It is one of the most successful ventures of Tata Teleservices
“Sir, vanakkam sir….. Madam, vanakkam madam….,” the hall reverberates with voices of young men and women at this BPO run by visually challenged people.
Located on the premises of the Indian Association for the Blind (IAB) in Sundararajanpatti village, 10 km north of Madurai, the TATA-IAB Call Centre is being hailed as one of the most successful ventures of Tata Teleservices in the country.
“We wanted to break from the tradition of involving visually disabled people in cane work, embroidery or furniture repair. Here, they use technology to reach out to the world,” says S.M.A. Jinnah, founder of IAB.
Twenty visually challenged people are employed at the fully automated BPO, which calls mobile users with offers of new plans, value additions and services.
The daily routine includes uploading numbers of list of customers and messages to be conveyed into a server with automatic calling facility. Once the customer comes on line, the call is routed to the BPO.
The visually challenged person interacts with the customers updating them on offers from Tata Teleservices. The response is recorded in a computer with user-friendly open source software. The average performance of a person here is 200 to 250 calls per day, almost double the range of 100 to 120 calls per day per worker in other regular BPOs.
Work at the BPO is tailor-made for the visually challenged people. The workforce includes full time employees and students.
They earn a salary of around Rs.8,000 per month, with free hostel facility.
More than the money they earn, their involvement results in an enhanced self-esteem, feels Mr. Jinnah.
M. Sankar of Karaikudi is happy to prove that he is also capable of using computers.
A. Arunmozhi, who is pursuing B.A. (Tamil) in the distance mode, enjoys her work.
“Besides giving me self confidence to face adverse situations in life, the BPO work has sharpened my communication skills,” she says.
J. Mohan Raj of Coimbatore lost his job in a medical transcription company in Bangalore when he lost his vision at the age of 26. He thought his life had come to an end. Not so. It has resumed with redoubled vigour at this call centre. Mr. Jinnah does not see any compromise in quality here. “This is not a service they do for us or we for them.”
The quality of work of visually challenged people is on a par with that of normal people. The IAB has plans to add a toll-free number to its call centre, expand its services and also throw it open to persons with other disabilities, he said.
I always felt that Tatas have shown more social responsibility than any other business groups in India.
Hats off to whoever involved in this effort and made the dream come true for many people. Thank you is a small word for your efforts, May GOD BLESS YOU ADUNTANTLY. I'm so happy to read this news. I along with many others are so proud of this BPO Center. Please, please encourage these people, they can serve, be confident and earn for their living in this society. If all multinationals can sponsor one or two centers like this, our community will turn into a marvellous place to live. THANKS AGAIN and GOD BLESS.
where are your elite readers, no comments for a great empowerment?
This is not valuable enough for your bouncing elites.
Anyway thanks for publishing it, I respect Ram, Sainath and all those who are human out there.
Good initiative.
where there is a will there is a way .
Nature tried to limit them ,but they are breaking the boundaries which
nature has defined for them. If someone is positive ,he can transform even the most unfavourable condition
Tata is most excellent organization for such initiatives, hats off.. This is nothing but a good try to make feel that even visually chalanged people can contribute our society and feel esteemed. Also, this is a kind of motivation which makes them to enjoy their life and walk along with others.
Excellent efforts done by Tata
Please Email the Editor