Public transit call centers handle everything from inquiries about lost items to questions about fares and schedules to comments about potholes, earphone etiquette, and snowstorms. The best call centers in the business handle it all with diplomacy, good cheer, and a positive attitude.

How does your call center measure up?

Find out by registering for APTA’s seventh annual Call Center Challenge, a national competition to determine the best in the industry. The deadline is Dec. 16.

All applicants who meet the eligibility requirements will participate in a preliminary phone interview with a panel of APTA member judges tentatively scheduled for Jan. 8-9, 2014. At the conclusion of all phone interviews, the judges will select seven finalists to compete in the national competition in New Orleans, LA, before a live audience at the 2014 APTA Marketing and Communications Workshop, Feb. 23-26.

Judges will present finalists with three randomly selected customer service scenarios and will assess contestants on their ability to respond to each one. The participant with the highest score, as determined by the judges, will be named public transportation’s best telephone customer information agent.

All interested personnel must complete and return the Call Center Challenge application, available here. For details, contact Laticia King.