ngayon ko nalaman ang ibig sabihin ng fastfood.
isang pagkaing ginawa in a nick's time na sinakripisyo ang substance just to say may nagawa.
CALL OF THE DAY
Rafael LM Fenix
Scene 1
Lights fade in. A girl in her 20’s is seated in front of a desk, wearing an office attire. She is poised and steady
VOICE-OVER:
Tell me something about yourself.
ELISA:
I’m Elisa Marie Garcia. I’m twenty-two years old. I just graduated from St. Paul University in Quezon City, Major in Business Management. I’m originally from Marinduque, but right now I’m staying at a dorm near my school, or my former school, (chuckles) and… I’m single! (laughs) What else… I like to sing, to read and to draw sketches during my leisure time. And… basically that’s it… (bites her lip)
VOICE-OVER:
So why did you apply here at E-TelcoWorld?
ELISA:
Well, a… friend of mine referred me here. He’s one of the line supervisors. His name is Anderson Sandoval. Basically right now I’m looking for a job which could enhance my interpersonal skills, and of course to provide me with, not really huge, but at least sustainable income, and the call center industry right now is such a booming business. So I decided to try it out here.
VOICE-OVER:
This is your first job?
ELISA:
Yes sir.
VOICE-OVER:
How much is your expected salary?
ELISA:
I was told that the basic here for a representative was sixteen thousand, so I was hoping more or less in that bracket.
VOICE-OVER:
Okay so Elisa, please got to the 12th floor, where you will look for Edong for the contract signing and then just wait for further instructions. (shakes hand)
ELISA:
Thank you sir.
Lights fade out and music plays and credits roll in.
Scene 2
Lights fade in.
Scene begins inside a call center office. Several bays with a computer on each station and several reps are taking in calls in their stations.
Camera shifts to another angle and pans to the left as one by one call center agents are shown as they take in calls.
MARIE:
Thank you for calling Card Collect! This is Marie! And how may I provide you with excellent customer care for today? Uh-huh? Oh, thank you so much for selecting Card Collect! Yes ma’am! We would be glad to sign you up!
MARC:
And Mr. Axle, can I have your account number? Thank you. Security reasons, please verify to me your date of birth? Thank you. Now, sir, currently you still have a remaining $218 allowance on your account.
ELLEN:
Yes, ma’am. Your credit history shows an outstanding balance of six hundred forty-eight dollars and thirty six cents. Now we can schedule a payment for you for fifty dollars by next Friday. Can you make that payment by next Friday Ms. Welsch?
Camera now focuses on a workstation, which is elevated from all the other workstations on the bay. On the workstation is a computer with a flat-screen monitor, some piled papers, and a Card Collect coffee mug used as pen holder. There are two picture frames on the desk: one has a graduation picture of a young man, in black toga, and another is a picture of that same person as a call center agent wearing a headset, taking in calls.
Scene blurs as a Starbucks coffee mug is placed on top of the desk and somebody sits on the chair, blocking the camera view. Camera focus now changes to close-up on Andy, the one who sat on the chair, the same person on the photographs earlier. Andy clicks on a button and his monitor flashes a chart.
ANDY:
Good job people! 9 subscribers for the first hour! Keep it coming! (takes a sip from his coffee mug. Punches another key in the computer, and another chart file opens.) Ellen! AHT is at 800 seconds! Lower it down! Take more calls!
ELLEN:
(covers the mouthpiece of her headset) Coach! She’s an old lady!
ANDY:
So?
ELLEN:
She doesn’t know why she has to pay and how she’s talking about her niece who likes to watch Sabrina the Teenage Witch!
ANDY:
Stop giving excuses! Finish that call and get more! (mutters under his breath) Good luck na lang sa’yo. (sits down and types in the computer.)
PA SYSTEM:
Attention, all supervisors and managers. We will have our performance update in exactly 3 minutes. Repeat: we will have our performance update at one o’clock Eastern Standard Time. Please get ready with your stats and proceed to the Conference Room. Thank you.
Scene 3
Camera now focused on a brown desk, with a woman in a blazer sitting behind it. Slowly the camera zooms out to show a white board with numbers and stats written and three men are standing behind her; two Caucasians and one Asian. Scene also shows in front of the desk people seated in chairs.
CARLA:
At present, E-TelcoWorld is at number two worldwide for the Card Collect Top Center report. Sales are at 129.87%, Quality is at 101.34%, and AHT is at 116.14%. Very good job to everyone for getting us up from Number 5 last month, but let’s not stop.
