A newspaper advert by American department store Sears urging kids to call Santa on Christmas Eve was the starting point for one of the most unlikely call centres on the planet.
That advert in 1955 contained the wrong number and young callers didn’t get through to a department store.
Instead they were connected to NORAD, the joint US and Canadian radar defence system that monitors the skies for hostile traffic.
From that point on NORAD has been tracking Santa every Christmas Eve and its call-centre, which is staffed by military personnel and volunteers, give Santa’s precise co-ordinates to every child who calls.
There’s an online Santa Tracker, too, and the centre also handles thousands of emails over the 24-hour period while it’s in operation.
There aren’t many centres where it’s your job to encourage callers to go to bed early, but as training in how to deliver a script while callers go off-message, it doesn’t get any better than this.
“Call centres can become really hectic in the run-up to Christmas,” says industry-watcher Steven Gerrity.
“Callers want all kinds of issues sorted by that Christmas deadline, so it doesn’t matter if you’re working for an on-line retailer or a local authority, the pressure increases the closer to Christmas it gets.”
There are lots of great call and contact centre vacancies on s1jobs and if you’ve never experienced it before, the idea of handling that Christmas rush might be daunting. But don’t worry. Most companies provide great training and you’ll have the ongoing support of your team leader.
And you’ll be doing it all in a festive atmosphere.
“We go a bit over-the top with decorations and Christmas jumpers,” says Hannah McConnell, who works for a travel company.
“Lots of people come on at the last minute trying to book a festive getaway and we help them to organise breaks to the Seychelles or the Maldives while wearing antlers and eating Quality Street.”
Staff nights out and secret Santa presents add to the fun and make the working hours pass quickly.
“We’re lucky our offices are right next to a retail park so we can make the most of lunch times to do Christmas shopping,” says Hannah.
“I wouldn’t want to escape to a far-off destination at this time of the year. I’d be missing out on the fun!”
Make the most of your Christmas with the latest Call and Contact Centre vacancies from s1jobs