The call centre has 26 work stations, where up to 40 people can work, and will operate from Monday to Saturday from 8 AM to 8 PM, handling approximately 2,500 calls a day
“Telelavoro 1254 a Rebibbia” is a unique initiative in Europe and follows one already started at Milan’s San Vittore prison. Telecom Italia and the Ministry for Justice continue their cooperation aimed at helping inmates return to the workforce
The Minister for Justice, Clemente Mastella, and the chairman of Telecom Italia, Marco Tronchetti Provera, today inaugurated a new Telecom Italia “1254” call centre at Rebibbia prison’s “Nuovo Complesso”.
Through this initiative, launched with the help of Luigi Manconi, the Undersecretary for Justice with responsibility for the inmates in the Rome municipality, Telecom Italia and the Justice Ministry continue their cooperation aimed at offering inmates the opportunity of having a real job within the prison and helping them to gain skills for their return to society.
The call centre at Rebibbia has 26 work stations (of which 2 are for supervisors) at which up to 40 people can work and is capable of managing a total of approximately 2,500 calls a day for fixed-line “1254” services. Work at the call centre is organized in shifts (agreed by Telecom Italia and Cooperativa Sol.Co.) which run from Monday to Saturday from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm.
The selection of inmates to staff the centre will be carried out by the Institution in cooperation with instructors from ITIS “Von Neuman” and the 2° Centro Territoriale Permanente, in Via Tiburtina Antica, who already manage scholastic courses for the Institute.
Before operations begin, the chosen staffers will have completed a training course conducted by Telecom Italia and made up of three distinct phases over a four-week period: the first, theory, dedicated to communication with the customer; the second, technical, on how to use the database; the third, practical, in which supervisors and “1254” operators participate in “on the job” observation, which will enable the new operators to operate with full autonomy.
The new call centre follows two which already operate in Milan’s San Vittore prison, one opened in the male wing in 2003 and one in the female wing in 2004, with a total of 35 work stations able to handle approximately 3,000 calls a day. These initiatives are unique among European penitentiaries, both in terms of their organization and type of activity.
The “1254” number is for Telecom Italia’s new directory services, which through call centres, supply the telephone numbers and addresses of Telecom Italia subscribers and those of other operators in Italy and abroad.
Rome, 20 July 2006