Force prisoners to work in call centres

Capt'n Midnight

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/12/10140493-inside-the-secret-industry-of-inmate-staffed-call-centers?ocid=twitter

everybody wins

cheap call centres
income source for prisons
inmates learn a skill

and the experienced guys don't move to a different call centre and no one has a hangover

so what companies would use them here ?

Overheal

did anyone else read that as Pensioners?

MagicSean

Learn a skill?

Bonavox

I wouldn't feel comfortable talking to an inexperienced prisoner in a call centre.

Bannasidhe

I wouldn't feel comfortable having someone convicted of a crime having access to my personal details.

phasers

What about people who work in call centres now? Would they all just be sacked?

AngryBollix

Tuk Ur Jab

Mint Sauce

I hate calling call centres as it is, and i've worked in one.

:eek:

marketty

AngryBollix wrote: »

Tuk Ur Jab

They turk his jerb!!

dr strangelove

i'd say that falls under the 'cruel and unusual punishments' banner...?

Encrypted Pigeon

Why force? I'm sure many would volunteer for an opportunity like that. Would be great way of rehabilitation.

Dudess

Bonavox wrote: »

I wouldn't feel comfortable talking to an inexperienced prisoner in a call centre.

Ah I dunno. "How much gear do you want?" is customer service experience of sorts...

Owen

"I want to speak to your supervisor!"
"OH YEAH? I WANT TO STAB YOU IN THE EYE AND I HAVE YOUR ADDRESS ON THE SCREEN IN FRONT OF ME!"

Nodin

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/12/10140493-inside-the-secret-industry-of-inmate-staffed-call-centers?ocid=twitter

everybody wins

Except unemployed call centre staff.

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

cheap call centres
income source for prisons
inmates learn a skill

and the experienced guys don't move to a different call centre and no one has a hangover

so what companies would use them here ?

What companies would use them? Given the normal concern shown for citizens, civic duty and society in general shown in certain quarters, I'd say 99% of them, given half a chance.

krudler

Sintel wrote: »

Why force? I'm sure many would volunteer for an opportunity like that. Would be great way of rehabilitation.

speaking as a call centre worker, its an environment that would send anyone into a mass murdering rampage, never mind a convicted criminal.

Ellis Dee

A lot of call centres are being closed down and moved to India anyway.:rolleyes:

I've got a better idea about prisoners, though, and I've proposed it before, but no one will take me seriously.

At the moment, it costs about €120,000 a year to keep one inmate in an Irish prison.:eek:

Why not outsource that function to India? So many other things are being outsourced there anyway.

We could pick out some of the most vicious repeat violent offenders, those who show no sign of wanting to gain a useful trade while inside, who do not attend anger-management courses while inside, and so on ---

Then I'm sure we could do a deal with India to send them to prison there. At, say, €20,000 per prisoner and year, the Indians would have a nice little earner, and we'd save €100,000 per scumbag.:)

I doubt whether the Indian authorities would think of putting them to work in call centres, though, as they certainly have too much respect for their own honest and highly trained citizens who work, as free persons, in call centres. And so should we.:)

An additional benefit would be that prisoners returning to Ireland after a few years in Bengaluru would probably have greater respect for the law and a stronger inclination to remain on the straight and narrow.:cool:

Coriolanus

"Ok sir, and if I can just have your credit card details..."

Cool_CM

This could probably work out well for call centre workers in general. People might be less inclined to shout abuse down the phone if they know that there is a chance that the person that they are abusing is a convicted criminal who has access to their personal details.

entropi

And the people working in call centres already...they surely have no choice but to give up their job to convicts? Rehabilitiation it is not.

Taking someone's job away, so they can possibly face a nice fat paycut while they increase the dole queues? It is.

44leto

Put them all in a punitive coma,

OP there is about 600 things wrong with your proposal. Did you really think this was a goer.

Bannasidhe

Ellis Dee wrote: »

A lot of call centres are being closed down and moved to India anyway.:rolleyes:

I've got a better idea about prisoners, though, and I've proposed it before, but no one will take me seriously.

At the moment, it costs about €120,000 a year to keep one inmate in an Irish prison.:eek:

Why not outsource that function to India? So many other things are being outsourced there anyway.

We could pick out some of the most vicious repeat violent offenders, those who show no sign of wanting to gain a useful trade while inside, who do not attend anger-management courses while inside, and so on ---

Then I'm sure we could do a deal with India to send them to prison there. At, say, €20,000 per prisoner and year, the Indians would have a nice little earner, and we'd save €100,000 per scumbag.:)

I doubt whether the Indian authorities would think of putting them to work in call centres, though, as they certainly have too much respect for their own honest and highly trained citizens who work, as free persons, in call centres. And so should we.:)

An additional benefit would be that prisoners returning to Ireland after a few years in Bengaluru would probably have greater respect for the law and a stronger inclination to remain on the straight and narrow.:cool:

Outsourcing prisons - wasn't that originally the point of Australia?

Cianos

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Outsourcing prisons - wasn't that originally the point of Australia?

Yes. And thankfully to this day, most Australians are still in Australia.

boobar

They tried this idea in Oz.....the prison drama....not the country.

