Francine Allard has worked for TELUS for seven years. She started out in customer billing before joining the technical support department five and a half years ago. She works in Scarborough, Ontario, a Toronto suburb.
Francine, what does your job as a technical service representative involve?
On a daily basis, I solve the problems our clients are having with their cell phone, smart phone or connection card. We are considered the backbone of the company. Our department’s goal is to solve the problem on the first call (first call resolution), because clients expect a quick answer. It’s quite centralized as a function. TELUS provides three months of training to all its technical support agents to familiarize them with the job and the various devices, before taking direct client calls.
To do our job well, we have to continually stay up to speed with new products and their features. You need to be keen on technology to keep learning permanently. On average, I handle 35 to 40 calls a day in French or English.
What do you like the most about your technical service representative job?
I like change. Every day we get something different—it’s never the same routine. Clients’ problems are always very different. Each call brings its own challenge, and it’s important to me to help clients as much as possible. In this context, I also like working on a team, because we get to solve the challenges we face together.
Of course, I’m also very interested in technology. I like to play with all kinds of gadgets.
What advice would you have for someone who wants to get into this field?
I would say to have a lot of patience mostly, which is not necessarily something you pick up in school. You never see the client’s device, but despite that, you have to be able to guide them, step by step, until the problem is fixed. If it doesn’t work the first time around, you have to start explaining all over again.
I think you also need to be very keen on new technologies and always want to learn more. For TELUS, it is essential to have a true interest in our phones.
As for language skills, you absolutely have to be bilingual to work in Quebec, but English is enough for the rest of Canada.