IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) indications check  out the video below;

Were you able to pronounce the words correctly? Do you think that some parts of the poem should be included in the test as part of pre-employment process in the BPO Industry? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

A netizen named Frances Estranda Arcadio vents out her frustration after seeing used coffee cups and cigarette butts in front of Net Square Building in Bonifacio Global City.

Check out her Facebook post below;

Infront of JP Morgan bldg. May tumubong bagong mga bulaklak – coffee cups at cigarette butts ang tawag. Tanim ng mga taong ismarte manamit, inglisero at inglisera, matatalino daw pero mga wala naman pakundangan at malasakit sa kalikasan. Saka magrereklamo kapag binaha. Nakakalungkot lang isipin dahil sa kapwang nagpapanatili ng kalinisan wala din silang pakealam sa pinagpaguran.

Post by Frances Estrada Arcadio.

I think she has a point and as call center employees we are very open to feedback and constructive criticisms so I know that we can learn from this experience.

This should be the right time where our active listening skills can be utilized because we can understand what she's trying to say aside from that criticisms should help us know ourselves better. However, if someone is judging you then that is a different story.

I got irked by one of the comments saying that call center agents are brainless. I know I’m not in the position to be a grammar Nazi since I do have some grammar slip ups when taking in calls and when creating articles for this blog; however, I think calling someone brainless is too much so I decided to reply to his comment after seeing his Facebook post.

Post by Too Pak.

We all know that working in the call center industry is not a no-brainer job and it’s not just answering calls. It’s about self-management, working your way to the top, delivering results; it’s the survival of the fittest.
Though we did not sign up for this job to get stereotyped, we would still get criticisms from people outside of this industry because they don’t know what we are made of.

To get the latest IPhone 16GB model you need to shell out Php6,000 pesos for IPhone 6 and Php12,000 for the IPhone 6+, that’s just the initial cash out however, if we add in the monthly fee of 2,000 pesos for  the 24 month lock-in period the estimated cost of owning Apple's latest phones would be Php54,000 and Php60,000 with the assumption that you won’t go over 150 minutes of calls. The computation is based on SMART’s IPhone 6 Data Plan 2000.

If you feel like your salary is similar to Coke where it’s either “Sakto” or Zero then it’s time to reconsider how you spend. Most of us are guilty of spending to things that we don’t really need like a new gadget, the 2 bottle sessions that ends up with multiple buckets, online shopping, travel and lastly cigarette packs. I can’t blame you for that because it’s our way of coping up with stress however, at some point in our life we would wonder where our money is going. Since most of us have received our 13th month pay, I decided to share with you some investment schemes that I have personally tried.

1. Continuing your education – Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg most call center employees have something in common with these billionaires; just like the those four famous people most of us are college drop outs or undergraduates.

Being an undergraduate is not that of an issue in this industry because, you could still get promoted to TL or Supervisor. In fact based on my experience the best people in the call center industry are not degree holders, which proves that credentials on the wall doesn’t make a person better than the other. Though this is the case,  I still decided to pursue my education because in our country most college undergraduates have lesser opportunity in landing a career in non-BPO companies, aside from that most of us wanted to get out of this industry so we better prepare ourselves.

Talk to your manager about your plans in going back to school so that, he/she can give you a schedule that would allow you to work and go to school at the same time. I know you can do this since we are very capable of juggling multiple things at the same time and multitasking is one of our greatest assets.

2. Stock Market – If you want to know how it feels to be an owner of top companies like PLDT, Meralco, Ayala and Puregold then, invest in the stock market. Buying a stock of a company means you will be a part owner of the corporation. I initially funded 5,000 pesos to my BPI Trade account so for that amount you can be a stock trader just open an account trough BPI trade.

How would you earn:
Let’s say you were able to buy Puregold’s stock when it was initially offered at Php 12.50 each your Php5,000 pesos can buy around 380 shares of Puregold Inc.
Computation:
12.50 x 380 Shares + BPI commission per trade = Php 4800 (estimated total cost of the transaction)
Earnings: Based on latest data of Bloomberg Puregold’s share is now priced at 35.15. So if you sell all your shares at the current value you could earn around 8,000 pesos.
Computation: 35.15 X 380 Shares = Php 13,357 - BPI commission per trade = Php 13,300
Note: Price per share of the company may go up and down depending on market conditions so carefully pick which stock you will be buying.

