Well its about to finally happen. From what I am hearing, AOL will announce a drastic switch in its product offering taking dial up the free route. As part of this restructuring, they will be eliminating the majority of their contact centers - including OKC.

Granted some say, yeah its just another call center...but one that does have people making 40-60K+ a year. Either way, its a good chunk of people out of jobs again. Granted most I'm sure will find their way to places like Dell that are hiring by the dozens.

The AOL center had a revolving door. They paid poorly, and they had a very tough time filling their empty spots.

It was only a matter of time if you ask me. People are figuring out what a sham AOL is...with their $24.95 dialup or whatever, when you can get DSL for $15 or less now. Not only that but they are continually getting bad press for their tactics to keep people from disconnecting from them...that being said, you are correct, there are some here in OKC that make decent money as I understand.

Also keep in mind, dial-up is the rotary phone of internet. VERY obsolete.

Yes I agree the $24.95 for dial-up is absurd. I think your predictions are a little wrong however. They are not going to offer dial-up for free, but rather scrap offering customer service or dial-up all together. They are going to offer their broadband service for free or what they call BYOA (Bring your Own Access). Basically just using their web browser over your own ISP's interface. Something they shouldn't have been charging for anyways. They are trying to become more like Google and Yahoo and make their money as a content provider.

I used to work there in college a few years back. It was great money, like you said, reps can easily make $40-80k off commissions. The down side is that they made it extremely extremely stressful and didn't tolerate anything thus firing for mundane reasons. The plus side was high wages, all kinds of benefits from day one, free internet, and they had a free game room to unwind stress and a gym, cafeteria, and daycare on site.

Actually, they are going to transition their proprietary content to the web and compete with Yahoo, Google, MSN and other smaller "community" sites. They already have moved much of their content to www.aol.com for free. Anyone can now get a web-based AOL address and other freebies galore through their AOL.com portal. I wonder how they can fight in that space with their horrible negative numbers in study after study regarding quality of service. Maybe they will surprise me, but AOL's arrogance in years past has caught up with them in a big way. They had a great short-term plan and - for too long - had no long-range plan at all. It was all about retention of dial-up and switching to BYOA, retention, retention, retention. And hard-sell too, wuch just angered customers. They are at the point now of little to no respect. Too bad.

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What business they're losing Cox and AT&T is picking up. I've heard the Cox call center has expanded in recent months.

With the news that AOL is transitioning to a free service, what will this mean to the OKC call center? I was reading the Business Week Q&A (http://www.businessweek.com/ap/tech/D8J8I51O1.htm?sub=apn_tech_down&chan=tc) about the AOL changes and realized this could cost Oklahoma City our call center. There are those that know better than I, and please chime in, but wasn't a big part of the call center here the much criticized 'Customer Retention' program? With AOL saying they will no longer market their dial-up service (yet still offer it) and move to free services, they are promising that the heavy-handed customer retention is now history. What will that mean for OKC - especially in the light of the news today that AOL will cut 5000 Customer Support jobs? AOL says they will announce specifics within 60 days, probably in early October. My initial thoughts are that this might not be good news for Oklahoma City.

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Who cares? Another call center will come.

Who cares? Another call center will come.

I know a couple of people who work at AOL, and have for about six years. I am guessing they care very much. As do their families who depend on the insurance.
I would normally agree with you on the whole call center thing, but AOL is a notch above in pay and benefits - at least for certain parts of their work force.
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You can also read more about this ongoing discussion here:

http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-area-talk/7001-aol-changes-coming.html?highlight=aol

Thanks, Metro. That thread was when it was all speculation. AOL has now officially announced the move to a free AOL and the fact that they will close (unknown) customer support centers, cutting 5,000 jobs. I thought a new thread would make sense now.

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I wouldn't use AOL if they paid me to use it.

The two threads have been merged.......... crisis averted.

Thanks, Metro. That thread was when it was all speculation. AOL has now officially announced the move to a free AOL and the fact that they will close (unknown) customer support centers, cutting 5,000 jobs. I thought a new thread would make sense now.

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You're welcome. I realize the differences of the speculation vs. official announcement. I just thought I would provide more info to those who might not be as familiar with the situation.

I know a couple of people who work at AOL, and have for about six years. I am guessing they care very much. As do their families who depend on the insurance.
I would normally agree with you on the whole call center thing, but AOL is a notch above in pay and benefits - at least for certain parts of their work force.
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True, but if they have any marketable job skills, they'll land on their feet.

Some more news. Majority of the 5000 cuts will be overseas. About 2000 will be domestic. The OKC center has been retraining their people the last couple of weeks, and it sounds like it will be a surviving center.

