What's a regular day like working in a call center environment? Any advice for making the most of it?

It tends to be very long days if the phones are not ringing, or you are not cold calling. It can also be fun talking to different people on the phone. You tend to hear some of the craziest stuff.

SGT (Join to see) A couple of things to add:
1. Be patient with the customer, for the most part. You will be cussed and told to do despicable things because of their anger.
2. Listen to what the customer has to say. Listen, listen, listen.
3. TRY to resolve the customers issue as quickly as possible. Try to become an SME as quickly as possible. These two items together can go a long way. Both with the customer and with management.

Ah, man, good question. I can't contribute, I'm afraid. All I've ever done was sail ships. I can teach you how to listen to a ship, if you like! :)

A friend of mine went through management training for a company. As part of that training he had to work in their national call center. There were over 60 operators in the call center. Each call center employee had their own cubicle. The call center was staffed entirely by women. After a while, they forgot he was there.

He told me that he was shocked by how crude and vulgar these women could be. Right around lunch time he heard "Is that man still in here?" He sheepishly answered "yes." The background crude conversations went dead silent for about 10 of the longest seconds. Then everyone burst out laughing.

The next day they had a dog collar with a cow bell on it for him to where whenever he was in the call center.