It didn't work out too well, from what I remember

Bannasidhe

Cianos wrote: »

Yes. And thankfully to this day, most Australians are still in Australia.

Apart from all the ones in the Victoria area of London...and Kyle Minogue.

Peetrik

They tried this in HBO's "Oz".

I can't remember how it ended but I'm sure it all went well and no body was raped

Temptamperu

Peetrik wrote: »

They tried this in HBO's "Oz".

I can't remember how it ended but I'm sure it all went well and no body was raped

Nope it all went wrong and there where several rapes... one with the fat end of a spoon :P

BunShopVoyeur

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/12/10140493-inside-the-secret-industry-of-inmate-staffed-call-centers?ocid=twitter

everybody wins

cheap call centres
income source for prisons
inmates learn a skill

and the experienced guys don't move to a different call centre and no one has a hangover

so what companies would use them here ?

Jesus, that's a bit harsh don't you think?

Poor feckers don't deserve that...

syklops

MagicSean wrote: »

Learn a skill?

My first job after leaving school (after being director of my own company) was in a call centre. On the one hand it was the ****test experience of my life, on the other hand I met friends there that became life long friends. So thats good. It also paid the bills for 3-4 years. Why give that to prisoners and take it away from the likes of me?

FatherLen

coming from experience, there is no skill to be learned from working in a call centre.

HavingCrack

FatherLen wrote: »

coming from experience, there is no skill to be learned from working in a call centre.

This really is true, unless you intend to continue working in call centres they provide you with very little if any skills that transfer to other jobs.

AnonoBoy

"Hi I'd like to enquire about getting a replacement for my wireless router please."
- F*ck you man.
"What?"
- You heard me bitch.
"What?"
- Say 'what' again. I dare ya, I double dare ya. Say 'what' again motherf*cker.

As you can see from the above transcript from a call I made to eircom customer support last year, I believe that prisoners would only improve things.

ScumLord

44leto wrote: »

Put them all in a punitive coma,

OP there is about 600 things wrong with your proposal. Did you really think this was a goer.

It already is a goer according to the article they make $175 million from federal work and a further $10 million from work for the private sector.

HavingCrack wrote: »

This really is true, unless you intend to continue working in call centres they provide you with very little if any skills that transfer to other jobs.

If your going in with practically no skills your bound to pick up something even if it is just becoming acquainted with computers.


It's a big improvement on just putting them in a cell to rot and fester.

WoollyRedHat

AnonoBoy wrote: »

"Hi I'd like to enquire about getting a replacement for my wireless router please."
- F*ck you man.
"What?"
- You heard me bitch.
"What?"
- Say 'what' again. I dare ya, I double dare ya. Say 'what' again motherf*cker.

As you can see from the above transcript from a call I made to eircom customer support last year, I believe that prisoners would only improve things.

Did that actually happen? People be crazy.

Micky Dolenz

Why call centre?

Put them in chain gangs and let them tidy up the areas that never make it on to the tidy towns list.

MagicSean

FatherLen wrote: »

coming from experience, there is no skill to be learned from working in a call centre.

All I got from that place was an interest in gambling.

DonkeyStyle \o/

For inmates, the appeal isn't the pay, which can be as low as 50 cents an hour.

Sweet.
It's like slavery... but only for people who broke the law... so it's okay!
Caught with some weed? I sentence you to 10 years customer support.
It'd probably be a useful deterrent for former call-center employees too.
If I was forced to work in one again, I'd probably figure out some way to hang myself with the headset cord on my first day.

boobar

AnonoBoy wrote: »

"Hi I'd like to enquire about getting a replacement for my wireless router please."
- F*ck you man.
"What?"
- You heard me bitch.
"What?"
- Say 'what' again. I dare ya, I double dare ya. Say 'what' again motherf*cker.

As you can see from the above transcript from a call I made to eircom customer support last year, I believe that prisoners would only improve things.

I remember that call centre operator - Jules Winfield not very helpful unless you wanted a lesson on biblical references.

Jesus Wept

Having worked in Call centers in the past, I'd give prison a whirl if that were an alternative.

zie

Put people on death row working in call centres - it'd save their state a whole load of money in appeals.

Agricola

Speaking as an ex call center worker, if my boss at the time had said to me that he was thinking of replacing me with a prisoner I would have jumped at the chance to swap places with the guy. Wouldnt wish it on me worst enemy.

Scruffles

itd be ridiculous immoral to take the jobs away and give those to prisoners,but if these were empty jobs and the prisoners were in the clink for non violent repeated mild offences/the mildest crimes possible; risk assessed against being in the job then why not? it will help them in various ways whilst in prison and out.
-am a long time rider at a north west england RDA/disabled riding school and we have crims working for us-trouble is they were forced to by the courts under community service so most of them do not give a sht; sitting around doing nothing,not listening to yard staff.
-itd be better to have call centre work as a choice and make sure those who really want to make something of themselves get the job instead of having the tossers making a joke out of it because they are bored.

Handsome Bob

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in such a scenario, something tells me that the large population of telephone hard men and women would rapidly subside.