We need to keep in mind, AOL is like the typical crap pay call center like Convergys or Client Logic. Their pay really isn't much different then the majority of the employees at Dell.

venture79, I'd have to disagree with you. I worked in the call center industry for several years in the past, a couple at AOL. AOL pays a little above average on their hourly, however there bonus structure is by far better than anywhere I've seen or heard of. Their benefits are uncomparable too. I've never worked at a half-rate call center like Convergy's, etc. but I've worked with people who have come from those places and they've all said the pay was way better as well as the benefits. From what I understand DELL is pretty generous on their bonus structure too, however the benefits aren't as good as AOL. AOL paid in full for your health, medical,vision,dental,legal, and other insurance as well as gave you free internet,free AOL TV, deep discounts on AOL/Time Warner products from their other companies, matching 401k, nice stock options, cafeteria plan, cafeteria, free game room, and too much more to list. Most companies (especially call centers) don't even offer half of what they did and from what I hear, still do.

Ack! My bad. I actually meant is NOT like the typical crap call center. Ugh. Sorry about that. :)

I think Metro is right. From the two people I know that work there, they rave about the benefits. I don't think it is a, "call center is a call center is a call center," kind of thing. I mean, can you compare some of the others with Time-Warner? You laid it out well, Metro. Let's hope they are spared. OKC needs to catch a break on the job front.

On edit: I had a feeling that's maybe what you meant, Venture.
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Glad to hear our center will stay open.

Actually the real scoop is: The BYOA (if you already have your own connection such as Cox) is totally free. The plan that used to cost $24.95 for the whole shmeel, dial up connection, everything is $9.95. Here's the deal though, you have to call in and request the plan that you want, otherwise, it will remain the same until you do. So, I don't really think that aol dial up is that bad of a deal for $9.95. Also, the OKC call center location is used to house more than just a call center. There are also some coporate that also report to work there. And yes, I can attest that in some departments, the commissions are outstanding, if you have what it takes. There are many people that are working there that have been there as long as the call center has been there, 10 yrs, so it can't be all bad, 401 is fully vested in 4 yrs. and their insurance benefits cannot be beat. AOL just celebrated their 10 yr in that location, and they have/had a 10 yr lease, so if they stay on a little longer, that will sort of let us know that they aren't going to close, otherwise, they would not have renewed their lease.

Has something changed at AOL in the last couple of years? I worked at the OKC center for 6 years and they didn't pay 100% on insurance. The main selling point was coverage from day 1 of employment, no waiting period.

Actually you can change your pricing plan online too. I still have it...for some reason...but on free now. I mean, I guess I didn't see a point in getting rid of it. I've had them ever since they were QLink WAAAAAY back in the day.

Has something changed at AOL in the last couple of years? I worked at the OKC center for 6 years and they didn't pay 100% on insurance. The main selling point was coverage from day 1 of employment, no waiting period.No, nothing has changed, the health insurance isn't free, but the employee's contribution is minimal, and then there is also a larger charge for dependants. What dept did you work in and during what years?

I was there from 10-97 thru 11-03. Did 2.5 years in windows tech, 6 months in password/appeals, and 3 years in CAT email. Then transferred to subp and was there for exactly 1 month and quit.

I was there from 10-97 thru 11-03. Did 2.5 years in windows tech, 6 months in password/appeals, and 3 years in CAT email. Then transferred to subp and was there for exactly 1 month and quit.I can see why you quit out of SubP, what pressure they put on those guys to produce marks on the wall. I was in retention and got so sick of trying to explain to someone with two accounts why they couldn't sign on. SubP neglected to tell them that they had to uninstall the aol program that was attached to their old account and download and reinstall another one attached to their new account. They never bothered to tell them that they couldn't use their old screen name either..all in the name of signing up another account, getting another mark on the wall and at the same time, knowing that they were painting those poor folks into a corner that they couldn't get out of without help, so they would just call in to cancel. When I would explain it all to them, cancelled out the new account, put the free time on their old account and saved the account, I would get reprimanded for "teching" which wasn't my job. All they emphazized was two free months if they would just open another account....plus, in the meantime, aol could add a "new account" to their stats...I shouldn't go on this way, butI got a belly full as well, in fact, it made me ill. It wasn't the pressure, it was the unethical pressure, there is a difference. I shouldn't have said so much, but it's true and you know it. I figured up the window and I started 08-31-01, so I know I was working there when you were. I usually sat just in front of Tech, so if I needed something, they would help...pretty good bunch. Now I don't think they even want people who know much about tech, just know how to ask questions and punch the keys to get the generic answers.

It wasn't the pressure, it was the unethical pressure, there is a difference.

Exactly. I quit within 1 week of getting out of subp training. I had a nice old lady call in because she forgot her password. Husband was the billing contact so I couldn't do anything for her. My coach was monitoring the call and sent me an IM telling me to sell her a new account because she was an easy mark. I said no way. After that call I spent 30 minutes in his office listening to how he could write me up for not doing my job. I told him I had been there 6 years and threats didn't phase me anymore. Then I quit the next day. There are good people there, and good supervisors. I just got tired of trying to find them.

Yes, it was unethical pressure to say the least. I worked in retention for a year or so. Made good money doing it. My insurance was 100% paid for and started day one. Excellent benefits.

Wow, old home week! when were you there? I probably worked with you.
Yes, it was unethical pressure to say the least. I worked in retention for a year or so. Made good money doing it. My insurance was 100% paid for and started day one. Excellent benefits.