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Published: Friday, July 20, 2007

Niles center braves flurry of iPhone calls

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Impressed by the call center's performance, AT&T is adding more work.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

NILES — The manager of a local call center is proud to say that her workers proved to be "iReady."

For the past three weeks, about 500 workers at West Corp.'s Niles center have been helping people activate service for the hottest new communications device — the Apple iPhone.

The office was selected as the primary call center for the June 29 launch, but only after Carolyn Smolko, site director, convinced AT&T officials that her workers were up to the task.

AT&T, which provides the wireless service for the iPhone, needed lots of assuring.

Smolko promised AT&T that the workers would accept overtime hours and Sunday shifts. She said they could absorb plenty of new information and keep product secrets that people throughout the country were eager to learn.

"I was a nervous wreck for weeks before the launch. I kept saying, 'We're iReady.' Then I'd say to myself, 'I hope we are.'"

They were.

AT&T is so satisfied with the center's performance that it's adding more work. The additional call volume will require 200 more workers by the end of August.

About 100 workers are being trained, but more will be needed, Smolko said. Employees start at $10 an hour.

Subsiding

The launch phase of the iPhone ended Thursday.

"The first three days were just slammed with calls. Now it's business as usual," Smolko said.

The center is still handling iPhone calls but now has time to take back other work for AT&T that it had temporarily given up. About 100 workers are now dedicated to calls for the iPhone, which plays music and provides Internet service in addition to being a phone.

Besides the iPhone calls, the center handles customer service calls from AT&T customers in western states.

From now on, it will be the only call center handling activation questions for the iPhone. During the launch, two other centers were handling overflow calls.

The Niles center, which has a total of 1,300 employees, also handles customer service calls for DISH Network, a satellite television provider.

Smolko said the iPhone launch was the biggest launch ever handled by West, which has 32 centers in the U.S. and abroad.

Top secret

Secrecy was paramount because Apple withheld most details from the public until just before the launch.

The center was given pricing plans and phone features. Smolko and other executives signed confidentiality agreements, while workers were told they could be fired for releasing information.

On the day of the launch, an AT&T official delivered the final 22-page training manual that call center workers would follow. The call center wasn't allowed to take the manual to a commercial printer, so it leased a copier and printed out 500 sets under the watchful eye of the AT&T official.

Most iPhone users didn't need to call the Niles center because they can activate their phones online. If problems develop, however, they are instructed to call for help.

Some iPhone customers have had trouble following the online directions, while others have run into technical problems.

Benefits for overtime

During the launch, call center workers were asked to put in extra hours to handle the huge volume of calls. When workers agreed to work overtime, they were given tickets for drawings for prizes, such as gift cards and bikes.

Smolko said her workers had a difficult job. The people who were calling in were excited about their phones, which cost either $500 or $600, and wanted to use them right away.

During the first weekend, some problems couldn't be solved immediately. The call center agents had to tactfully explain to these customers that someone would call them back when their service was ready.

"They were the stars of the show," she said.

shilling@vindy.com

Friday, July 20, 2007