Case studies: Contact centre service coordinator: Jayne

Jayne did a sandwich degree in business information technology. She is now a contact centre service coordinator for a university...

Jayne has a degree in business information technology where she did a four-year course including a one-year sandwich spent on an IT helpdesk within a large commercial organisation. The command of technology and the techniques of answering questions over the phone were of assistance later on with her work in contact centres. She currently works for the contact centre at a university.

After graduation, Jayne took a six-month call centre temporary post with her current employer, and this was subsequently made permanent. Jayne then became service coordinator having previously spent some time as a team leader. Currently, Jayne's main task is the day-to-day running of the centre while answering to the strategic manager

The service ethos of Jayne's work is dictated by care and attention to callers' needs. There is no time limit on call length, and repeat calls/referrals are common. Jayne values this aspect of the role as the outcomes are felt to be 'worthy and help change people's lives'.

Jayne works from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on a Saturday. The office follows the academic year from February to October with a break over the winter period. Peak enquiries are in late summer and autumn.

Jayne's team comprises 35 full-time and two part-time staff (which increases at peak times to seven+). In the main office, the majority of the staff are graduates at all grades. Assistants answer first line calls, and advisers respond to more complex matters. All staff receive six weeks' initial training, but it can take up to 12 months to achieve full confidence in facing all questions, especially those that are academic related.

Jayne stresses that good IT capabilities are very important as there are four concurrent systems which have to be juggled at any one time.

Jayne identifies her challenges as being driven by changes in the student profile:

• a much wider variety of courses being offered;
• competition from new courses aimed at adults/workers such as foundation degrees;
• short courses linked to TV series (e.g. Coast) generate peaks in demand;
• faculty demand for students versus student needs for the most suitable course.

Jayne is happy in her role and finds the work engaging with a sense of worth. Eventually, she feels that she will have to choose a future direction either in IT support systems or in strategic planning.