Marketing Calls

Don't we love to hate those intrusive telephone calls representing marketing initiatives. They are ceaseless, and irritating beyond measure. The CRTC heralded a brave initiative to bring order to the disorder of constantly ringing telephones that drive people insane. One could register with them and the numbers of such calls would diminish. This was years ago, and the problem persists. And just lately, the inhibiting-impetus of the 'do not call' listing was declared to have been ineffective, qualifiedly unsuccessful.

Pity, that. Which simply goes to prove that human ingenuity in the field of public relations and marketing go hand in hand to build an aura of automatic reflection in human consciousness that product-consumption is a social good. And that marketers will recognize no bounds, and no amount of good intentions on the part of government attempting to deal with public frustration over the constant sales and marketing harrassment will ever achieve its goal. Because there are always exceptions and the exceptions prove the rule.

There is the matter of call centers. They create employment. Not necessarily the kind of employment that bright young educated people consider their future aspirational employment, but of necessity one that keeps body and soul together. The call centers that respond to people requiring information or assistance, and which are often very useful for that very purpose. Where manufacturing has gone elsewhere, and such positions are paramount in job-creation.

And then those call centres are sent out-of-country because in countries of huge populations where English is a second language and unemployment is rife and employees are paid a pittance, competition is the end-game. Got a problem with a utility? Use this number. Need help with a computer glitch or a problem with connectivity? Call this number. And the assistance you require will come complete with the challenge of sharpening your ears.

The accented English you hear with a vocabulary that does not quite match your own will produce confusion and frustration, and perhaps even a working solution to your problem. Your telephone rings and you respond, and it is a voice that sounds peculiarly out-of-continent attempting to sell you on a new product, offering 'free' gifts for subscriptions, irritating the hell out of you because you don't want the product and the need to focus on the voice to interpret what it is saying grates on your nerves.

This is life in a call-centre world. Where bright young Indian men and women with fairly good educations and passable English are now offered jobs at call centres, even if they live in small towns and cities. Young Indian men and women no longer are required to leave their homes and their parents to travel to Indian mega-cities and live estranged from what is familiar to them, working long hours in call centres.

The call centres have come to them. Call centres that have pulled their operations out of New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, or Ontario or Quebec, and re-located to the Indian sub-continent. Creating much needed employment opportunities for young Indian men and women. Offering them salaries they might only have dreamed about. While young Canadian men and women go on unemployment rolls, hoping some job will come along soon.

We cannot do enough to help those who live in the developing world.