The Potential Perils of Call Center Offshoring

Most people dislike off-shore call centers. In fact, the largest telecommunications companies know that Americans dislike off-shore call centers with such intensity that those largest companies often use the repatriating off-shore call centers as an incentive to encourage regulatory bodies to approve otherwise less than desirable combinations (read: AT&T’s recent unsuccessful attempt to acquire T-Mobile).  Much to the dismay of those of us who have reached out and touched one of these call centers, what may have been saved by the companies providing overseas call center support has been lost in customer satisfaction. 

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AT&T Mobility and Unwanted Wireless Device Charges

On December 12, 2011, the Florida Attorney General’s office announced that it had reached a settlement with AT&T Mobility, “resolving allegation that the company charged Florida customers’ wireless device bills for a service that those customers neither ordered nor wanted.”  The AVC, short for “Assurance of Voluntary Compliance” (one wonders how truly “voluntary” it is, but I digress) is the result of unauthorized charges appearing on some AT&T Mobility bills.  Specifically, the AG determined that over a 7 year period, more than 600,000 AT&T Mobility customers, whose billing addresses are within the state of Florida, were charged for Roadside Assistance at $2.99 per month without either granting consent for such charges or using the service.

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Distracted Drivers and Commercial Vehicles - New Rules of the Road

Everyone who has driven—or been a passenger—in the last few years understands the dangers of distracted driving.  Way too many drivers continue to engage in dialing, texting, or emailing while operating a couple of tons of moving steel, plastic and flammable liquids.   As a result, tragically, many lives have been lost or forever damaged as distracted drivers take their eyes off the road to respond to an email that can’t wait or make the next move in Words with Friends.  If you think that this is someone else’s problem, consider that there are at least two billboards up in Western New York touting the skills of personal injury attorneys who are more than happy to take on new cases that are the result—or alleged result—of the actions of distracted drivers.

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Cramming Makes a Comeback

This may sound obvious, but it’s important to not only pay those pesky phone bills, but to read and understand them as well. Although I have made a career out of reading and knowing the ins and outs of telecom contracts and bills, and while I’m very happy with the work that I do, regardless of how complex and dry these documents may be to the average corporate or government consumer, I can’t say strongly enough that in this context (and almost all others—with the limited exception of hot dog production), knowledge is power.

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Wiretap Decision Aims at Feds, Not Carriers

While most of us were in the throes of a self-induced butter/sugar-diet coma between Christmas and New Years', the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals announced two important decisions, covering a number of consolidated cases on the issue of warrantless wiretapping. The program, under which telecommunications service companies conducted warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens at the direction of the National Security Administration (NSA), allowed access to both domestic and international telephone communications and emails without warrant. These actions, which were initially were disclosed in 2005 by the New York Times, and confirmed by the President in early 2006, were originally approved by President George W. Bush, shortly after the tragic events of 9/11.

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