My 4th Year as a Callboy

Callboys are synonymous with Call Center Agents here in the Philippines. I’m a certified callboy, more technically known as a Technical Support Representative.

I started as a callboy in February 2007 at Alorica Philippines in Wynsum Corporate Plaza, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. I last 8 months there. I worked for a US computer brand (the most expensive Windows-based computer brand I believe) and I became a subject matter expert on the latter part of my stay there. My apologies if I’m unable to mention the exact account that we handle. Although I’m no longer connected with the company, I believe I’m still bound by our oath of confidentiality when it comes to mentioning our accounts/brand in blogs.

I’ve learned tons of things about computers (both desktop and laptop) from Alorica. Our ultimate tool in this account is reformat. When all else fails, reformat the computer to the factory settings.

My second call center was with Sykes Asia in Burgundy Corporate Tower, Makati City. I worked for a DSL account, for a US ISP company. My knowledge of computers was supplemented by their expertise with DSL and Internet connection. This is where I learned the “ping” command and the basic troubleshooting step determining if the ip address is valid, followed by pinging the router/modem, pinging the website and pinging the IP address of the website. When all else failed, dispatch a technician. I last 1 year and 2 months here.

My next call center company was with Convergys (CVG). It was another DSL account, for a US company (of the the 2 biggest US telecommunications companies). Our line-of-business (LOB) here at Convergys is with home networking, particularly wireless connection. This is where I got the knowledge of getting the network name and wireless network key first before establishing a wireless connection. I lasted 5 months and 29 days here. I was terminated a day before regularization due to non passing of Customer Satisfaction (CSAT).

My 4th call center was with Teleperformance (TP). Again, I handled a US Internet Service Provider (ISP) and I believe they are the #1 in the US when it comes to telecommunications. I learned about remote access from this account. I learned how easy it is to resolve a customer’s concern via remote access. I also learned about email clients (MS Outlook and Outlook Express) and their configurations. I lasted 3 months here. Why? I was terminated for rudeness to the security guard. Well, I filed a complaint about this in the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and I won (sort-of). Tell you more about it soon.

My 5th, and current, call center is based at the Philplans Corporate Center, Bonifacio Global Center, Taguig. There are only two call centers at this building, as far as I know, so feel free to guess. I’ve been here for 1 year and 4 months. I’ve handled 3 accounts already – a British Pay-For-Support account similar to Geek Squad, an antivirus company (the most expensive one I guess), and the same ISP Company I’ve handled at CVG. but this time, we are on the TV-Internet-Phone Line of Business. 

I’ll probably tell you more about the details of my experiences from those companies, including pay and compensation, soon. One thing you’ll notice is that, after being in the call center industry for 4 years, I haven’t mastered one of the most basic knowledge a call center agent should have: a mastery of grammar and composition. LOL.