Outsourcing at the drive-thru

[Morrigoon]

Fast food joints outsourcing the order takers

I was just watching a thing on fast food tech that talked about this. Basically, they're experimenting with centralized call centers manning the order taking end of drive-thrus, then sending the order to the restaurant's kitchen.

I think this may be one of the best applications of outsourcing I've seen. The point, in part, is that for order taking you hire people who speak perfectly clearly, which is nice. Plus the workers in the hot restaurant don't have to wear a headset all day, and overall noise in the restaurant is reduced.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

The point, in part, is that for order taking you hire people who speak perfectly clearly, which is nice. Plus the workers in the hot restaurant don't have to wear a headset all day, and overall noise in the restaurant is reduced.

Well, it is a big assumption that the people hired will be clear speakers. Think about someone working an eight hour shift in a windowless cubical farm in East Podunk, NE. How hard are they going to work making themselves understandable?

Further, if we are talking auditory outsourcing, having the work handled in India is the next step. THEN see where the understandability goes.

While talking heads will hype how it improves CS, it is ultimately about the bottom line. By having a single source for order taking, you lower your overall labor cost.

[lashbear]

I hate the modern "Squeeze every microlitre of blood out of the stone" mentality that these call centres have nowadays.
This is the reason I will be avoiding call centres when I look for work after the trip (Emphasis mine, of course, my comments in brackets):

Originally Posted by The article

Ms. Vargas seems unfazed by her job, even though it involves being subjected to constant electronic scrutiny. Software tracks her productivity and speed, and every so often a red box pops up on her screen to test whether she is paying attention. She is expected to click on it within 1.75 seconds. In the break room, a computer screen [ie: Big Brother] lets employees know just how many minutes have elapsed since they left their workstations [just the relaxing atmosphere you need on a break - watching a clock tick down the time - and seeing how late back your fellow workers are]

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Efficiency is certainly the mantra at the Bronco call center, which has grown from 15 workers six months ago to 125 today. Its workers are experts in the McDonald's menu [and they will be suitably chastised if they hesitate of forget anything]; they are trained to be polite, to urge customers to add items to their order [againg being chastised if they neglect to upsell] and, above all, to be fast. Each worker takes up to 95 orders an hour during peak times.

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The remote order-takers at Bronco earn the minimum wage ($6.75 an hour in California), do not get health benefits and do not wear uniforms [ie: wear & tear on their own clothes, having to buy more clothes for themselves].

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The call-center system allows employees to be monitored and tracked much more closely than would be possible if they were in restaurants. Mr. King's computer screen gives him constant updates as to which workers are not meeting standards. "You've got to measure everything," he said. "When fractions of seconds count, the environment needs to be controlled."

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Ms. Aleman said that, over all, the system had improved accuracy and helped her cut costs. She said that now she did not need an employee dedicated to taking orders or, during the lunch rush, an assistant for the order-taker to handle cash when things backed up. "We've cut [Jobs] labor," she said.

Bastards. And of course, without health benefits, you're screwed when the KPI pressure of the call centrre leaves you needing stress leave or so ill you can't work.

My 2c

[SacTown Chronic]

Welcome to India, home of the Whopper, the Big Mac, the Jumbo Jack, and the Western Bacon Cheeseburger. May I take your order?

[MouseWife]

My .02c?

These 'clear speakers' that they say we'll have? That is their opinion. As long as they are speaking English and it is somewhat clear, they are in.

How else can you explain the people we get on the phone these days when calling almost any customer service line? I try and be patient but damnit, it gives me a headache to talk to them because I am having to listen extra extra carefully and figure out what they are saying. They are speaking English, their accents just make it difficult to understand.

True about the insurance, clothes, and, these are the jobs that we need in our communities. These are not only the jobs where teens begin, but, they are the jobs where people who need second {third?} jobs go.

Another thing that I don't appreciate? The threat of being replaced by outsourcing/machines. I am a cashier and they've threatened to put in self service registers. It is insulting {compare it to saying a monkey could do your job}.

Ya know, once these people are gone, who will be next? The managers income will come down because they aren't handling as many employees. The business itself won't have as many employees, how safe does that make the business? Will they only accept debit/credit so they don't have cash?

{sorry...just had a really good cup of coffee.... }

But yeah, a sore spot. I love the technology but then I don't, too.

Hey, a thought, if they are cutting their costs, do they intend upon passing that to the customers? I highly doubt it. These companies only see their profit, not what is good for their employees...the very people who are their customers.

Oh, and, that reminds me, employee hours being cut by stores concerned by their profit will see themselves kicked in the butt because those very people whose hours they are cutting are their very own customers. Who will then NOT be their customers.

{sorry Morri, it is not my intention to jump down your throat...}

[innerSpaceman]

Can Hindus even take orders for such beef products?





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[SacTown Chronic]

They can at these wages!*



*You'd be laughing if you were on your first j and your second beer, trust me.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by SacTown Chronic

You'd be laughing if you were on your first j and your second beer, trust me.

^ That's cheating.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

and I'll still get Fries when I order Sprite...

[BarTopDancer]

This was just on an episode of King of the Hill.

I generally go into the restaurant to order, I'll continue to do so regardless of where the drive-thru order taker is.