CALL CENTERS (CENTRES) - Faculty of Industrial Engineering and ...

to stress and time management connected with relaxation training are to be recommended.
13. Tudor, L. Calling for design, Ergonomics in Design, 7 (3), 1999, 16–19.
Abstract. User-centred design reveals preferences for appearance and functionality in call centre
operators’ equipment.
Keywords: Comparison between input devices, Approaches to equipment testing, Labelling and
headings, One-handed keyboards, Ratings and preferences, Tracker ball and mouse, Voice input
devices, Voice output and speech synthesis
14. Bagnara, S., F. Gabrielli and P. Marti. Human work in call centres. Ergonomics for the New
Millennium. Proceedings of the XIVth Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association
and 44th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, San Diego,
California, USA, Vol. 1, 2000, 553–556.
Abstract. Many people are currently working in call centres and many more are expected to
work in them in the near future. Call centres are in a sense ‘modern factories’ where services
are delivered through information and communication technologies. This paper describes the
technological evolution and discusses some aspects of human and work organisation in call centres.
The final part of the paper focuses on a crucial issue commonly faced in call centres: the
building up of organisational memories.
(Appears also in Section IV.)
15. Ho, W., E. Marshall and J. Crosbie. The extent of keying, mouse use and writing by customer
service officers in one call centre. Ergonomics for Life: At Work, Home and Leisure. Proceedings
of the 36th Annual Conference of the Ergonomics Society of Australia, Adelaide, South
Australia. V. Blewett (ed.)., Ergonomics Society of Australia, Downer, ACT, Australia, 2000,
38–39.
Abstract. Stress has been reported as a health issue in call centre operations in Australia and
North America. Stressors were attributed to telephone monitoring system and call pressure.
Workers’ compensation claims in the call centre under study indicate differently. The incidence
of workers’ compensation claims between 1 July 1997 and 28 February 1999 were 171 per 1000
employees while the regional average was 101. The most frequent injury reported in the same
period was sprain and strain while the causal agent was computer equipment. In the call centre
under study, staff handle 50–70 calls during an average day. As there was a lack of documented
evidence on how much time was spent on keyboarding, mouse use and writing, the aim of this
study was to map the nature and duration of upper limb activity of customer service officers in
a call centre work environment.
16. Sznelwar, L.I., M. Zilbovicius and R.F.R. Soares. The structure of tasks at ‘call centers’: Control
and learning difficulties. Ergonomics for the New Millennium. Proceedings of the XIVth
Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association and 44th Annual Meeting of the
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, San Diego, California, USA, Vol. 2, 2000, 547–550.
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