21 September 2001

Call center becomes a lifeline

An article published in Thursday's AZ Republic Business section, recognizing the Phoenix Discover Card call center for its relief efforts. My stepson is a supervisor at the call center, so the story leaped out at me.

It was an oddly quiet morning at the Discover Card call center in north Phoenix.

The massive complex on Beardsley Road operates around the clock and usually hops with calls from customers. Yet the phones fell silent on the morning of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.

"Everyone was watching TV," Eric Carter of Glendale said. "There were no calls coming in."

That was about to change. Discover is owned by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, and about 3,700 Morgan employees worked in the World Trade Center.

The company immediately set up a hotline that ran to the 350,000-square-foot Phoenix center and posted the number on television networks in the hours after the attacks. The center became a crucial lifeline for dazed Morgan employees to report their whereabouts and a vital provider of information for their families and friends.

Several hundred call center employees, whose job typically is to unsnarl credit card accounts, began the difficult task of fielding frantic calls from people traumatized by the tragedy. They heard harrowing stories from those who barely escaped the collapsing towers and the desperate pleas from loved ones for word of the employees' safety.

"There were people calling in crying, hysterical," said Karla Jones of Phoenix.

Carter spoke to a woman who had walked calmly down the stairs with the hordes of people from the south tower. It hadn't yet been hit but was about to be when she reached the lobby.

"When she hit the doors the police were standing there all wide-eyed, yelling, 'Run! Run as fast as you can!' " Carter recalled the woman saying.

Managers of the Phoenix center briefed employees and gave them scripts for handling the trade center calls. Carter said about 200 callers were on hold when he sat down at his phone to begin talking.

The raw emotion of the callers was too much for some of the call center workers. Employees said some couldn't take the calls, and some who did were overwhelmed.

Read the complete article at Arizona Republic online.

Comments

I was at your 2402 W. Beardsley Rd for employment
on August 26, 03. I left a resume but did not receive an interview, but was informed that I would hear from the company within 7 to 10 days. I have needed to give you my resume with correct address so you can contact me successfully. I also want to thank the company for receiving my application and reviewing it. I look forward to hearing from you.