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A worker friendly call center was a priority –
and a challenge – when Time Warner Cable consolidated
its telemarketing operation from separate locations
into one office at the Albany, New York headquarters.
Customer service and sales representatives (CSSRs) were
concerned about the move from familiar, decentralized
quarters to a single, wide open room with few windows,
busy office traffic, and a distracting noise level for
CSSRs who needed to concentrate on each phone call.
Thus, the architects of the renovation, C.T. Male Associates,
P.C., Latham NY, went beyond the usual steps to create
a call center that was both welcoming and efficient.
 “We
are moving employees from a variety of environments
into a single location that seemed smaller than there
current locations,” explained Jeff king,
Albany Division President. “It became easy
to ‘sell’ to our employees on the new facility
once they were able to see we were using new and specialized
materials, and were working to develop an environment
that would be comfortable as well as productive.”
Containing the noise level was a priority in the renovation.
“When Time Warner Cable retained us to develop
a renovation plan, they had a number of requirements
for improving their CSSR call center,” said
Rosemarie Carangelo, project architect, C.T. Male Associates.
“But number one among them was to reduce the
noise level.”
The problem was how to control noise in an open 30’
x 50’ space arranged in four rows of ten workstations
separated by only 42” high partitions. The solution
included installing Sonex™
Contour Ceiling Tiles directly above the CSSR cubicles
where the ceiling was dropped from 10’6”
down to 9’. The reduced height of the ceiling
helped to create a feeling of intimacy at each workstation,
as well as to control noise in the large, open room.
The result was pleasing to both the ears and the eyes.
Sonex™
Contour Ceiling Tiles have an excellent NRC
rating of 1.0. They are available in 10 different patterns
and 4 different colors and can be mixed and matched
to create a myriad of patterns.
“When developing a work space for people,
it is important to consider the psychology, as well
as the mechanics of their work’” explained
Carangelo. “I interviewed and observed a number
of CSSRs for this project and I literally put myself
in their place. There you are on the phone working with
a customer. What do you do? You lean back in your chair,
tip your head upward and look for a visual diversion
as your mind races through all of the responses you’ve
been taught for resolving customer concerns.”
Thus Carangalo paid special attention to the ceiling
characteristics. She had specified an acoustical ceiling
over the CSSRs cubicles, but finding tiles that provided
visual interest was more difficult than she anticipated.
“Ceilings tend to be flat, white and thicker
when trying to achieve a higher NRC
(Noise Reduction Co-Efficient),” she said.
“The design required relief as well as performance.”
With the choices that were offered, Carangelo put together
three different patterns, Panorama, Vision and Basix,
to create a tile by tile pattern. “The pattern
I created with these tiles is complex, because I did
not want people to figure it out right away. But it
is open and non-obtrusive, too. I wanted the ceiling
to be interesting, not distracting. The mix of basic
and patterned tiles make it easy on the eyes,”
said Carangelo.
Time Warner Cable CSSRs are pleased with the new space.
“I never would have believed you could make
a 30’ by 50’ room feel like anything but
an airplane hangar,” said Mary Beth Bobitt,
manager of the call center. “Because of the
close attention paid to things that we all take for
granted, like ceiling height, texture and lighting,
the room was successfully transformed into a very warm
and comfortable, yet very professional place to work."
An ergonomically-friendly work spaces encompasses the
entire environment – from ceiling to floor. By
taking on the challenge of creating such a center for
its customer sales and service representatives, Time
Warner Cable created a visually interesting space that
also contributes to employee productivity and comfort.
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