Red Sand cum Hidden Valley (2009)

What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well. 

Antoine de Saint-Exupery 

(going back in the year 2009....)

Red Sand and Hidden Valley are just neighbors as once told by my friend Alfred. I took these photos via my lost N6500s and a Sony Cam from Bernard (i forgot the model) which left me awestruck as i've come face to face with Riyadh's most famous spot amongst Filipinos during Eid Holidays and cold seasons.

The sun was glaring at us but the breeze is one hell of an icy coldness. It's not what you think like the sands are doing a free float swooshing to the left and right; the sands were like tamed barrenness of the lost composition of epic war stories, leaving the eyes free of jagged particles of sand making the experience a delight.

This place vastly composes of an oceanic view of sands, that when you set off your both feet on its waves dissolves your footprints in an emulation of nothingness.

On top of the highest peak of the sand dunes shows off this innate magnificency of the arabian desert: arid land with no vegetation yet full of speaking character of nature.

Off we go to Hidden Valley...

It was a lifeless stature of rocks, with spattered cactus and desert shrubs, desolate and bleak on its visual aspect but magnanimous in imparting the astounding profoundness.

I have always been indulging with the sensation brought by being unto great heights. Awfully inlove esp when it comes to nature and earth trekking and mountain climbing and all. Yes! the pic above has appeased my hunger for true wide-eyed view of rocks, made me gasping to reach further for the peak, wanting more, climbing steeply to advance for a higher level; but in the end, this experience bequeathed me the courage to stay calm and focus as i descended slowly to the ground. I felt horrible,   filled with fear and apprehension in going down for i was alone (none of my friends dared to follow) when i went up, but for goodness sake, there are strangers and adventurers of my same page whom i clinged onto support and collective belongingness as i've moved downward on the slope.

This view is overlooking the exit of the Hidden Valley. It's time to go home and leave the footprints of time as the winds smoothly vanish them.





~mAc

7 Facts about Multi-tasking in a Call Center

Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. 

Bill Gates 

One of the most wanted qualities of a call center agent is the ability to multi-task. I once heard a conversation from a seat opposite me in a jeepney going to Quiapo Manila, a couple in their mid - twenties as i perceived from their faces.

girl: swerte naman ni Florie, natanggap siya sa callcenter, alam mo kung magkano basic nia?

boy: magkano? 

girl: 24 thousand! tapos, meron pa daw mga allowances, at kung wala daw silang absent, may non taxable na 3 thou sa sweldo monthly.

boy: hah!!! anlaki ah, basic palang.. eh ang ginagawa lang naman nila yata eh mag nga-nga-ngawa sa telepono at mag inglis....

girl: oo nga eh, kung sana fluent lang ako mag english, mag-aaply din ako! Sabi nila madali lang daw mag call center.... an laki na ng sahod, madali pa ang hanap-buhay.. san kapa?

I was suddenly alerted by their flow of conversation. My nearly falling drool due to sleepiness from my shift that time was regained back in control. I nearly want to blurt out my opinion but i held back. 

For those who have never experienced having a friend, or with a family member who is a call center guy or girl, they mostly believe and imagine that belonging to that industry is a chickenfeed - an easy job that seems convenient, taskless and boring; if i may add, low-kind-of-level job.

Little did they know that this is no easy job at all. The little things we do like answering the phone, talking to the customer while doing the documentation, keeping the call with no dead- air while searching for tools, executing empathy despite a bad day and all, learning to digest what the customer is blabbering while your boss/sup is trying to chat with you because of an urgent matter; if you sum all these, it requires special skills, wisdom and virtues to execute it. All these are just mere ingredients of the multi-task brouhaha of a call boy/girl.

These are the  Facts that you must know about multi-tasking in the call center world:


1. Multi-tasking is a pain in the ass

- first times are really the hardest. So better get your feet wet during the calls labs or transition stage. You can't beat getting a sup call + teardown issue + and a return escalation from your sup esp on your first live call on the floor.

2. . Multi-tasking is not a birthright attitude, it takes practice to enhance and ultimately be good at it.

- i knew someone who can do Facebooking, blogging and talking to the customer and seldom he gets an escalation call, yet he has the lowest Average Handle Time (AHT) in their team.  Figure it out! he never dropped a call though. 

3. Multi-tasking can affect the quality of the call

- if you badly multi-task, your QA results are awful, if you do the reverse, you'll get high CE and high-rated QA scores.

