Philippine call centers are on the lookout for the most excellent agents in the country. After all, it is a very competitive field. Fresh graduates of universities and colleges in the Philippines usually troop to call centers to get their first jobs and start developing their careers. Even professionals who are already in mid-life make the transition to the call center industry because of the prospect of better pay and better opportunities, and who can blame them for doing that?
Given this competition in the labor force, it has been said that only about four out of every 100 fresh college graduates are accepted in call centers. The reason behind this is their failure to meet the entry-level requirements of the company that they want to work for. As a result of this trend, several observers have remarked that the Philippine might not be able to sustain the boom in the call center industry. After all, more call center agents will be needed by 2010 when the call center industry is expected to employ around a million employees.
To solve this seeming dilemma, the government, together with the schools and training centers have worked out the provision of training for both college graduates and undergraduates for prospective career in call centers. Nowadays, a typical jobseeker or undergraduate would see hundreds of ads promoting a particular call center academy. These call center academies enhance the English skills of Filipinos who want to work for call centers. These academies also look forward to improving the chances of job seekers to land a job in a call center.
The government, through its Department of Education, is now enhancing the English skills of high school students. The Commission on Higher Education, on the other hand, is enhancing the language skills of College undergraduate students.
Filipinos are very teachable and they easily adapt to different cultures that they get in contact with. They also have strong loyalties to the company that they work for. Not only that, they also have excellent work ethics.
Given the chances of employment of Filipinos, Philippine call centers cannot afford to lower their standards. If they do that, then the quality of service that they provide to their customers will deteriorate and that will spell the beginning of the end of the call center industry in the Philippines.
In enhancing the skills of Filipino call center agents, they have to improve their English communication skills, the neutralization of regional accent and their decision making skills. These are important in the industry in addition to analytical skills, execution of instructions, and proactive relationship with clients.
The boom in the call center industry is should be supplied by fresh talents. These members of the workforce should be able to show global competitiveness and the ability to contribute to the industry. By 2010, the projection is that a million Filipinos will be working for call centers. As such, Philippine call centers, as well as the government, should work hard in uplifting the skills of Filipino professionals. Otherwise, the competitive advantage of Filipinos in the industry will be lost.
What do singers, lawyers, teachers, preachers, and call center agents have in common? All of them are professional voice users. This means that their voice is very important for them to earn a living. Being frequent voice users, however, also expose them to a greater chance of vocal abuse. With too much misuse and abuse behaviors, one's voice may deteriorate and, eventually, he or she may even lose it. For those who use their voice professionally, losing their voice would mean losing their jobs as well. It is, therefore, important for them to take care of their voice by practicing vocal hygiene techniques to prevent from having vocal problems. For those who already have a vocal pathology, they can still undergo voice therapy for possible rehabilitation.
A lot of the activities or situations that call center agents are frequently involved in are detrimental for their voice. They continuously talk for five hours or more. Continuous voice use for two hours is the most length of time allowable. Going beyond that period of time will already cause a person's vocal mechanism to feel strained and tensed. Call center offices are usually cold environments. Just like any muscle, a person's vocal folds become tense in low temperature. The coldness can also cause the throat to feel dry. Another harmful habit of call center agents is that they often drink coffee, possibly to avoid feeling sleepy. Coffee, however, causes a person's throat to feel dry and can also give a feeling of something lodged in the throat. This feeling leads to a person's frequent throat-clearing which is also a vocal abuse behavior. Another situation they usually experience is lack of having enough rest and sleep. As a person's whole body feels fatigued or tired, so does his or her vocal mechanism. The functioning of the larynx is, thus, compromised in this condition and makes it prone to overuse. Finally, call center agents experience a lot of stress from some of their clients. The stress, compounded with vocal overuse, will increase the level of strain and tension within the vocal mechanism. A person in this situation will be forced to exert more effort for vocal production which is not supposed to be done.
Because of the strain, tension, over-usage, and increased friction due to forced talking, it can cause the formation of scarring and nodules within the vocal folds. Vocal scarring and vocal nodules are among the most common vocal pathologies that professional voice users encounter. Because of the scarring and nodules, the voice can become hoarse and harsh-sounding. Pain in the throat area can also be felt. Instance of voice loss or aphonia will also be evident. Sometimes, pitch breaks also occur together with a general change in pitch. With a nodule in the vocal folds, total closure of the vocal folds during adduction may not be achieved resulting to an excess of air escaping. This will cause, then, cause the voice to sound breathy and compromise the loudness in vocal production.
To avoid reaching a situation where the voice has severely deteriorated, it is important for professional voice users to lessen or totally eliminate their vocal abuse and misuse behaviors. This means taking time to rest the vocal mechanism at least every 30 minutes. When in a cold environment, it will help to cover the throat or neck area with a muffler or a scarf. Frequently lubricate the throat area by drinking water to prevent it from straining because of dryness. Also avoid drinking coffee or smoking which will just increase the dryness of the throat. If possible, get enough rest after working. Performing relaxation techniques such as simultaneous contraction and release of the different muscles of the body, including those in the throat area, will also help. It is important to learn diaphragmatic breathing to lessen the tension in the neck area brought about by clavicular breathing. Also learn to decrease the feeling of stressfulness through stress management and relaxation. Constant practice of these behaviors will help any professional users, especially call center agents, avoid posing danger to their vocal mechanism. Otherwise, it will be an easy road for any person toward having vocal pathologies.
Fortunately, vocal problems such as abrasion or scarring and nodules can still be remediated with voice therapy. People who provide these services are called speech therapists or pathologists. Aside from managing voice problems, they also deal with speech and language problems as well as swallowing problems among young and old clients. In order to begin receiving voice therapy services, a person should initially obtain a referral from a doctor, preferably an otorhinolaryngologist. After being referred, a person with voice problem will be evaluated to determine the main reason or reasons causing his or her problem. Only after the evaluation will the therapy can then be started. During and after sessions, utmost cooperation from clients is required by therapists to make the voice management successful. Without a client's cooperation as well as compliance to instructions, therapy sessions and therapy techniques provided will just be wasted. In the end, total rehabilitation actually depends on a person's determination to be well.
Both James Stinson & Alexis are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
James Stinson has sinced written about articles on various topics from The Internet, Recruitment and Guide Guitar. James Stinson is Owner and Founder of Global Sky Inc. He employs a team of 50 in a high quality call center facility based in the Philippines. For more info on outsourcing your project visit:. James Stinson's top article generates over 90500 views. to your Favourites.
Alexis has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing and Communications, Health and Yoga Practice. is an award winning call center that provides live 24x7 and 365 days call center outsourcing services for companies of all sizes and industries.. Alexis's top article generates over 823000 views. to your Favourites.