This Call May Be Monitored ...

Iphtashu Fitz writes "We've all heard it. The recorded message when you call technical support or your bank or credit card company: 'This call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes.' But has it ever occurred to you that people actually DO listen in? Approximately 2 percent of these calls are listened to either live or after the fact, and it may come as a surprise that Big Brother even listens to what you may say while you are on hold. The people who monitor these calls routinely hear arguments between spouses or parents and children, people yelling at pets, and all sorts of other domestic disputes."

Big Brother? Not quite...

[Lindsay Lohan]

Approximately 2 percent of these calls are listened to either live or after the fact, and it may come as a surprise that Big Brother even listens to what you may say while you are on hold

Listeners are primarily interested in monitoring the agent and his/her adherence to support protocol--not the caller per-se, as some sort of eavesdropping effort. IMO, that doesn't equate to "Big Brother"... however I'll keep my finger near the mute button :)

You'd think that if 2% of the calls are monitored for quality control purposes... then QC would actually improve in the long run. In my experience, phone support/service is generally about the same (or less) quality as it was many years ago.

listening in

[PTBarnum]

I don't know about Iphtashu Fitz, but when I hear a message saying "this call may be monitored", I generally assume it is there for a reason, i.e. this call may be monitored. Are there really people who are suprised that some of their calls are in fact monitored?

This is fairly universal among call centers, because call center managers never trust their employees to do the right thing without first-hand supervision.

To be fair, I was suprised about the on-hold part. What is the point of listening to that?

Re:This call may be monitored or recorded

[LostCluster]

Um, since when did you need their permission? You're a party of the conversation you can record it all you want.

There are twelve states that require permission from both sides of a phone call for it to be recorded. This site has the list. [pimall.com]

I had to do this

[British]

Being an unofficial supervisor in my tech support job, I did my share of monitoring calls. It's pretty uneventful. You're just checking out if your tech support rep guy is doing his/her job right. You fill out a form in regards to the call, and send it to his/her manager.

Heck, I once got a super-irate customer yelling & screaming at me, and told a coworker(who had supervisor priveledges too), and he asked me "What's your extension?", and I gave it to him so he could listen in on the fun. When you work tech support, you have to make the job fun.

Advice for calling Tech Support/Customer Service

[chrisG23]

As a former phone customer service person, and phone tech support person, Id like to let everyone know to STFU when you are placed on hold. If you don't hear hold music, (and sometimes even if you do) the phone tech has put you on mute while while he/she curses the series of life events that led him/her to have to *try* to help you (and/or just researches the issue). The phone tech can hear what you are saying, and one thing we are not fond of is people talking thrash about the tech support. This may lead to you not being helped out.

A general rule of thumb is that the nicer and more reasonable you are on the phone, the better the quality of support you will receive, and the faster you will be off the phone with your problem solved. Its fucked, but thats reality. Also, most call logging systems have a section for "Technician comments", which can be anything from "customer follows directions well" to "customer is an asshole". This can influence greatly the way you are treated by future technicians. Sometimes I've escalated calls for a callback (in 1-2 days for one company I worked at) just because I won't deal with a rude fuck. At one company, this was unoffical policy.

Re:Turn it to your advantage

[Anonymous Coward]

IAAL but im busy so i'll give you the relevant case cites if youre interested in the common law on the subject :

1. United States v. Friedman, Docket No. 98-1398(L), 98-1425, 98-1435, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT, 300 F.3d 111; 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 15772, March 4, 2002, Argued, August 6, 2002, Decided, As Corrected August 23, 2002, US Supreme Court certiorari denied by Friedman v. United States, 2003 U.S. LEXIS 3006 (U.S., Apr. 21, 2003)

OVERVIEW: Notice that jailhouse phone calls, except to attorneys, would be intercepted was sufficient for ordinary-course exception to wiretap law; failure to charge and prove murder-victim's death violated Apprendi but was harmless error.