Camera shifts to behind Carla and showing the faces of the people seated on the chairs. Extreme close up to Andy, seated at the third row.
CARLA:
People, we have 6 business days to go before month ends. Let’s not stop and let’s go back to were we were few months back. We were number one for a whole straight year, and three months back we fell. But let’s get back up guys! This is a start! Let’s end each day our strongest, and let’s get that number one spot back! (room claps). Kudos to Alvin for hitting 300% for sales the past week! Awesome job! (people clap and person on Andy right side raises his hand and waves in a Miss Universe fashion) As well as Cindy for having the highest Quality! Each of her reps got perfect Quality scores! Thank you so much! (claps and girl on Andy’s left side smiles meekly.)
ANDY:
(in a whisper while Carla was still talking in front) Tang’na Cindy, you gotta help me. My team’s struggling right now.
CINDY:
Why me? Your quality is good. 104% o. You need help with sales. There’s Alvin. Ask help from him.
ANDY:
This guy? Eh illegal bumenta ito eh! Slammer!
ALVIN:
Pssst! Quiet ka bakla! Baka mabuking ako eh! (laughs) But seriously, it’s okay to misinform the client just so that they’d sign up, just as long as you don’t get monitored and you can protect yourself from customer complaints and chorvanels.
ANDY:
Oo naman. Lahat naman tayo dito marumi bumenta eh. But then again, you don’t abuse it. Eh ikaw lantaran yung panloloko mo eh.
ALVIN:
Hindi naman. It’s just that talagang stupid lang yung mga customer ko. Gullible. Madali mauto. Eh cheverlou ko ba kung ma-chenelin vargas yung credit ng mga chorva.
Camera now shifts to Carla.
CARLA:
So people! Are we going to end this day good?
EVERYONE:
(with fists clenched and arms up in the air) Yes!
CARLA:
Are we going to end this week good?
EVERYONE:
Yes!
CARLA:
Are we going to be number one again!
EVERYONE:
Yes! (Claps. Everyone stands up and leaves the room.)
ARNOLD:
Andy, Alvin, Kim, Rhea and Cindy, my office. Core Calibration. Now.
ANDY AND THE OTHERS:
Yes Mr. Alcantara.
Scene 4.
Camera focuses inside the manager’s office. A desk with a laptop with huge speakers, then shifts. The laptop and desk blurs out and the painting by the side slowly clears. It’s a picture of shapes, of cubes and triangles and circle, with symmetry and the entire motif is orange. At the side of the painting is the artist’s signature. What’s obvious about the signature is the letter “A” painting on the wall. Some papers are stacked on the desk. Arnold is seated behind his desk. The others are seated in front.
ARNOLD:
(to himself) Ang init dito a. Nagloloko aircon. (to others) Okay guys. We’re gonna monitor some of your agents because from what I’ve noticed, some of your reps are not upselling during balance inquiry calls. The only way for this office to hit the number one spot is to double our sales. (paper flies off and lands on the ground.) Uy shit certificate ko.
CINDY:
Certificate?
ARNOLD:
Recognition. When I got promoted to Manager. Pare pinirmahan ni John Isaac yan, CEO ng Card Collect.
RHEA:
Kaya ka pinadala sa US last week para kumuha ng certificate?
ARNOLD:
Not really. It was a management training. Isisnabay lang yan. ‘di ko pa nga napapa-frame eh itong certificate eh. Ayan o, pictue namin ng boss ng Card Collect. (shows picture frame, with Arnold shaking hands with a man with blonde hair) Andy by the way I interviewed your friend kanina a. Yung long hair.
ANDY:
Who? Elisa?
ARNOLD:
Yeah. Pasado pare.
ALVIN:
Pasado saan? Sa taste mo o sa interview?
ARNOLD:
Both. She’s hot. Plus she’s got great communication skills. Ayos yung chick mo Andy a. Where did you meet her?
ANDY:
Just around.
Camera pans to the right and scene changes to black and white. Elisa, walking in a school uniform, is a walking and a car pulls over. Elisa gets inside the car and the car speeds off.
ELISA:
Musta na?
ANDY:
Ayos lang. Ikaw?
ELISA:
Ayos lang din. Hectic schedule. Next week na finals eh. Kulang na allowance ko. Yung pinadala ni Mama for tuition lang nagkasya.
ANDY:
Ayos na ba one thousand?
