118 call centre run by american prisoners

[Saint Keith]

http://www.orchidconsulting.co.uk/news/news.php?n=571&p=1

 

i thought i had seen it all in this industry, but this has left me speechless

 

Calls to UK directory enquiries are being answered by American Prisoners, The Sun has reported. Requests to 118 888 are diverted 5,000 miles to convicts on a jail jobs scheme.

 

Inmates in ten states are paid between 10p and £4 an hour.

 

Details of the service emerged as line owner Conduit plans to axe up to 300 jobs at a call centre in Cardiff.

 

A spokesman for the Communications Workers’ Union said last night: "At a time when thousands of jobs are being lost, British companies should not be shipping work abroad."

 

"Local knowledge is crucial in dealing with callers’ enquiries. People who pay for this service will also want assurances the database is safe in the hands of criminals."

 

Conduit's American parent company diverts the calls through Unicor, a prisons industry agency. Unicorn's boasts about its service include its "high security".

 

Conduit, Europe's top provider of directory inquiries, set up 118 888 when BT's 192 was closed in 2003.

 

It was taken over by the parent company of rival 118 118, famous for its jogger TV ads.

 

It insisted only a small proportion of calls were diverted to the US as part of a "trial".

 

Most are still answered by its other call centres in Plymouth and Manila in the Philippines.

 

A spokesman said: "There are no killers, violent or sex offenders involved. Most have committed blue collar crimes such as tax evasion. They are qualified to do the job and the system has been running there more than five years."

Edited 25 March, 2009 by Saint Keith