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50-634: The company has approximately 2,300 employees; its call center and field craft personnel are members of IBEW Local 614. PECO serves about 1.6 million electric and over 511,000 natural gas customers; it is the largest combination utility in Pennsylvania , and has a franchise utility service area of 2,100 square miles (5,400 km) with a population of 3.8 million people. PECO operates in southeastern Pennsylvania and provides electricity to about 1.6 million customers and natural gas to over 511,000 customers. The company's electric service area covers all of

100-546: A log-normal service time distribution . Simulation algorithms are increasingly being used to model call arrival, queueing and service levels. Call centre operations have been supported by mathematical models beyond queueing, with operations research , which considers a wide range of optimisation problems seeking to reduce waiting times while keeping server utilisation and therefore efficiency high. Call centres have received criticism for low rates of pay and restrictive working practices for employees, which have been deemed as

150-501: A corporate computer network , including mainframes , microcomputer, servers and LANs . It is expected that artificial intelligence -based chatbots will significantly impact call centre jobs and will increase productivity substantially. Many organisations have already adopted AI-based chatbots to improve their customer service experience. The contact center is a central point from which all customer contacts are managed. Through contact centers, valuable information can be routed to

200-404: A dehumanising environment. Other research illustrates how call centre workers develop ways to counter or resist this environment by integrating local cultural sensibilities or embracing a vision of a new life. Most call centres provide electronic reports that outline performance metrics, quarterly highlights and other information about the calls made and received. This has the benefit of helping

250-479: A mechanical answering machine. Although undoubtedly more costly (the human service, the cost of setting up and paying the phone company for the OPX on a monthly basis), it had the advantage of being more ready to respond to the unique needs of after-hours callers. The answering service operators also had the option of calling the client and alerting them to particularly important calls. The origins of call centers date back to

300-696: A propane-air plant in Chester, PA . with storage capacity of 1,980,000 US gallons (7,500 m). The company also owns 29 natural gas city gate stations at locations that link with various interstate pipelines. The Chester Waterside Station of the Philadelphia Electric Company was constructed in 1916 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. PECO supplies legacy two-phase electric power to sections of Philadelphia where infrastructure upgrades are impracticable. Philadelphia

350-404: A sale per lead. The universal queue standardises the processing of communications across multiple technologies such as fax, phone, and email. The virtual queue provides callers with an alternative to waiting on hold when no agents are available to handle inbound call demand. Historically call centres have been built on Private branch exchange (PBX) equipment owned, hosted, and maintained by

400-556: A separate application, and configuration APIs which enable graphical user interface (GUI) controls of administrative functions. Outsourced call centres are often located in developing countries , where wages are significantly lower than in western countries with higher minimum wages. These include the call centre industries in the Philippines , Bangladesh , and India . Companies that regularly utilise outsourced contact centre services include British Sky Broadcasting and Orange in

450-411: A small share of the marketplace, even though they raise productivity and output. Some businesses commonly thought to be capital-intensive are railways , aircraft manufacturing , airlines , oil production and refining , telecommunications , semiconductor fabrication , mining , chemical plants , electric power plants , etc. The degree of capital intensity is easy to measure in nominal terms. It

500-528: A traditional, centralised, call centre location, which increasingly allows people 'on the go' or with physical or other disabilities to work from desired locations – i.e. not leaving their house. The only required equipment is Internet access, a workstation, and a softphone. If the virtual call centre software utilizes webRTC , a softphone is not required to dial. The companies are preferring Virtual Call Centre services due to cost advantage. Companies can start their call centre business immediately without installing

550-501: Is a common operation for call centers, encompassing strategies and activities aimed at identifying potential customers or clients for businesses or sales representatives. It involves gathering information and generating interest among individuals or organizations who may have a potential interest in the products or services offered. Capital intensity Capital intensity is the amount of fixed or real capital present in relation to other factors of production , especially labor. At

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600-578: Is a further extension of call centres telephony based capabilities, administers centralised handling of individual communications, including letters , faxes , live support software , social media , instant message , and email . A call center was previously seen as an open workspace for call center agents , with workstations that included a computer and display for each agent and were connected to an inbound/outbound call management system, and one or more supervisor stations. It can be independently operated or networked with additional centers, often linked to

650-478: Is also intended to improve efficiencies, both for inbound and outbound campaigns. This allows inbound calls to be directly routed to the appropriate agent for the task, whilst minimising wait times and long lists of irrelevant options for people calling in. For outbound calls, lead selection allows management to designate what type of leads go to which agent based on factors including skill, socioeconomic factors, past performance, and percentage likelihood of closing