ELISA:
Ha? Eh baka less than a week lang sa’kin yun. Ang gastos ng thesis eh.
ANDY:
Sa Thursday pa sweldo eh. Bigyan kita ng three thousand by then. Tatlong araw lang titiisin mo.
ELISA:
Eh di magkikita ulit tayo sa Thursday?
ANDY:
Syempre. Basta wag ka na sasama sa iba.
ELISA:
‘lang magagawa. Ikaw magpakain sa’kin.
Camera shows car speeding along a road in Sta. Mesa and takes a turn going inside a motel.
Camera pans to the left and back to Arnold’s office.
ALVIN:
Whooo! Just around just around ka dyan. Babaeng maganda hindi mo ikekemelin? Maniwala ako sa’yo?!
RHEA:
Wooshoo! Alvin selos ka lang eh!
ALVIN:
Oo nga eh. (Stands up and sits on Andy’s lap) Andy when are we gonna make kemeru ba?
RHEA:
Sister huwag ka na umasa! Wala kang matris! Sa may matris lang pumapatos si Andy!
ARNOLD:
Guys lower down your tagalong please. Just because I’m lenient doesn’t mean you guys can abuse it. (types in his laptop and faces the speakers towards the others) Get ready guys. Calibration starts now.
Camera revolves around Arnold’s office and the wall covers the view to pitch black. When view goes back it’s on the agent’s desk. Music playing in the background.
ANDREA:
Thank you for calling Card Collect! This is Andrea speaking! And how may I provide you with excellent customer care for today?
Camera revolves, simultaneously showing an agent on a call and Arnold’s office.
RHEA:
Good voice tone. Was able to build rapport with the customer. Was able to save a customer from canceling his account. I’ll give the rep a perfect 100%.
JIMMY:
Thank you so much for holding ma’am and I’m sorry that took so long. Now, I was able to pull up a copy of your payment history and it shows here ma’am that you sent us a check last Sept 24. Unfortunately the bill was due last Sept 19. So that’s why you got charged a late fee.
KIM:
Although the representative was very professional on the call flow and was able to make the customer understand why she was charged for a late fee, I’m deducting 5 points from his score form because he promised the customer that he’ll be back in a couple of minutes, but it took him as per our timer 3 minutes and 18 seconds. And minus 10 more points because he did not offer to upgrade the customer’s account, which is required as our sales practice. Final score is 85%.
MAXIE:
I’m so sorry ma’am, but under these circumstances we cannot issue any discount.
ANDY:
Minus 30 points from the score form. Credit was warranted because the customer did send her payment in, but we misplaced the payment on another account, so it was our fault that she got charged a late fee of $3. And as per guidelines if we upset a customer because of our mistake, we can even issue at least $20 discount to the customer’s bill. We lost a customer just because of $23 dollars. And the rep did not adhere to the hold time. Minus 5 points. Final score is 65%.
PATRICIA:
Thank you for calling Card Collect! This is Pat! And how may I help you? (Happy music changes and extreme close up on Pat’s face, whose eyes widen.) I’m sorry, sir, I lost you there… What?! Where?!!
Camera shifts and shows Arnold’s office door swings open and everyone runs towards her.
ARNOLD:
Patricia! Keep the customer on the line! Relax! Don’t panic! (to Kim) Call tech support. Place a tracker on that her activity! I want to know where that call is coming from. Now!
Camera moves as Arnold and Andy walk toward Pat and the others enter their own respective bays.
ALVIN:
Concentrate people! Relax! Don’t panic! Mind your own calls and nothing else within the office!
RHEA:
Focus people! Focus! Sit down and mind your own business! You guys are still being monitored!
KIM:
Hello Central Operations? Kim here from System Arnold, E-TelcoWorld Manila Center. We have a situation…
Andy and Arnold reach Patricia who was breathing heavily. Andy takes the headset from Patricia and she stands up and cries. Arnold tries to comfort her and plugs in another headset to hear the conversation.
ANDY:
Hello? This is Anderson, Pat’s boss. Who is this?
CALLER:
Ahhh, Anderson… so your girl couldn’t handle the news eh? Well, I’ll tell you: There is a bomb inside your building. I will remote detonate it if you guys don’t listen carefully to my instructions.
ANDY:
What do you want?
CALLER:
I want 300 million dollars. No discounts.
ANDY:
And how do we setup the payment?
CALLER:
(laughs) You sound like a professional. At least I’m not dealing I want 120 million dollars transferred from Mr. Eugene Heidenreich’s personal account from Bank of America to the Swiss Bank account number 84479444167282775.