If your IPhone can increase its value after 3 years please let me know how.

I get this email on a regular basis to monitor the prices.

3. Savings via Automatic Salary Deduction – The idea is simple; a portion of your salary is automatically deducted and will be put on to your savings account. There are two banks that I know that offers the said service, Citibank and BPI.  My payroll account is trough BPI so I have scheduled the auto debit to occur every payday on my BPI Save up account and since there’s no ATM you won’t be tempted to withdraw your savings.

Aside from savings you would also be getting a life insurance this is important because some call center companies are not offering full life insurance coverage.  The amount of coverage will be equivalent to as much as 5 times the account balance or up to P2 million. Some BPO companies are not providing comprehensive insurance to its employees so check with your HR if  life insurance is also included in your benefits.

Your new IPhone might be the cause of your death if you decide to hold on to it instead of just surrendering it to manong holdaper.

4. Certifications – Investing is not just saving money, it could also mean investing in yourself. I think investing in yourself could be the most profitable investment that you can venture into because it can shoot up your salary and career.

Acquiring a certification might be costly but I was able to get it for free by taking advantage of the scholarship program that my call center company was offering. I got Php 60,000 grant, as usual there’s a catch I need to be in the top 50% of the stack rank and I should stay with the company for 6 months or else I have to pay the scholarship grant.

Illustration of Promotion Letter:  A certification can get you a promotion an IPhone does not.

If you don’t want to try the methods above you can also try the free methods below that can shoot up your savings.

Finally had the strength to cut the plastic. 

Quit Smoking and track it using the QuitNow FB App

Investing might be difficult because you have to deprive yourself from the usual things that you used to do however, once you start reaping the revenues you can say to yourself that it's time to reward yourself. 

An old Iphone which I handed over to my wife and my two year old Cherry Mobile Phone.

Let me end this article with the quote below; 

"Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want to impress people they don't like." - Will Rogers

Being part of the call center industry could make us exposed to manageable issues like unapproved VL's, mandatory OT and delay in lunch / break which might be attributed to high call volumes. Because of the said issues, we would like to suggest you try exploring careers with in-house / shared services companies.

source: Call Center Show

The benefits of working with an In House company may include the following:

• Above the industry standard salary packages.
• HMO which includes additional dependents.
• Accident and Dismemberment Insurance.
• Easy VL Process.
• May Offer 5 year retirement plans.
• Less irate callers.
• Depending on the support process you may not have to work during US Holidays.
• May offer non voice positions.
• Dental Medical and Optical reimbursements.
• Clothing allowance.

The list below will be constantly updated once we get new information, company names are links that you can click. You will be then redirected to a page with the company's description which contains the link to career portal.
ADP (Philippines), Inc.

Allied International Credit (AIC)

AIG Shared Services Corporation–Management Services(ROHQ)–Philippines

ANZ Global Services and Operations

B&M Global Services Manila, Inc.

Capital One Philippines Support Services Corp.

Chevron Holdings Inc.

Citco International Support Services Limited – PhilippineROHQ:

Citigroup Business Process Solutions Pte. Ltd.

Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd.

DSM Manila LLC

Ericsson Telecommunications–Global Shared Services Center

Excite Media Services PH, Inc.

Financial Times Electronic Publishing Philippines

Hewlett-Packard (Philippines) Corporation
HSBC Global Resourcing
ING Global Services and Operations, Inc

Integreon

JPMorgan Chase Bank–Philippine Global Service Center

Maersk Global Service Centres (Philippines) Ltd.

Manulife Business Processing Services

Maxim Integrated

PricewaterhouseCoopers Service Delivery Centre (Manila) Limited

QBE Group Shared Services Limited–Philippine Branch

Reed Elsevier Philippines

Shell Shared Services (Asia) B.V.

SolarWinds Software Asia Pte Ltd Philippines Branch

Sun Life of Canada Philippines (Asia Service Centre Philippines)

Thomson Reuters

UnitedHealth Group Global Services, Inc.

Wells Fargo Philippines Solutions, Inc.

Xybersolutions

Zanett Commercial Solutions Philippines, Inc.