Are dining CMs working from home?

[JandD Mom]

I had an odd call with a CM about dining today which I reported about in another thread.

One of the things odd about the call was that there was absolutely no background noise. Usually when you talk to a CM in a call center, there is a little background noise that tells you there are other people working around them. Well this CM had none of that ... it was absolutely silent.

So my question is, is Disney hiring people to answer calls from their homes so they can do away with the call centers? I have read stories about many companies doing this with customer service personnel so they don't have to maintain call centers. The company sets up the person with the software and equipment, and the employee answers phones from home.

Anyway, did anyone have any info on this?

 

[checkwriter]

Well, when I"m working from home, the background noises my clients hear are barking dogs (we have four), or shouting kids (we have five). So for me, silence means I'm at work!

 

[BTown]

I'm pretty sure Disney maintains two call centers, one in Orlando and one in Tampa I believe. Not sure how the calls are proportioned between the two, but I would imagine a company like Disney, with the volume of calls they must handle, would have to maintain call centers. Having CM's handle this sort of thing from a remote location without supervision I would think would be a logisitical disaster.

Its possible Disney uses headsets that cancel out background noise, due to the fact that if they are operating in a call center, they are likely surrounded by many others making calls, and the background noise could be incredibly distracting.

 

[daisy_77]

That is a very interesting question. Last year when I was making some ADR's I was having small talk with the CM and she said she was in Utah (I don't recall the city). She said that there are call centers all over the country.

 

[Nancyg56]

I don't know how the Disney call center works, but some companies use "overflow" call centers. The call center I worked for did just that. When the center could not take any more calls, our center kicked in.

 

[Uncleromulus]

As I seem to recall from a previous WDW-DINE thread, the only CM's working calls from home are those who are handicapped in some way and cannot get to work.
And I also seem to recall that the CM you speak with may not even be located in Florida.

 

[DeterminedOne]

Work at Home is the future. Companies do it because it costs less. I work in a call center for a major insurance company and we have hundreds of work at homes. In fact, reps are given incentives to WAH. GMA did a segment on it a few weeks ago. Did you know that there are fast food restaurants with drive-thru employees that work from home? Seriously. When you pull up at Hardees you could be talking to someone working from home. I have no idea if this is what Disney is doing, but I wouldn't be surprised.

GMA is on right now and they are talking about it again!! They specifically mentioned 1-800 Flowers and J Crew as companies with WAH's.[/FONT]

 

[Cinders Mum]

as a homeworking TA, I have spoken to CRO/Dining CM's who are also homeworkers, we chat about the benefits of home-office working ....

Val
xx

 

[allicat]

I thought the same thing when I called for dining over the summer. There was actually not a sound in the background. It sounded like a person in a room by themselves.
If thats the case that they work from home, where do I sign up?

 

[JandD Mom]

Work at Home is the future. Companies do it because it costs less. I work in a call center for a major insurance company and we have hundreds of work at homes. In fact, reps are given incentives to WAH. GMA did a segment on it a few weeks ago. Did you know that there are fast food restaurants with drive-thru employees that work from home? Seriously. When you pull up at Hardees you could be talking to someone working from home. I have no idea if this is what Disney is doing, but I wouldn't be surprised.

GMA is on right now and they are talking about it again!! They specifically mentioned 1-800 Flowers and J Crew as companies with WAH's.[/FONT]

I have seen many articles about this. Some companies even install cameras at the employee's workstation so they can supervise them. They do computer tracking of calls handled so they can monitor productivity. Obviously, they don't want you putting down the phone so you can get that load of laundry folded.

I wouldn't doubt that Disney would have the technology to do this, but I am just wondering if they started. I know they are fairly regimented as to the company's workplace etc.

 

[TiggerAllie]

Last night when I called Disney dining, there person to whom I was speaking had a very loud television blaring in the background (instead of the usual call center noise of overhearing other phone conversations). It was very disconcerting. I wasn't sure if I believed he was really looking up the ADRs correctly because of it...

 

[babslittleones]

I worked for a call center that handled tavel packages for many years.

The main office was in Wisconsin. The next biggest office was in Orlando. Right before I quit due to relocation, they had just opened a call center in Utah. I worked for two years in the Orlando call center and one year at the Wisconsin call center. Each office handled specific travel packages. There were two types of travel packages that both Orlando and Wisconsin shared the calls.

From past experience, the call centers are very large. The call center in Wisconsin (the largest office) could easily handle almost 250 reservation agents at the peak times.

As far as background noise, there may be alot of factors to considered. There were many times that I had people all around me. There were also times when I sat in a group of cubicles all by myself due to people being on breaks, lunches, or potty breaks. If you work between changing shifts, then you could be sitting in a corner by yourself. There were also many different types of headsets that we used. Some were good and some not so good.

So you just never know what the circumstances are at that particular time that you are talking to a res agent.

 

[nuke]

I was going to say that it depends on the headset. I worked for the airlines for a while and those headsets were great. I couldn't hear my neighbor talking at all.

 

[tinkerbell211]

One CM that I spoke with commented on my southern accent, then went on to tell me that she was in Texas. I asked if she was working from home. She said no, that WDW had call centers around the US. I asked if there was one in NC. She didn't think so.

 

[DisneyBaby2004]

This is so funny. I was thinking the same thing two days ago when I called to make some ADR changes. I was so tempted to ask the CM was she at home. There was NO noise in the background.

 

[MickeyP]

They are all over the country, although I think the training for the job is 600.00.

 

[Rantybaby]

Work at Home is the future. Companies do it because it costs less. I work in a call center for a major insurance company and we have hundreds of work at homes. In fact, reps are given incentives to WAH. GMA did a segment on it a few weeks ago. Did you know that there are fast food restaurants with drive-thru employees that work from home? Seriously. When you pull up at Hardees you could be talking to someone working from home. I have no idea if this is what Disney is doing, but I wouldn't be surprised.

GMA is on right now and they are talking about it again!! They specifically mentioned 1-800 Flowers and J Crew as companies with WAH's.[/FONT]

I work as a Directory Assistance Operator for a major cellular company.
Lord, knows I would love to work at home instead of travelling 52 miles round trip 6 days a week. Some of my co-workers look like they just rolled out of bed.

 

[sherreis]

I have seen many articles about this. Some companies even install cameras at the employee's workstation so they can supervise them. They do computer tracking of calls handled so they can monitor productivity. Obviously, they don't want you putting down the phone so you can get that load of laundry folded.

Are you spying on me? I have been working at home for approx 6 months now. I have to work in the office 1 day a week and I hate that day. It's so noisy. It would've been hard for me to work from home before that - I was a Labor & Delivery nurse.