4 . Multi-tasking increases productivity

- it's the main reason why AHT was never lost among the Need to Meet Metrics of all time. I dare say, it's always included in the top five to watch out for SLAs.

5. Multi-tasking can lower down Average Handle Time (AHT)

- if your boss has an impending failed Performance Planning for you due to high AHT, concentrate on how to multi-task the superb and high-quality way. Maybe you have to unload some of your unnecessary chats, every 5 minute refresh on facebook and twitter, or you might be playing Farnville and Mafia Wars and all, then you're doomed!

6. Multi-tasking can sharpen your memory

- it does possibly connect to short term memory, that sometimes, you get to be an Obsessive Compulsive (OC), on how you handle the call, you tend to be so suave in every detail.

7. . Multi-tasking can be a habit

- imagining the route and path you're gonna take while driving and conversing with your wife who's asking your opinion what could be the best arrangement to place the new tv in your freshly furnished house is somewhat distracting. But the mere fact that you can drive while listening to a Harry Potter Audio book and planning for a dinner date is wayyy easy - that is because, the habit of driving has been so innate with you that you act it out so automatically.


Multi-tasking therefore is a complex process that you have to acquire, it doesn't happen overnight, constant and consistent practice would lead to enormous benefits on your stats and grades as an individual.

In the long run, you may even be able to go to the restroom while on call (lol), or could even have a laugh with your seat mate while checking out some Youtube vid as you talk to the customer. It's a matter of how far you've gone to in perfecting and mastering the art of multi-tasking, without sacrificing the quality and sustaining the excellent degree of your call.




~mAc

iOS 4.2.1

All the buzz about this latest, boldest software update from Apple re iOS comes in for quite sometime after all the delays and pending availability of download. 

Fortunately, it was officially downloadable last November 22nd 10amPST. 

Qualifiers:

- iPhone (3G, 3GS, 4)

- iPod Touch (2nd, 3rd, 4th gen)

- iPad

If you haven't done so, go ahead and update your iTunes first to ver.10.1. Then connect your device with iTunes open and click check for update.

After finishing my update, i was dissat because it's as if nothing has changed on my 3GS, no kidding, there isn't a significant change that i can obviously notice. Worse, all my music were unsyncED. So i have to reconnect to iTunes and sync my music library.

Good thing my iBooks portfolio left unscathed and all my apps were kicking alive. Another injury to the damage is, when i learnt that Find my Iphone is only available for the iPhone 4.

Yep! no need for a paid subscription of MobileMe to avail this service - Find My Iphone. So, for all those who are using an Iphone 4 and the latest 4th gen iPod, you can DL the app from the APP STORE and configure your MobileMe account.

The most beneficial part for this iOS update is simply the Ipad. 

- multi tasking

- folders

- wifi enhancement

- over-all aestethic

Those feats have all been inherited by the iPhone and iPod touch back in the release of iOS 4.1 so i was a bit disappointed, nevertheless i found it useful (but not enough) to have the Airprint and AirPlay capabilities on my device. Yet, i don't have printers that are airprint capable or appleTv to use the airPlay streaming. (but according to lifehacker, you can tweak those features if you are really into it - such as enabling AirPrint for Windows)

I'm happy to say that this sw update will enhance the speed issue (as per TUAW)  from the iPhone 3G, which was apparent in the iOS 4.1.

One more thing to add, you can now customize your SMS ringer alert (impressively, it's only available for the iPhone 4).

Seems like Apple has gotten into so much obsessiveness re marketing strategy for consumers to inevitably leave their old devices and buy the latest ones on the counter.

~mAc

The 3 Legged Stool (call center 101)

Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming. 

John Wooden 

What is the proper adjective to say when you suddenly felt the urge to do what has long gone forgotten? - long gone habit that even in your most solemn state of dreamless sleep makes you wanna say "Thank you for calling tech support, how may i help you?".

That chase-of-the-breath kind of feel has made way for this category on my blog - Call Center 101. I'd say that this Business Process Outsourcing Industry came a long way indeed, yet it has more to offer, slowly unraveling those untapped customer service related ingenuity amongst distant shores, most especially The Philippines.

I'm here to share what i've learnt during the 5-6 year journey into this realm of exciting, ever dynamic environment. Change - that is, is the only permanent catalyst to get challenged into the rat race over and over again.

