Letter: Call-centre stress

Friday 26 November 1999 00:02 GMT

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Sir: Your article on call centres is misleading in at least one vital respect. Whatever the management regimes may or may not be, the call centres of leading operators, including BT, do not have the physical conditions shown in your image.

I investigated comparative practice in UK call centre accommodation in a study covering all key business sectors in late 1998; in no case did I find the "battery hen" scenario you present.

The current view is that call-centre work is demanding and therefore better undertaken in a supportive physical setting which helps operators to feel relaxed, and the cost of this is worthwhile.

ZIONA STRELITZ

Principal, ZZA

London N7

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