Telkom's front line provides patient and friendly service

Telkom's front line provides patient and friendly service

By I. Christianto

JAKARTA (JP): Being patient and friendly is the key to being a
telephone operator, especially when you have to take hundreds of
calls a day like those who work in the information center of
state-owned telecommunications service company PT Telekomunikasi
Indonesia (Telkom) in Jakarta.

Even though PT Infomedia Nusantara, a joint venture between
Telkom and PT Elnusa, publishes and updates its free telephone
directory annually, the number of callers to the 108 information
center in Jakarta has not decreased.

It is not clear why people in Greater Jakarta prefer to call
the easy-to-memorize 108 when they need a telephone number. Maybe
they are too lazy to check the telephone directory or they are
illiterate. This phenomenon is probably also due to the fact that
the new telephone directory is somewhat less than useful. The
directory used to list all the phone numbers in Greater Jakarta.
Now people living in Central Jakarta, for example, only receive a
directory of numbers in their area.

Telkom has 385 operators to serve an average of 125,000
callers per day.

"When there were lots of demonstrations and protests, many
callers asked about them and about traffic jams," Herniati, one
of the operators, said. "We have to be patient and patient. As
for me, I usually tell the callers that I am an operator of
Telkom and can only tell them about phone numbers and nothing
else."

There also are callers who ask about the schedule and scores
of soccer games or the schedule for movies, she said.

She also has received countless rude calls. "It happens when
they are disappointed or upset because they've found the phone
number they get from us was not correct. But most of them
complain that they couldn't call a certain number and ask what
happened."

Nonetheless, Herniati said she enjoyed helping people get the
information they required.

"I've been working here for 20 years. That doesn't mean that I
never had the chance for promotions; I just love the job," she
said.

Working as an information operator for eight hours a day in a
room measuring some 1,000 square meters with hundreds of
colleagues never bores Herniati, though she admits she sometimes
feels tense.

"I like serving people. What makes me happy is that I can help
people get what they want," she said.

Mahmuddin Ambari joined Telkom in 1977 and has worked as an
information operator for the last nine years.

"Many times there are callers who complain about the
electricity and train services. Also, there are people who ask
about prostitutes and togel (an illegal lottery). It's
challenging to serve these kinds of callers, and I politely
inform them that I can't help them," he said.

He said he had been scolded scores of times by callers who
failed to connect to their desired number.

"It's true that some callers complain that the number they got
was inaccurate or different from the number published in the
telephone directory. But in many cases, the owners of the numbers
have moved without notice," he said.

The head of the customer service department at Telkom's
Jakarta office, Agina Siti Fatimah, said information operators
received an average of 125,000 calls per day.

"In total, some three million callers connect to 108 each
month. The number is stable from year to year," she said.

She said the information center operated 24 hours a day with a
total of 365 operators working eight different shifts, with male
operators always working the night shifts.

"Actually, the peak is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m during workdays.
It's believed that businesspeople make up the majority of callers
to 108. They mostly ask about telephone numbers," she said,
adding that based on a recent in-house survey, there are an
average of 75,000 callers on Saturdays and 46,000 callers on
Sundays.

Aware of the stress facing the operators, the company provides
them with a relaxation room and other facilities at Telkom's
building on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta, where the
information center is located.

"They can use the room to sing using karaoke or shout or do
whatever they want when they need to do that," she said.

As of the end of June this year, Telkom has some 5.76 million
lines in service across Indonesia. Of this figure, 2,078,326 are
located in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Bekasi, Serang, Kerawang
and Purwakarta. Out of these lines in Greater Jakarta, 482,656
are business subscribers, 1,589,790 residential subscribers and
5,880 social subscribers.

"I think the problem is about how to familiarize people with
the telephone directory and customize it for their needs. When
people are accustomed to using the telephone directory, the
number of callers to 108 will decrease," Agina said.

She said currently there was a loss rate of 8 percent, much
lower than the 20 percent of a year ago. Loss rate is those
callers to 108 who hang up while they are on hold.

"Each call is ideally handled in only 35 seconds. This is for
efficiency. But in many cases, a caller wants more than one
number," she said, adding that all calls were recorded.

Working as an information operator is a very stressful
occupation, Agina said.

"We also realize that customers won't care to whom they are
talking to when they dial 108. They just know that it's Telkom.
So the information operators are Telkom's front line. We have to
care about them," she said.

The information center, which is under Telkom's customer
service unit, has taken as its motto Better to smile than
grumble.

The information center will become an integrated customer
information center next year, with the number changing from 108
to 147.

"Callers can ask for information on local telephone numbers,
long-distance services, new installations and billing and
commercial services.

"We will provide commercial or business information by
cooperating with interested companies, so 147 will be one of
Telkom's profit centers," Agina said.