CORE TERMS: notice, conspiracy, recording, extortion, crime of violence, telephone, sentence, marijuana, recorded, beyond a reasonable doubt ... ... provides some notice to inmates that calls may be monitored, the facility's "practice of automatically ...

2. United States v. Hammond, No. 01-4484, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT, 286 F.3d 189; 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 6800, January 25, 2002, Argued, April 12, 2002, Decided, Writ of certiorari denied: Hammond v. United States, 2002 U.S. LEXIS 6747 (U.S. Oct. 7, 2002).

OVERVIEW: Once an interception was exempt under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, the police were free to use the intercepted conversations without having first obtained a warrant.

CORE TERMS: interception, tapes, recording, conversation, telephone, intercepted, recorded, inmate, prison, acquisition ... ... consent form acknowledging that their calls may be monitored and recorded and that use of the telephones ... ... BOP reminds the inmates that their calls may be monitored by placing notices of ...

3. United States v. Kalyvas, No. 96-5144, No. 96-5176, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 29050; 1997 Colo. J. C.A.R. 2480, October 21, 1997, Filed, RULES OF THE TENTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS MAY LIMIT CITATION TO UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS. PLEASE REFER TO THE RULES OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THIS CIRCUIT., Reported in Table Case Format at: 127 F.3d 1110, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 35003.

OVERVIEW: An attorney's conviction for wire fraud was affirmed and his claim that he had no duty to inform a third-party of his client's past criminal conduct was rejected because irregardless of this duty, it was not a required element for his conviction.

CORE TERMS: feldspar, indictment, scheme to defraud, wire, conversation, superseding, convicted, telephone, interstate, furtherance ... ... consents, impliedly or expressly, that his calls may be monitored, or when such monitoring constitutes "law ...

4. United States v. Daniels, Nos. 89-2014, 89-2015, 89-2017, 89-2025, 89-3176, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT, 902 F.2d 1238; 1990 U.S. App. LEXIS 7636, January 18, 1990, Argued, May 10, 1990, Decided, Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied, June 11, 1990, Reported at: 1990 U.S. App. LEXIS 9681.

OVERVIEW: An nunc pro tunc order signed by judge was sufficiently reliable evidence of a judge's determination to extend the grand jury after the expiration of its 18 month term, therefore indictments against defendants for drug offenses were valid.

CORE TERMS: grand jury, indictment, pleaded guilty, recollection, guilty plea, sentencing, sentence, grand, oversight, expired ... ... says that inmates' phone calls may be monitored. That is the kind of argument that makes ...

5. Epps v. St. Mary's Hospital, Inc., No. 85-8952, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT, 802 F.2d 412; 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 32383, October 17, 1986, Petition for

Re:Turn it to your advantage

[Anonymous Coward]

and some more for your reading pleasure :

1. Keenan v. Peterson,
92 Or.App. 703, 759 P.2d 1140, Or.App., Aug 24, 1988 ...monitored telephones in the prison yard from which he may make unlimited collect calls when the yard is open. Petitioner also has access to five other monitored telephones in his unit which are available weekends and evenings. Above each telephone is a sign advising that telephone calls are monitored. Monitoring is routine, random and for the sole purpose of ensuring the security and orderly management of OSCI. OSCI's policy regarding calls to attorneys is posted in each unit. It states that calls to attorneys are not monitored. Monitoring a telephone conversation between an inmate and his attorney is a violation of OSCI's regulations. At the hearing, a corrections officer testified that OSCI staff does monitor inmate telephone calls, but that monitoring is stopped if it appears that a call ...