700-483: Is due to the roundaboutness of the particular industry and consumer demand. Capital intensive industry uses a large portion of capital to buy expensive machines, compared to their labor costs. The term came about in the mid- to late-nineteenth century as factories such as steel mills sprung up around the newly industrialized world. With the added expense of machinery, there was greater financial risk . This makes new capital-intensive factories with high tech machinery

750-583: Is one of only two cities with in-service two-phase infrastructure. PECO's total assets are valued at $ 9.8 billion. The company delivered 87,700,000,000 cubic feet (2.5 × 10 m) of natural gas and 39.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2008, generating $ 5.5 billion in revenue. PECO's utility business is capital intensive and requires significant investments for the electric and gas delivery systems to ensure adequate capacity and reliability for customers. PECO's anticipated capital expenditures for 2009 are estimated at $ 400 million—about three-fourths for

800-448: Is simply the ratio of the total money value of capital equipment to the total potential output. However, this measure need not be related to real economic activity because it can rise due to inflation. Then the question arises, how do we measure the "real" amount of capital goods? Do we use book value (historical price)? or replacement cost? or the price justified by the present discounted value of future profits? Or do we simply "deflate"

850-488: Is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone . An inbound call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product or service support or information inquiries from consumers. Outbound call centres are usually operated for sales purposes such as telemarketing , for solicitation of charitable or political donations , debt collection , market research , emergency notifications, and urgent/critical needs blood banks . A contact centre

900-746: The Communications Workers of America and the United Steelworkers . In Australia , the National Union of Workers represents unionised workers; their activities form part of the Australian labour movement . In Europe , UNI Global Union of Switzerland is involved in assisting unionisation in the call center industry, and in Germany Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft represents call centre workers. During

950-485: The Hilton Hotels Corporation and Marriott International make use of call centres to manage reservations. These are known in the industry as "central reservations offices". Staff members at these call centres take calls from clients wishing to make reservations or other inquiries via a public number, usually a 1-800 number . These centres may operate as many as 24 hours per day, seven days a week, depending on

1000-490: The productivity of labor. Capital intensive societies tend to have a higher standard of living over the long run. Calculations made by Robert Solow claimed that economic growth was mainly driven by technological progress (productivity growth) rather than inputs of capital and labor. However recent economic research has invalidated that theory, since Solow did not properly consider changes in both investment and labor inputs. Dale Jorgenson, of Harvard University, President of

1050-489: The 1960s through the 1980s, earlier and slightly later, involved a business that specifically provided the service. Primarily, by using an off-premises extension (OPX) for each subscribing business, connected at a switchboard at the answering service business, the answering service would answer the otherwise unattended phones of the subscribing businesses with a live operator. The live operator could take messages or relay information, doing so with greater human interactivity than

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1100-527: The 1960s with the UK-based Birmingham Press and Mail, which installed Private Automated Business Exchanges (PABX) to have rows of agents handling customer contacts. By 1973, call centers had received mainstream attention after Rockwell International patented its Galaxy Automatic Call Distributor (GACD) for a telephone booking system as well as the popularization of telephone headsets as seen on televised NASA Mission Control Center events. During

1150-401: The 1990s, call centres expanded internationally and developed into two additional subsets of communication: contact centres and outsourced bureau centres. A contact centre is a coordinated system of people, processes, technologies, and strategies that provides access to information, resources, and expertise, through appropriate channels of communication, enabling interactions that create value for

1200-528: The American Economic Association in 2000, concludes that: 'Griliches and I showed that changes in the quality of capital and labor inputs and the quality of investment goods explained most of the Solow residual . We estimated that capital and labor inputs accounted for 85 percent of growth during the period 1945–1965, while only 15 percent could be attributed to productivity growth… This has precipitated

1250-530: The Conowingo Power Company service area from PECO. PECO's distribution line voltages are 2,400/4,160 volts wye and 7,620/13,200 volts wye. Subtransmission voltages are 34,500 volts and 69,000 volts. Transmission line voltages are 138,000 volts, 230,000 volts and 500,000 volts. The company is a member of the PJM Interconnection. As of 2012 PECO's peak electric load occurred on July 22, 2011 and

1300-569: The Earth Quaker Action Team began protesting PECO to demand that it expand the amount of solar energy that it buys, and to source solar power from North Philadelphia in order to create jobs. PECO purchases enough solar energy to power 2,000 residential households. Twice each year, in March and September, it submits those plans to the Pennsylvania's state regulators for approval. The utility runs

1350-726: The G7 and other largest economies, Jorgenson and Vu conclude: 'the growth of world output between input growth and productivity… input growth greatly predominated… Productivity growth accounted for only one-fifth of the total during 1989-1995, while input growth accounted for almost four-fifths. Similarly, input growth accounted for more than 70 percent of growth after 1995, while productivity accounted for less than 30 percent.' Regarding differences in output per capita Jorgenson and Vu conclude: 'differences in per capita output levels are primarily explained by differences in per capital input, rather than variations in productivity'. Some economists claimed that

