Author: Ken Becker

The government is allowing every resident to request a free order of four tests. To request your free tests, go to the Post Office COVID Ordering site.

Note: If this is your first time requesting free COVID tests from the government or from the United States Postal Service, you may be able to place a 2nd order giving you a total of 8 COVID test kits.

Some people who live in apartments, duplexes, co-ops or at other addresses that house multiple families ran into an error message, “At-home COVID-19 tests have already been ordered for this address.” Because the program is currently limited to one order of four tests per residential address, some people may not be able to receive their free allotment. If you get this message, try the following:

• Check with everyone in your household and make sure they didn’t already claim your kit of four tests.
• If you believe there’s an issue with the USPS recognizing your residential address, you can file a service request here.

If you receive the error message, “We couldn’t validate your address,” there’s a chance you could be entering your address slightly different than how the USPS recognizes it. For example, you could be typing out “Eighth Street” when the USPS knows it as “8th street” Try the following:

• Use the USPS’s address look-up tool by clicking here.
• Type in your address, then click find
• Now try ordering your tests again using the address exactly as it’s listed by the USPS.
• If that doesn’t work, you can file a service request here.

If you receive the error message, “We couldn’t validate your address as complete,” the system may be having difficulty identifying an apartment number, for example, it might recognize “Apt. 1” but not “#1.” Try the following:

• Use the USPS’s address look-up tool by clicking here.
• Type in your address, then click find
• Now try ordering your tests again using the address exactly as it’s listed by the USPS.
• If that doesn’t work, try putting the apartment number in the first line of your address, and not separating it out by a separate field.
• If that doesn’t work, you can file a service request here.

Thank you to those of you who came in on Thursday to share a meal with us. Leftovers of our Maudie’s catering will be labeled and stored in the white fridge! Help us finish it off!

Our yearly holiday catering will take place on Thursday, January 5th, 2023. Maudie’s will provide the food, so make sure to bring your appetite!

ContactWorks is starting up their Birthday recognition program again. We want to celebrate each one of you! Once a month, we’ll provide cake in the kitchen for those to enjoy on behalf of you! This time, we’re going to celebrate 2 months – October and November 2022.

There’s cake in the kitchen! If you are able to, come get a slice or two!

• 10/4 – Shereka Kemp
• 10/12 – Michele Serrano
• 10/19 – Malcolm Richburg
• —————————————-
• 11/8 – Larry Bolden
• 11/17 – Michael Gonzalez
• 11/19 – Curtis Broughton

Our next potluck will be Tuesday the 22nd. Come on in for some good food and great fellowship. If you want to bring something, the sign up sheet is in the kitchen.

The health / dental / vision, provided by ContactWorks, will be renewing November 1st so now is the time for open enrollment!

You will need to log into Employee Navigator to view the options and rates and select or decline health / dental / vision.

Just remember that if you don’t make any selections by the deadline of Friday 10/21/22, your current elections, if any, will automatically roll over.

If you’ve never used Employee Navigator before, you can follow the steps below:

1. Navigate your internet browser to: https://www.employeenavigator.com/benefits/Account/Register
2. When it asks for the Group Identifier, enter: Contact-Works
3. Follow the steps to register as a new user.

Please let Ken Becker (kbecker@contactworks.us) know if you have any questions.

Although Customer Service Week for 2022 is wrapping up, our appreciation for each one of you never will. You will always be a part of our family and our hearts. The last bit of spotlights go to the 2022ers, who joined our team this very year!

Continue to enjoy the food and if you want to watch something on the big screens, let us know!

Friday Spotlights:

De’Anna was in the first class of hires for 2022. Although she is a recent addition, her value knows no bounds. She does an amazing job to help keep all the various shared queue agents answered!

Although she was born and raised right here in Austin, she did spend some time living in Vegas for a while. That makes her an absolute win!

This amazing individual shared the same class as De’Anna and helps to rock the shared queue.

This music lover enjoys cooking, but not as much as she loves her daughter, who is most certainly the delight of her mother’s life! Just look at that smile!

Here is another recent addition to the team who was assigned to the shared queue. This tech wiz has been helping out with Tech Team One and is doing an amazing job at it!

Unlike me, Malcolm can drive a car with a manual transmission. Also unlike me, he got to shake a president’s hand! Ask him which one. Just don’t ask him to fall 52 feet again. Once was enough!

Caryn was brought on to help with the Troomi team, and thanks to her contribution, Troomi is still going strong!

This cat lover has a 4-year-old cat named Ziggy. You can always see Caryn over in the Troomi section, but one day, you might see her with all white or all green hair. I say go for it!

Here is another Troomi champion who joined in when Troomi was just doing emails. She’s of great value to the team and works hard to help her own teammates!

This artist came over from Richmond, VA and is currently majoring in AS in BA. We know you’ll do well!

Horace came on board this year to help on the Shared Queue side, but he ended up joining the Troomi team. Since then, he’s been doing so much amazing work that Troomi personally recognized him!

This single father of 2 girls enjoys long walks on the beach and can touch his bottom lip to his nose without hands or surgery! Show us!