ARNOLD:
Tangina. He knows Eugene Heidenreich. Vice-President of Card Collect.
ANDY:
Got it. What else?
CALLER:
I want $100 million dollars to be transferred to the Republic of Macedonian State Bank account number 02394845455-20395843. Whatever bank that comes from, I don’t care. $80 million dollars will be stocked inside a bag and will be left with the bartender at the Costa del Fuego bar in Columbia. Tell your delivery boy to tell the bartender “I want to teach you how to make a good whiskey.” And just leave it there and walk out. This way none of your CIA or FBI people will be able to do anything but watch as my men pick up the money, since they’d be killed three seconds flat if anybody knew that American men are inside Columbian territory.
ANDY:
How long do we have before we can do all this?
CALLER:
23 hours and 49 minutes. Timer started when you girl got the call.
ANDY:
How do we know you’re not bluffing?
CALLER:
Turn on the TV. We just killed your big boss.
ALVIN:
Boss! Fox News and CNN are calling! They said that John Isaac died in a car accident!
CALLER:
See? I told you. If you still don’t believe me then here’s a tip: there’s a gun hidden inside the air-conditioning vent by the painting at the coffee lounge. (clicking sound and then busy signal.)
Camera shifts to extreme close up on Arnold, then rotates. Arnold is looking at a painting hanging by the red wall. It’s a picture of someone’s face.
GREG:
Like it?
ARNOLD:
Yeah. Picasso style art. Look at the balance on the cheekbone. But I’m trying to understand why didn’t the artist do a semi-circle on the forehead and still insisted on a cube.
GREG:
Hey, I’m no artist. I just know that they bought that from someone selling it in the streets and decided to put that in this room. Come, I’d like to introduce to you to some folks.
Camera looks upward and shows an aircon vent there.
KIM:
Headquarters got the call recorded boss. They’re now gonna run a trace to see who called.
ARNOLD:
I want this to be confidential guys. Andy you come with me and we’re gonna coordinate with Headquarters. Pat you take a breather first and log in when you’re okay already.
Scene 5
Inside Arnold’s office. Arnold, Andy, Carla and the three men are all inside.
ARNOLD:
(facing a speakerphone) Those were the callers demands. He says we have less than 24 hours to meet them.
VOICE ON PHONE (MALE):
We just did a full security search on all aircon vents on the lounge. No gun was found there. We even sent two people up just to be sure. Nothing.
VOICE ON PHONE 2 (FEMALE):
We just also got word from the police. The call was traced to a payphone nearby the car accident site. Plus the car accident didn’t show any signs of foul play. A drunk truck driver smashed onto Mr. Isaac’s limousine.
CARLA:
So what’s our next course of action?
VOICE ON PHONE (MALE):
We will suspend operations for the next 36 hours as a sign of mourning and until executive office determines who will replace Mr. Isaac as CEO. But we will do this not as a security breach but because we will honor the memory of out befallen leader.
VOICE ON PHONE 2 (FEMALE):
As for the call, we will get surveillance tapes from nearby establishments and see if we can get an identity of the caller. This should help us in knowing who this caller was. Ms. Encarnacion, as head of that vendor location in Manila, business will be as usual and we will notify you of any corporate changes as soon as all this has cleared.
CARLA:
I agree. So at present we will treat this as just a prank call and no further action will be taken. Manila site, signing out. (punches a button) well, that gave us quite a scare, didn’t it?
ANDY:
Tell me about it. I really thought he was bluffing, but when he claimed that it was his work on what happened with Mr. Isaac…
CARLA:
Well, we all got carried away. But I’m proud of you that you handled everything coolly, Andy. Good job. So gentlemen, get back to work.
Lights fade out.
Lights fade in and Andy, wearing a different suit, opens the door and goes inside the office. The reps are taking in calls but there are no supervisors on the floor. He walks to his station, leaves his things, and passes by the conference room. He sees everybody inside, so he steps in.
CARLA:
Andy! Good thing you’re here. Remember yesterday’s call?
Camera shows monitor, showing a news report, with headline: 3 KILLED AS BOMB EXPLODES INSIDE CARD COLLECT BUILDING
MAN #1 BESIDE CARLA:
It was true. There was a bomb there.
KIM:
(Enters the room) Guys! He’s calling again. The guy yesterday. The guy who did that (points on the monitor). He’s back.
TO BE CONTINUED