1400-661: The Soviet Union missed the lessons of the Solow growth model, because starting in the 1930s, the Stalin government attempted to force capital accumulation through state direction of the economy. However, Solow's calculations have been proven invalid, so this is a poor explanation. Modern research shows the main factor for economic growth is the growth of labor and capital inputs, not increases in productivity. Therefore, other factors besides capital accumulation must have been big contributors to

1450-452: The Soviet economic crisis. Free market economists tend to believe that capital accumulation should not be managed by government, but instead be determined by market forces. Monetary stability (which increases confidence), low taxation, and greater freedom for the entrepreneur would then promote capital accumulation. The Austrian School maintains that the capital intensity of any industry

1500-486: The actual costs of procurement. According to Exelon SEC Form 10-k for the year 2012: nuclear energy supplied 53% of power supplied, fossils and renewables provided 12% of power supplied, and purchased power provided 35% of power supplied. PECO owns, maintains, and operates: PECO has a liquefied natural gas storage facility in West Conshohocken, PA . with capacity of 1,200,000,000 cubic feet (34,000,000 m) and

1550-487: The appropriate people or systems, contacts can be tracked, and data may be gathered. It is generally a part of the company's customer relationship management infrastructure. The majority of large companies use contact centers as a means of managing their customer interactions. These centers can be operated by either an in-house department responsible or outsourcing customer interaction to a third-party agency (known as Outsourcing Call Centres ). Answering services, as known in

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1600-798: The basic infrastructure like Dialer , ACD and IVRS . Virtual call centres became increasingly used after the COVID-19 pandemic restricted businesses from operating with large groups of people working in close proximity. Through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs), hosted and on-demand call centres that are built on cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) platforms can integrate their functionality with cloud-based applications for customer relationship management (CRM), lead management and more. Developers use APIs to enhance cloud-based call centre platform functionality—including Computer telephony integration (CTI) APIs which provide basic telephony controls and sophisticated call handling from

1650-435: The bidding process through a third party for energy suppliers and wholesalers. PECO's sister company, Constellation, is the third largest developer in Pennsylvania of solar installations for commercial, industrial, government and customers, and its parent company, Exelon, has a portfolio of wind-generating power projects across the country. PECO currently generates 0.14% of its energy portfolio from solar energy, but, according to

1700-413: The call centre operator. The PBX can provide functions such as automatic call distribution , interactive voice response , and skills-based routing . In a virtual call centre model, the call centre operator (business) pays a monthly or annual fee to a vendor that hosts the call centre telephony and data equipment in their own facility, cloud-based. In this model, the operator does not own, operate or host

1750-575: The call volume the chain receives. Queueing theory is a branch of mathematics in which models of service systems have been developed. A call centre can be seen as a queueing network and results from queueing theory such as the probability an arriving customer needs to wait before starting service useful for provisioning capacity. ( Erlang's C formula is such a result for an M/M/c queue and approximations exist for an M/G/k queue .) Statistical analysis of call centre data has suggested arrivals are governed by an inhomogeneous Poisson process and jobs have

1800-577: The city of Philadelphia and Delaware County ; most of Bucks , Chester , and Montgomery counties; and the southeastern corner of York County . The company's natural gas service area covers all of Delaware County; most of Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery counties; and a small portion of eastern Lancaster County . PECO formerly provided electricity to 35,000 customers in portions of Cecil and Harford counties in Maryland through subsidiary Conowingo Power Company . On June 19, 1995, Delmarva Power acquired

1850-401: The company to plan the workload and time of its employees. However, it has also been argued that such close monitoring breaches the human right to privacy . Complaints are often logged by callers who find the staff do not have enough skill or authority to resolve problems, as well as appearing apathetic. These concerns are due to a business process that exhibits levels of variability because

1900-1211: The customer and organization. In contrast to in-house management, outsourced bureau contact centres are a model of contact centre that provide services on a "pay per use" model. The overheads of the contact centre are shared by many clients, thereby supporting a very cost effective model, especially for low volumes of calls. The modern contact centre includes automated call blending of inbound and outbound calls as well as predictive dialing capabilities, dramatically increasing agents' productivity. New implementations of more complex systems require highly skilled operational and management staff that can use multichannel online and offline tools to improve customer interactions. Call centre technologies often include: speech recognition software which allowed Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems to handle first levels of customer support , text mining , natural language processing to allow better customer handling, agent training via interactive scripting and automatic mining using best practices from past interactions, support automation and many other technologies to improve agent productivity and customer satisfaction . Automatic lead selection or lead steering

