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Okay, so last week we had a fire alarm on the call floor. I was lucky in that I wasn't on a call when it went off, so it was a simple matter of logging off and evacuating the building. Now for those who were on calls though...
There is a company policy that if you are on a call, you can not evacuate until a manager confirms that the alarm is real and not a test (we have to do fire alarm tests on a live call floor because the FCC will not allow us to shut down the floor for anything short of an emergency, which is understandable considering part of what we do is relay emergency calls). This time it is a real alarm, so management sends out a mass IM saying
emergency (censored because it is a propriety quickword short hand that involved the company name). With that all agents know to copy that quickword into the call client which will relay the relevant information to the deaf user (basically, hey, we aren't being rude and hanging up on you, there is an emergency at the call center) and then read the message that was generated to the hearing user, and then of course, hang up as quickly as possible.
My coworkers had to deal with such massive amounts of suck it was unbelievable.
Keep in mind that the fire alarm is going off in the background. Yes some of them did mention to the hearing user when the alarm first started going off that they would stay on the call until management confirmed the need to evacuate, but a shitload of hearing users refused to be disconnected (not that they can stop us) because having the deaf user call back and either wait in queue at our other call center or wait for our call center to reopen.
As it turns out, the fire was nothing serious (a microwave on the second floor... it's always the second floor... caught on fire and was extinguished by security and we were able to get the all clear before the fire department even arrived). So, the queue the formed from only having one center running wasn't too terribly bad (we were able to clear it within 15 minutes of returning, and the longest individual wait was maybe 3 or 4 minutes at most)... but oh my god, the bitching that we received from the deaf users when they finally were able to connect to us about how terrible it was that they had to wait for a few minutes to make a call. Oh, I'm so sorry that you had to wait 3 minutes to call T-Mobile to cry about how unfair it is that they are shutting off your phone because you haven't paid in three months or to call your mother to tell her about a sordid affair, I'm sincerely apologize that we would have the audacity to evacuate a building with a fire in it. Next time we will risk our lives so you won't have to wait to make your mundane phone calls. Now, I wouldn't have been so upset about these people bitching, if the person in the cubicle next to me hadn't gotten a legitimate 911 call, you know, true emergency, where the deaf user was understanding that our safety has to come first and that if we all die in a fire then there won't be a relay service anymore (ok, with how high unemployment is in Salt Lake right now I'd give it two weeks to have us all replaced, but still).
There is a company policy that if you are on a call, you can not evacuate until a manager confirms that the alarm is real and not a test (we have to do fire alarm tests on a live call floor because the FCC will not allow us to shut down the floor for anything short of an emergency, which is understandable considering part of what we do is relay emergency calls). This time it is a real alarm, so management sends out a mass IM saying
emergency (censored because it is a propriety quickword short hand that involved the company name). With that all agents know to copy that quickword into the call client which will relay the relevant information to the deaf user (basically, hey, we aren't being rude and hanging up on you, there is an emergency at the call center) and then read the message that was generated to the hearing user, and then of course, hang up as quickly as possible.My coworkers had to deal with such massive amounts of suck it was unbelievable.
Keep in mind that the fire alarm is going off in the background. Yes some of them did mention to the hearing user when the alarm first started going off that they would stay on the call until management confirmed the need to evacuate, but a shitload of hearing users refused to be disconnected (not that they can stop us) because having the deaf user call back and either wait in queue at our other call center or wait for our call center to reopen.
As it turns out, the fire was nothing serious (a microwave on the second floor... it's always the second floor... caught on fire and was extinguished by security and we were able to get the all clear before the fire department even arrived). So, the queue the formed from only having one center running wasn't too terribly bad (we were able to clear it within 15 minutes of returning, and the longest individual wait was maybe 3 or 4 minutes at most)... but oh my god, the bitching that we received from the deaf users when they finally were able to connect to us about how terrible it was that they had to wait for a few minutes to make a call. Oh, I'm so sorry that you had to wait 3 minutes to call T-Mobile to cry about how unfair it is that they are shutting off your phone because you haven't paid in three months or to call your mother to tell her about a sordid affair, I'm sincerely apologize that we would have the audacity to evacuate a building with a fire in it. Next time we will risk our lives so you won't have to wait to make your mundane phone calls. Now, I wouldn't have been so upset about these people bitching, if the person in the cubicle next to me hadn't gotten a legitimate 911 call, you know, true emergency, where the deaf user was understanding that our safety has to come first and that if we all die in a fire then there won't be a relay service anymore (ok, with how high unemployment is in Salt Lake right now I'd give it two weeks to have us all replaced, but still).