This concept i'm going to impart was lifted when i was on training in handling a technical team of 15-16 persons, readying me to better my judgment in dealing with the degree of importance of who to serve with satisfaction the most.  (Makito, dude, if you're reading this, thanks for the inputs wayback).

There are three main protagonist at stake once a call comes in. They are likened to a three legged stool, that once a single leg is removed, the stool itself will collapse.

1. The Customer

2. The Company

3. You - tech support representative

(for the purpose of specifity, i chose tech support rep, although there could be variations such as customer service representative, helpdesk agent, outbound agent, etc)

These three entities are so intricately related to each other that you cannot singled out each. They must be satisfied at all times to achieve the best customer experience - i'm talking about customer satisfaction in perception of each of those three.

  

1. The Customer being served must be satisfied at all times. Despite having to break him the bad news (for example, his issue is not covered under warranty) without making him feel degraded or "unserved" properly. (it depends on how you convey it, thru your emphatetic skills and sincere approach of communication). Did i say, "customer is always right?". 

2. The Company (you are representing) must not suffer. Esp from any kind of bad feedback from the customer. The output of how "well",  you (the tech support rep) served the customer is so critical it defines you and the company itself. This leg aims to deliver customer satisfaction by all means. A mission and goal in which, is the common denominator in all the call center companies sprouted everywhere. 

3. The final one which is the Tech Support Rep plays a strong role on the three legged stool, from the opening spiel to the closing spiel, the call is being rated and Q.Ayed; which in turn will be the grade of the agent. However, it doesn't stop there, most of the time, a survey is sent to the customer - the so-called- Customer Satisfaction Survey.  It is imperative therefore to make a lasting excellent impression to the customer, to negate whatever bad experience he was previously in. 

Somehow, there's no way just to maintain or balance the three in all calls. At times, there are instances where equilibrium is unstable. Given the fact that C.E. (customer experience) is at stake, always remember to try saving the customer first. Give your best shot as a tech support rep to reverse a bad experience into a glorious satisfying one. It could hurt your metrics as you do some favor for the customer (ie) staying longer on a call just to make sure in the end that the issue is completely resolve but it will cost your AHT (average handle time); On the other hand, you may bend the rules of your company just to satisfy the customer. Remember that you will bend it, there's a significant difference between bending and breaking the rules. (hope you got my point here).

In recap, what you are aiming here is to attain or surpass the bar of customer satisfaction, never fail to forget that objective, just in case you want to sacrifice one leg of the stool. But of course, there is an instance where the customer is sacrificed as well. It boils down to your own judgement, that if you feel and heartfully believe that this certain customer won't get snapped in side the the circle of satisfaction (despite of you having given your best and despite of you having let your supervisor made a heatcheck and all) then it's time to let go of him and let the C.E. suffer.

Take a deep breath, focus and press "auto-in". The next call comes in, take control and aim for  a high C.E.

~mAc

PS: (4th Thursday for the month of November is approaching so fast, well, I just hope the trend is still the same, low call volumes during Thanksgiving Day, have a great one! Û )

Digital Clock Screen Saver

Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted. 

John Lennon 

(updated as of January 7, 2022)

Rejoice! This Fliqlo digital screensaver is actually available too for iOS and MacOS platforms.

Here's the link where you can download 'em: https://fliqlo.com/

Take note, the app is Free for Macbooks (macOS), while it's $0.99 for iOS devices. To see it in action, here's a 35 second movieclip i made, notice how it flips at the end. There's also a sound effect while flipping (it wasn't captured in the video because of the rain-windy noise).

Enjoy!!!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

After a long hiatus of setting my window's screensaver  settings to none, i've finally fallen inlove once again to customize and tweak this innate mise en scène of windows 7.

I normally leave my laptop on idle mode 24/7 (ofcourse with the battery pulled out) with my desktop black solid background on view, so i decided to plug in a digital clock screensaver. 

I didn't get a hard time fishing those free apps that render minimalist output esp with a digital clock (thanks to Lifehacker and 9031.com). We know for sure that clicking those google results that links to free screensavers are just usable in a certain period of time unless you're going to buy the full version later. 

With this free download from 9031, the Fliqlo clock (click the link to download) will give you a deadset satisfaction esp if you believe in the concept and benefits of being a minimalist style.

The DL is available for Mac and Windows only. Go check it out here.




~mAc