Mumbai gets call centre with a heart

MUMBAI: Outsourcing now has a heart. EuroAble, the first call centre run completely by people with special needs, has been set up in association with the National Society for Equal Opportunities for the Handicapped (NASEOH). At its inception, it will provide employment to 70-odd people in the age group of 19-30, most of whom are affected by polio.NASEOH, which works towards rehabilitation opportunities forpeople with disabilities, was the registration centre that the employees firstwent to. Savita Ihere, who has been with NASEOH for the past five years, said,“This opportunity has given the disabled a platform to enter the corporateworld.”After 70 people were selected for the job, the teamwent through a training session for two months where various skills were taught,including learning how to answer phone calls, dealing with irate customers andsolving problems. Spoken English was a major obstacles they had to cross.“We encouraged them to read magazines and newspapers every day and addressed them only in English. Now they are so confident that they even speak to each other in English,” said Vinath Hegde, customer relations head of Eureka Forbes, which helped set up the centre. Rajeev Mehta,30, who previously ran a lemon juice stall, is now happy to work at the callcentre. “It brings me great joy to know that I can do something thatpeople always thought was impossible,” said an employee.Theuniqueness of this call centre doesn’t limit itself to creatingemployment, but the structure where the office is located has been given a lotof thought too. Only 80 people will currently be employed so that personalattention can be given to them. “This call center will not only provideemployment but also strengthen the hopes of these employees. This gives them anopportunity to put aside their disabilities and work,” said Hansa Mehta,president, NASEOH.