Archive for the ‘Worth Discussing’ category
Improving Call Centers #
Think that the only monitoring of your call to customer support is that it “may be recorded?” The Economist says that may not be the case.
Aneesh Nair, head of the Academia, a call-centre training school in Bangalore, says context data may also include information gleaned from news reports. Storms, sporting events and transport strikes, for example, can affect callers’ moods and purchasing dispositions, he says, and can be used to provide tips to agents. “Demographic mapping” features provide additional information about the products callers are most likely to buy based upon their location, time of call, and whether they are calling from a land-line or a mobile phone.
The next step, beyond analysing the context around a call, is to examine the call itself, using “word spotting” software to evaluate the performance of the agent and the reaction of the caller. There is strong demand for quality-control software, says Donna Fluss of DMG Consulting, a specialist consultancy based in West Orange, New Jersey, because call-centre managers are only able to listen to a few calls per agent each month. Word-spotting software allows managers to monitor agents much more closely.
Soundly quite nearly Orwellian. Am I the only one to think so? (Comments are open.)
Aren’t Pole Taxes Illegal? #
The answer is no. Poll taxes were abolished by the 24th Amendment. Pole taxes remain legal. And Texas now has one.
THERE is a new price to be paid for looking at naked women in Texas. On January 1st the state’s strip clubs began imposing a $5 surcharge for each visitor. The “pole tax,” as it is commonly called, is expected to bring the state an additional $40m in revenue each year. Most of the proceeds will go to programmes that support victims of sexual assault.
So I want to know, is this good government or and insane idea from the Texas’s legislature?
An Elevator-Testing Tower #
Mitsubishi has built a tower 573 feet (173m) tall that serves no other purpose than testing the really fast elevators that are needed for really tall buildings. I can’t decide if it’s a massive waste of material or a necessary cost of building land-use-efficient building. Have an opinion?
(via Boing Boing)