APTA reminds public transit system call center personnel to register by Dec. 20 for the sixth annual Call Center Challenge, a national competition to determine the best in the industry. The competition defines these individuals as employees who handle incoming calls relating to trip planning and/or customer service issues.

All applicants who meet the eligibility requirements will receive a time for a pre-election phone interview with a panel of APTA member judges, tentatively scheduled for Jan. 8 and 9, 2013.

At the conclusion of all phone interviews, the judges will select seven finalists to compete in the national competition in Los Angeles. The event, to be held in front of a live audience, is part of the 2013 APTA Marketing and Communications Workshop, Feb. 24-27.

Judges will present finalists with three randomly selected customer service scenarios; contestants will be assessed on their ability to respond well to each inquiry. The participant with the highest score, as determined by the APTA judging panel, will be named public transportation’s best telephone customer information agent.

All interested personnel must complete and return the official Call Center Challenge application, available online. For more information, contact Laticia King.