2. Campiti v. Walonis,
453 F.Supp. 819, D.Mass., Jun 30, 1978 ...monitoring nor was aware of it. No employee of the Department of Correction informed Campiti prior to the call that the telephone call would be monitored. The first time the plaintiffs learned of the monitoring of the call was during discovery proceedings in their Franklin County case. No institutional regulation then in effect at MCI Walpole informed inmates of the possibility of their phone calls being monitored. No evidence was adduced to support a finding that the monitoring was reasonably related to maintaining internal security at MCI Walpole, and I find it was not so related. Shortly after the conclusion of the call, Martin telephoned defendant Hall with the intention of asking that Campiti be returned to Greenfield. Commissioner Hall had been advised by Walonis to expect the call. He did not take Martin's call that day. During the time that Walonis had been a member of the...

3. U.S. v. Lopez,
106 F.Supp.2d 92, D.Me., Jul 31, 2000 ...monitor the calls or carry out other investigatory activities. Additionally, surveillance teams routinely spent down time at the wiretap plant listening to intercepted telephone calls. While recording the conversation, the monitoring equipment simultaneously broadcasted the monitored conversation over a speaker. The calls were audible throughout the room in which the plant was located. Accordingly, the civilian monitors, the shift supervisors, and any other law enforcement officers present at the plant could listen to each telephone call as it was intercepted. The shift supervisors testified that they were familiar with the minimization instructions, understood that it was one of their responsibilities to ensure minimization efforts were carried out, and would have instructed the civilian monitors to minimize a nonpertinent call if necessary. However, such instructions from the shift supervisors to the civilian monitors were apparently unnecessary for two reasons. First, the shift supervisors testified that the civilian monitors were proficient and...

4. People v. Cherry,
2003 WL 21295254, 2003 N.Y. Slip Op. 50949(U), N.Y.Co.Ct., May 21, 2003 ...monitoring their personal telephone calls. [FN2] FN2. Issues pertaining to calls to attorneys were also involved but are not pertinent to the issues in the instant case. Federal rules provided that inmates were generally allowed to make unlimited long distance calls which were randomly and routinely monitored by correctional officials. The purpose of the monitoring was "to preserve the security and orderly management of the institution and to protect the public." (28 C.F.R. 540.101) The regulations regarding monitoring were posted and the Court held that the inmates had reasonable notice that monitoring of their conversations might occur. The Court concluded that the monitoring of personal telephone calls was in the ordinary course of the prison officials' duties and was thus permissible under 18 U.S.C. 2510(5

I worked for Microsoft & HP

[Ridgelift]

I worked for a large call center that did support calls for both Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard (different support contracts, same building). As part of our training, we heard several phone calls that were recorded from previous agents to teach lessons on how to handle extreme situations. It was chilling to listen to domestic disputes.

There's also the practice of "jacking in", where an agent allows a trainee or a supervisor to hook a headset into the agents phone and listen in to the call. During my stay with the company, it was very routine for agents to be on a call, press mute, and talk about the customer without them being able to listen.

Call centers are a tough, tough job. They have a high turn-around because of the stress. If you get angry with a support agent, chances are they will hit the record button on the phone so they can keep a record of your call should there be a need to follow up a complaint.

Bottom line: be polite, be patient. Support techs are just people. If you're rude, then chances are you'll be laughed at or mocked behind your back.

Re:Turn it to your advantage

[Kethinov]

I turned it to my advantage.

Some time ago I ordered a phone/DSL service whilst in a college dorm. For the entire first month, the service didn't work at all. The phone company had no idea why and I had no idea why. After a while I figured out that the college had accidentally destroyed the lines while doing construction work on the building. I called the phone company and explained the situation to them and they told me they'd kill the service and revoke my bills.

Months later I get a bill for $100 interest on unpaid bills from the phone company. I call them back and pull a "WTF?!". I asked them to examine the recording of my previous conversation with them and the charges were dropped.

Recordings have non malicious uses you know.

Re:What amazes me...

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget that taking it back to basics is not always a bad thing. You would be even more ticked off to find that you had been through 5 calls, 3 re-installs of this that or the other, only to find that the widget had been unplugged by a roomate / girlfriend / wife / kid... Trust Me, I've been in that 5th agents shoes and had to explain that the first 4 somehow missed this basic step.