Customer service: Vatican operators staff switchboard 24/7

Published: 2006-07-21

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Even though it receives almost 2,000 calls a day, the Vatican is not about to outsource its small team of switchboard operators to answering machines or the labyrinth of automated phone menus. When callers dial the Vatican switchboard anytime of day or night, a recorded voice will not ask them to press the pound key or hold; instead, they will talk to a human being who will tactfully and efficiently handle every call. "There are people who are a little crazy and call at 2 a.m. to do nothing but rant and rave, and there are others who call for help," said Brother Andrea Mellini, head of the Vatican's telecommunications service. Invariably a handful of people say they must speak with the pope, and only the discerning ear and sharp mind of a human can weed out the wacky from the serious inquiries, he said. "Working at the (Vatican's) call center is a very delicate job, and we would never think of putting in automated operators," the brother of the Society of St. Paul told Catholic News Service. About a dozen nuns who are members of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master work the switchboards 24 hours a day in six-hour shifts. They come from such countries as South Korea, Malta, Poland, Italy, India, Philippines and Brazil, and they speak a myriad of languages.

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