Contact Lens

	In the past, a quiet contact centre would wait at the ready for May to unleash upon it

A Closer Look at AOC’s Contact Centre Operations
By Josef Rosenberg, AOC
April 2021

As we gaze into the distance, squinting against the bright April sunlight to try and discern what lies ahead, we steel ourselves against the challenges that are rapidly approaching. A feeling of mixed fear and eager hope washes over us, an electric jolt of anxious expectation and nervous energy. May approaches quickly, and April offers us but just a small taste of what lies ahead.

As hard as it is to admit, I’ve been getting older. It’s true, in fact I’ve been getting older for years! So old in fact, I’ve worked at AOC for almost 15 years, and started out as an agent. For that entire 15 years, every April (with a few exceptions where things ramped up early) we would slowly entrench the contact centre operations as things quietly, but steadfastly, became more intense as the days pushed forward. New trainees would enthusiastically come out onto the floor for the first time, taking it less and less easy as the month progressed, until a veritable tsunami of excavators crashed down upon the contact centre as April turns to May.

Though I may be older, wiser, more handsome, and undoubtedly more mature, I still get a bit giddy as the new season looms large each year in the Spring. We know it will be difficult, we know it will be tiring, but it will also be satisfying. Handling and facilitating safe excavation practice in Alberta is a challenge worthy of the effort and mental exertion required to prepare for such a large undertaking.

It’s worth noting as well, that like the intense work we experience in May, each Monday brings a similar feeling. At the beginning of the week, volumes are much higher and slowly abate as the week marches on. However, no Mondays are more pronounced than those in May. If you stop and do one thing this May, I would encourage that if you must call, please call on Friday instead! Your wait time to speak with an Agent will be considerably less.

Alberta One-Call stands at the ready now, and in the future, for whatever May (or Monday) may bring. Experience tells me that it will bring a lot of phone calls, and the continuing promise of safe excavation.