1950-505: The electric business, nearly 20 percent for gas, and the rest is common. The company pays about $ 510 million in local, state and federal income and other taxes annually. In the 1970s through the 1980s, community activist pressure contributed to the delayed opening of nuclear power plants at PECO's Limerick Generating Station and the temporary cancellation of the planned Limerick 2 nuclear power plant, Pennsylvania. Both Limerick 1 and Limerick 2 were built and producing power by 1990. In 2015,

2000-513: The environmental activists group Earth Quaker Action Team, “...could generate up to 20% of their portfolio from solar.” Sourcing solar energy from rooftop solar panels “...would generate 70 jobs...” or “...could generate up to 4000 new jobs in Philadelphia.” Call centre A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling ) or call center ( American spelling ; see spelling differences ) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that

2050-524: The equipment on which the call centre runs. Agents connect to the vendor's equipment through traditional PSTN telephone lines, or over voice over IP . Calls to and from prospects or contacts originate from or terminate at the vendor's data centre, rather than at the call centre operator's premises. The vendor's telephony equipment (at times data servers) then connects the calls to the call centre operator's agents. Virtual call centre technology allows people to work from home or any other location instead of in

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2100-519: The experience a customer gets and results a company achieves on a given call are dependent upon the quality of the agent. Call centres are beginning to address this by using agent-assisted automation to standardise the process all agents use. However, more popular alternatives are using personality and skill based approaches. The various challenges encountered by call operators are discussed by several authors. Call centres located in India have been

2150-446: The focus of several documentary films, the 2004 film Thomas L. Friedman Reporting: The Other Side of Outsourcing , the 2005 films John and Jane , Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night , and 1-800-India: Importing a White-Collar Economy , and the 2006 film Bombay Calling , among others. An Indian call centre is also the subject of the 2006 film Outsourced and a key location in the 2008 film, Slumdog Millionaire . The 2014 BBC fly on

2200-674: The late 1970s, call center technology expanded to include telephone sales, airline reservations, and banking systems. The term "call center" was first published and recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary in 1983. The 1980s saw the development of toll-free telephone numbers to increase the efficiency of agents and overall call volume. Call centers increased with the deregulation of long-distance calling and growth in information-dependent industries. As call centres expanded, workers in North America began to join unions such as

2250-482: The level of either a production process or the aggregate economy, it may be estimated by the capital to labor ratio, such as from the points along a capital/labor isoquant . The inverse of capital intensity is labor intensity . Capital intensity is sometimes associated with industrialism, while labor intensity is sometimes associated with agrarianism. The use of tools and machinery makes labor more effective, so rising capital intensity (or " capital deepening ") pushes up

2300-561: The sudden obsolescence of earlier productivity research employing the conventions of Kuznets and Solow.' John Ross has analysed the long term correlation between the level of investment in the economy, rising from 5-7% of GDP at the time of the Industrial Revolution in England, to 25% of GDP in the post-war German 'economic miracle', to over 35% of GDP in the world's most rapidly growing contemporary economies of India and China. Taking

2350-765: The telecommunications industry, Adidas in the sports and leisure sector, Audi in car manufacturing and charities such as the RSPCA . The healthcare industry has and continues to use outbound call centre programmes for years to help manage billing, collections, and patient communication. The inbound call centre is a new and increasingly popular service for many types of healthcare facilities, including large hospitals. Inbound call centres can be outsourced or managed in-house. These healthcare call centres are designed to help streamline communications, enhance patient retention and satisfaction, reduce expenses and improve operational efficiencies. Many large hospitality companies such as

2400-569: The wall documentary series The Call Centre gave an often distorted although humorous view of life in a Welsh call centre. Appointment setting is a specialized function within call centres, where dedicated agents focus on facilitating and scheduling meetings between clients and businesses or sales representatives. This service is particularly prevalent in various industries such as financial services, healthcare, real estate, and B2B sales, where time-sensitive and personalized communications are essential for effective client engagement. Lead generation

2450-672: The winter periods when cold temperatures create demand for heating. The company's highest gas sales occurred on January 17, 2000 and was 718 million cubic feet (20.3 million cubic metres ) of gas. Gas usage by residential customers is approximately half of PECO's total deliveries. The PECO transition period for the competitive electric generation market ended on Dec. 31, 2010, when caps on retail rates and competitive transition charges on customer bills ended. PECO electric rates had been capped for 12 years. PECO expects to purchase all of its wholesale electricity from competitive market sources subsequent to 2010 with retail customers charged

2500-488: Was 8,983 megawatts (MWs) and its highest peak load in the winter season occurred on December 20, 2004 and was 6,838 MW. Residential electric usage makes up about 35 percent of PECO's total electric delivery and half of the annual electric revenue. PECO's electric sales tend to peak in the summer and winter seasons, driven by air conditioning and heating load respectively when extreme temperatures create greater demand. The company's natural gas sales are generally higher during

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