Re: telephone switching system

Jonathan Kirwan wrote:
On 28 Mar 2006 10:51:39 -0800, mrdarrett@xxxxxxxxx wrote:


Tim Wescott wrote:

mrdarrett@xxxxxxxxx wrote:


I'm sure this exists already, just looking for pointers.

Say I've got a room full of ten people, each of whom has a phone (a
call center).

Let's say one person now wants to take a bathroom break.

What kind of system would now re-route this call to one of the nine
remaining operators (or put the caller on hold)?


A PBX (Private Branch Exchange). Also known as a 'switch'. They have
-- snip --

My wife told me she saw a news show which reported on call center
conditions in the Philippines. There were complaints from staff that
they were so busy they could not even take bathroom breaks, and many
suffered from uterine tract infections.


Ureter infections are caused by a lot of things and I've no specific
knowledge about them being caused by "holding it." But a real threat
might be a burst bladder if forced to continue long enough. Such an
event led to an infection that killed Tycho Brahe, ten days after a
dinner hosted by Baron of Rosenberg, when he refused to take a relief
break as a matter of perceived etiquette.

Holding it in can cause your bladder to lose muscle tone and not be able to expel all the liquid*. Bacteria have an easier time living in the retained liquid than a nice, empty bladder. Also, folks who aren't allowed to take bathroom breaks tend to drink less** and more concentrated urine _does_ lead directly to problems.

While this may not actually be true, I was curious what technology was
available.


It's unlikely that expensive, US-marketed solutions will help. Even
if the technology is available there would be the entire question of
supporting infrastructure (parts, service, roads and transportation,
etc) as well as capital expense to start out and any training needed.
The simple, low-tech, low-infrastructure solution is to allow them to
go to the bathroom.

Jon

It's unlikely that _any_ technology-based solutions will keep a**holes from being a**holes. Things aren't so bad in the US because we have moderately strong labor laws***. As long as the countries in question allow their employees to be abused it will happen.

* Amazing how we can keep this all stuffy and polite, isn't it?

** well, smart folks.

*** Which are, on the whole, in my opinion, about right. Too lax and you get sweatshops like the ones in the Phillipines, too strong and you have a situation like you get in western Europe, where it's easier to get divorced than it is to fire someone.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Posting from Google? See http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/
.

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