Brokers are no strangers to conference calls, often having to contact clients in multiple locations. But have you ever wondered what they’re doing while you’re chatting away? Now, one new survey has revealed the strangest places workers say they’ve ever answered a conference call from.
Employees admitted to answering calls from:
- A truck stop restroom
- A McDonalds play area
- The beach
- Disney World
- Behind a church during a wedding rehearsal
- The racetrack
- The closet of a friend’s house during a party
- On the street, while chasing a dog
The survey, commissioned by conference solutions provider InterCall, surveyed 500 professionals to not only find out the most peculiar places they’ve ever picked up but to find out what else they’re dong while they’re supposed to be listening.
Here are the top ten things employees do while listening (or pretending to at least):
- Doing other work – 65 per cent
- Sending emails – 63 per cent
- Eating or making food – 55 per cent
- Going to the restroom – 47 per cent
- Texting – 44 per cent
- Checking social media – 43 per cent
- Playing video games – 25 per cent
- Shopping online – 21 per cent
- Exercising – 9 per cent
- Taking another phone call – 6 per cent.
We’re not quite sure whether we’d be annoyed or oddly impressed to discover clients were multitasking to this extent. Taking a conference call and exercising seems like a near impossible feat to us…
Somewhat more alarmingly was the following:
- 39 per cent of respondents said they dropped out of a call without announcing it
- 27 per cent admitted to falling asleep during a call
- 5 per cent said they’d had a friend take the call in their place
While your clients may have engaged in some odd conference call behaviour, they may not be alone. Have you ever taken a conference call from a weird location?
