What commonly distracts staff in every call center in the Philippines?

OABPO Blog Team Published on January 20, 2014

shock-female-customer-service-agent

There are common work distractions in every call center in the Philippines that could cost a business its customers and profits if left unfixed.

Market research firm uSamp claimed this when they found out through their survey that a business loses more than $10,000 per worker annually because of distractions. uSamp also revealed that more than 50% of the 500 surveyed employees waste over an hour each day on distractions.

As distractions could cost you more than just productivity, they should be identified and addressed accordingly. Here are five of the biggest call center distractions and ways to eliminate them:

Background Noise

tired-female-customer-support-agent-holding-phone

Background noise is probably the biggest hindrance not just to call center representatives but also to the callers they attend to. How so? Obviously, it’s because noise can be transmitted by the phone to the customer, thus making it hard for your agents to think, while making it difficult for the customer to hear or understand the conversation. What are the common sources of noise, and how can they be silenced?

Noise in a call center workplace can come from anything, anywhere, or anyoneโ€” from a noisy coworker, a loud office equipment, or the traffic from outside your office window. On your part, you can reduce the noise by devoting a space that’s intended solely for calls. Meaning, no meetings or trainings should be done on the floor; there should be a separate, closed space for those. Noisy printers should be placed away, checked, or replaced, and the same should also be done to air-conditioning units that emit humming along with air. It could also be advisable to ban personal mobile phones and music players, but you could be lenient on their use if your agents are responsible enough to use them sparingly, or if your call equipment have noise-cancelling features.

Physical discomforts

These discomforts include uneven temperature and uncomfortable sitting arrangements. Check if your agents are comfortable in their workstation because this is where they spend the entirety of their shift. If you found anything that causes physical discomforts, fix those immediately because these could take their attention away from work.

Multitasking

Yes, as much as multitasking is meant to make work more efficient, it can prevent work from being accomplished when not done right. When your call center agents do more than one thing all at once, they tend to lose focus and end up producing subpar results. However, multitasking can induce productivity if the tasks at hand are the same or related to each other. Hence, juggling between calls and encoding could lead to inaccuracy, unless the encoded information is about the call being taken.

Ask yourself if your staff should really be multitasking or if it is task-switching that they truly need. Should there be a part of the shift dedicated for a certain duty while the rest is dedicated on another task? It could help if you have different people handling specific tasks, but it could also be ideal to automate a part of the system, such as encoding, so that your people would only have to focus on the customer and not on file retrieval.

Faulty equipment

Just like physical discomforts, faulty equipment could distract your team and lessen their productivity. How would your agents hear the caller well if their headset is malfunctioning? How are they able to access customer information if the network connections are spotty? So don t just make sure that you have all the workstation essentials; invest in each device’s regular maintenance and repairs as well.

Unnecessary information

Most call centers point to information overload as one of the problems they commonly face. This happens when agents collect unnecessary data from customers. To avoid this from causing distraction, why don’t you resort to automation, too? You should also focus more on improving your service and less on gathering metrics for agent evaluation.

Do your employees encounter any of the mentioned distractions? What measures did you take to counter these? Chances are your call center in the Philippines has some of these productivity blocks, so look around and identify them to address these interruptions accordingly.

Join us on facebook
Open Access BPO 2 days ago
The Davao leg of our ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—น๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—•๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€: ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ข๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—”๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—•๐—ฃ๐—ข ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜† over the weekend was a celebration of what lies ahead: a shared vision of unforgettable moments and a reflection of our collective drive to succeed in every challenge 2025 has in store.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Acacia Hotel Davao for an evening of inspiration and celebration. Here's to a year of new opportunities and achievements!

Let's take a look back at last weekend's party.

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#OABPOKickOff2025 #OABPOWanderlustBliss
#WanderlustBlissOABPO
Open Access BPO 3 days ago
Customers trust and engage more with reliable, knowledgeable, and clear communicators.

That's why businesses need #CallCenters that constantly refine their communication strategies and have #CustomerExperience experts to heighten customer trust.

Avoid these weak expressions that can undermine your team's effectiveness: https://buff.ly/4hhfyLc

----------
For exceptional #CustomerSupport delivered by a trusted #CX expert, contact us today: https://buff.ly/3Q3mnEb

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerService #CSAT
#outsourcing #CustomerSatisfaction
Open Access BPO 3 days ago
Is miscommunication costing you customers?
Join us as we break down 4 common customer communication styles and how your team can adapt.

Boost customer engagement and resolve issues faster! Read more: https://buff.ly/42DDbZR

----------
At Open Access BPO, we go beyond basic support to proactively address your customer concerns.

Contact us for a winning customer service strategy: https://buff.ly/3EoMcfv

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerExperience #CustomerService
#CustomerSupport #CSat #CX
Open Access BPO 3 days ago
The Manila leg of our ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—น๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—•๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€: ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ข๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—”๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—•๐—ฃ๐—ข ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜† last weekend proved a resounding success.

The event, featuring exceptional dining, beverages, entertainment, and a record-breaking raffle pool, served as an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the people instrumental to our ongoing growth.

We extend our sincere gratitude to all who participated in this, our first major event of the year.

Let's relive the free-spiritedness we had shown during the event.

To more exciting adventures!
#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#OABPOKickOff2025 #OABPOWanderlustBliss
#WanderlustBlissOABPO
Open Access BPO 4 days ago
Projecting empathy and providing effective solutions are parts of the business language that will prove crucial to your #CustomerService.

There's so much to understand about harnessing language to ensure your customers not only hear you, but truly feel heard.

Learn more about how it can make or break your #CustomerExperience goals: https://buff.ly/40XwvV8

----------
Open Access BPO's agents are meticulously trained to go above and beyond, ensuring seamless and positive experience for every customer.

Get in touch with us today take your business to new heights with our #outsourcing solutions: https://buff.ly/3EppX99

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerSupport #CustomerCare
Open Access BPO 7 days ago
Efficiency and immediate customer responses are key to elevating the #CustomerExperience.
But how many of us underestimate the impact of missed support calls on repeat sales, brand reputation, and overall #CustomerSatisfaction?

Want to learn more about the hidden costs of missed calls?
Check out our blog post to see how it all connects: https://buff.ly/4aDlrQf

----------
Outsourcing to a #CallCenter is a valuable strategy, but only the most competent firms can truly partner with you to grow your customer base and business.

Contact us today to speak with our #CX experts: https://buff.ly/3WBFEAk

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CX #CSat #CustomerSupport