Hearing the Headset

One of your best friend if you are working in a call center is the headset.

Whether your customer will curse you or praise you, that headset will always be a witness between you and your customer.

Thus it make sense that your headset is in good condition for you to be able to convene properly.

Most call center are issuing headset prior to Abay training.  A headset is a personal property thus it can be shared occasionally but not all the time. As an agent you have the responsibility to keep it and you will also be responsible in surrendering it prior to your departure from the company.

Two of the most common brand of headset being issued to agent is the Jabra and the Plantronics. Both are of good quality. Depende naman sa gumagamit yan kung magiging maganda o pangit yung headset. Kung burara ka, kahit gaano ka–brand new yung in–issue na headset sayo eh bale wala. Kung ibabalibag mo yan o hahablutin mo na para ka lang humahablot ng headband sa buhok, kahit na ilang beses palitan yan, masisira at masisira yan. Likewise, if you are a Popular Sanguine personality na kung ano–anong sticker o ano–anong wire ang ilalagay mo diyan at sumabit at naglagkit kapag sin–surrender mo, useless na yan after.

Some call center are also issuing amplifier in order to adjust the voice reception of the headset. Others who are using softphone, the amplifier is already integrated into the system.

Best friend as it may function to you, the headset could also be your alter–ego depending on how you care for it. What do I mean by that? If you know how to take care of it, magsasama kayo ng maluwalhati! Kung burara ka naman, it could be your traitor enemy.

That headset is in your ear seven and half hours a day, five days a week. When it is in your ear, air is not passing through it thus creating moisture. That moisture together with the optimal temperature between your ear and the headset is a favorite breeding ground of bacteria or fungi. Fortunately not for a virus!

Bacteria grows at 37 degrees centigrade while fungi could grow either at 25 degrees centigrade or at 37 degrees centigrade as well.

Most agents would hang their headset in between the divider of their station. That divider is made of a foam covered with mesh fabric. Once the housekeeper cleans the station after shift, they usually clean the station by wiping the wooden surface with a furniture polish to wipe off dirt or saliva or coffee droplets but they are not cleaning that divider because they don’t have the material to do it. Thus that divider is a depository of dirt and hand moisture lalo na kung yung naka–station doon eh isang “edukadong squatter.” By the way, “edukadong squatter” are those people who graduated from college but whose breeding or manner are like squatters!!! They are the type of people na hindi marunong ng “clay as you go” principle. They are the type of people na balahura ang bunganga!! Hindi sila nahihiya sa mga salitang lumalabas sa bibig nila even if those words are out of context or whether those opinion has no solid basis!! They are the type of people who think they are doing a very wonderful job whereas the execution of that job doesn’t have executive finesse!! Nakakasuka!! I’ve known graduates of a specific university na trending na ganyan ang mga ugali nila.

By hanging the headset in between those station dividers, the ear pads of those headsets are being rubbed to the foam covering which may have bacteria or fungi. Bacteria and fungi are too small to be seen by the naked eye. And when you wear your headset and the temperature in between your ear and the ear pad becomes optimal for growth of microorganism, that’s the time ear infection would take place.

Ear infection can easily be treated with antibiotic. What is difficult about ear infection is the secondary complications associated with it. One would be vertigo or nausea. Our ear tends to balance our motion thus when we have vertigo or nausea, our surrounding seems to be like moving. Even if you have ear infection you could still go to work but if you have vertigo or nausea, it’s difficult to concentrate on your job.

There are several ways by which you can protect yourself from ear infection.

Given the above scenario, do not hang your headset in between the divider of your station. During break, you can just put your headset on the keyboard wherein the ear pads are suspended below the space bar. This will allow evaporation of moisture.

Alcohol is a disinfectant but the synthetic leather component of the ear pad is corrosive to alcohol thus it may destroy the padding of the headset.

Be careful also not to drop down your headset on the floor. The floor of most call center is made of carpet and that carpet is a stepping ground of shoes and those shoes are from different locations. While those carpets are being vacuumed every day and being shampooed once a week, those cleaning methods are just meant to clean or remove the dirt and not to disinfect and disinfection means to kill a bacteria or fungi.

The way you take care of your headset is a reflection of your personality. What’s your alter–ego then?