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.