KeMia is from our most recent class and is the latest to join our Troomi team. Though she’s new, she’s doing an amazing job!

This mother of 9 loves to write. That makes sense as her sister and brother made an episode of fatal attraction! Ask her about her blog!

Jasmine was part of KeMia’s class as she also joined the Troomi team. Though she was one of the last to join, she’s one of the first in customer service!

This Georgian gal doesn’t like peaches, nor cats, but kittens are perfectly fine! I think I share her fear of downhills. Not fun!

Our very last, but certainly not least spotlight is Larry Bolden. You won’t see Larry on the floor manning the inbound calls because he’s helping out by making outbound lead generation calls. And he’s been doing an amazing job!

This outdoorsman loves to cook, and actually raises show hogs! He’s a true friend to people, nature and animals!

The pandemic was a dark time for us all. Today spotlights one agent who was with us through the pandemic and two who came in after. To remember this, we have Dark Bay Day today and survival snacks.

Share your Story: Share a story about something good one of your co-workers did, either for you or for a customer. You can submit your story to kbecker@contactworks.us

Food: Today are survival snacks – jerky – trail mix – M&Ms.

Thursday Spotlights:

This is the final legacy agent still working on Silvercar, which is still going strong, even after the pandemic. A testament to Natasha’s contribution to the team.

She has 2 brothers, 2 boys of her own, and loves documentaries. Ask her what she’s learned!

Just last year we hired an amazing candidate for the Client Services Manager position. She has been the best manager hire that we’ve had in quite some time. She started off on the TUA client, but now champions Troomi.

This mother loves baking almost as much as she loves her coach handbag collection. Bring one in sometime!

Joining our team just last year, Lisette came onboard to help with our shared queue. She’s currently our Celltrion Champion.

She was the first in her family to graduate High School and College. … She also, at one time, had an extra tooth! All that wisdom probably helped out for school!

Share your Story: Share a tale of when you were a customer and someone went above and beyond to help you out. Submit your story to kbecker@contactworks.us so that it can be shared with the team!

Food: Later today, sandwich meats will be available to satisfy all your hunger pangs! There is still cereal and grilled cheese when needed!

As a note – all food available for Customer Service Week and after will be specifically labeled as such. That way, we’re not accidently dipping into a co-worker’s meal!

Wednesday Spotlights:

Michael came in near the end of 2014 to help out with our technical clients. He champions not only the shared queue, but is one of our best Tengo agents.

This cat lover was born in Athens, Grece and plays hard in video games. Ask him about his streaming. I’ve seen it! He’s good!

Michele was one of our champions from the Teensafe team and has done amazing work as a team lead. She’s currently over in Silvercar helping them to be amazing.

This lover of crafts also loves cooking and baking. This makes perfect sense as she has a great uncle who regularly wins chili contests in New Mexico!

Vincent is another legend who started in 2015. He’s very strong technically and has been a Tengo Champion for a long time. He currently mans the night shift for our Shared Queue.

I remember interviewing Curtis for the shared queue in 2016, and he has never let us down since! He’s still going strong in 2022.

This military vet has a beautiful heart and is an amazing and caring husband.

Here is another technical wizard who joined the shared queue. He’s our second overnight agent who offsets Vincent. Although we don’t get to see him very often, we know we can always rely on him to keep things taken care of!

Here is the second of three current agents who joined us in 2017. He helps to provide a white glove service for Silvercar and is still going strong!

This guy loves his garlic bread and vinyl record collection! Now if he could only get himself a record player.

Our last 2017er is another hero of Silvercar! She is always a delight to work with and her soft skills are unmatched.

This Star Wars nerd loves watching scary movies. And you know what else is scary? Getting 20 tattoos! Jennifer wears hers proudly!

Share your Story: Share with us a crazy story about trying to help a customer, or even a story about you being the customer in a crazy situation. Submit your story to kbecker@contactworks.us

Food: Later, we will be providing cheesy foods in the kitchen. There will still be breakfast for those who prefer cereal or toaster strudels. Yum!

Wacky Hats: Be sure to submit pictures of you wearing a wacky hat to share with your peers. If we get enough submissions, your peers can vote on their favorite! Submit your pictures to kbecker@contactworks.us by the end of the week!

Tuesday Spotlights:

Ken Becker joined the ContactWorks team in mid 2011. He started off with the GeekSquad team and later joined Arthur on the Tengo team.

He’s been a Christian since the age of 5, went to Kindergarten in Lybia, and is current taking voice acting classes!

Maria was brought in to help out with the GeekSquad team. Her technical expertise has helped her gain experience in various technical clients over the years. She’s the senior technician of our very own Tech Team One!

She has an innate ability to remember random troubleshooting steps from years ago, yells at the TV during football games, and loves anything Halloween related. This is the perfect month to showcase this superstar!

One month later, Staffmark provided George Barbour to join the GeekSquad team. This was his first job after coming to Austin! George started out by manning the queues like the rest of you, and excelled his way to the Director of Ops position!

Ask this naturalized dual citizen about his Huskies!