Um estudo sobre as principais causas de quedas de chamadas em célula de rede móvel GSM é realizado por meio da análise estatística do tráfego. O objetivo é minimizar o efeito dessas causas, por meio da alteração de parâmetros de cobertura, como controle dinâmico de potência, borda de cobertura entre células e definição correta de células vizinhas. Para uma operadora celular reduzir a taxa de queda de chamadas (TQC), por intermédio da otimização de parâmetros de cobertura, alterados via comandos remotos, elimina os custos com alterações físicas, como altura das antenas e instalações de novas estações rádio base. Entretanto, alterações de parâmetros devem ser cuidadosamente realizadas, pois podem degradar outros indicadores e acarretar redução da área de cobertura e do tráfego. As duas principais causas da TQC são as quedas repentinas, ocasionadas por falha nos equipamentos envolvidos, ou comportamento dos assinantes e falha na execução do handover e as quedas devido ao nível baixo de sinal na interface aérea. Neste trabalho, com base em dados estatísticos do tráfego na rede GSM, foi escolhida uma célula operando em 900 MHz que apresentava alta TQC. Ajustando os parâmetros de cobertura, a TQC mensal passou de 8,6% para 1,6% e não houve degradação nos demais indicadores de desempenho. / A study about the main causes of dropped calls in mobile network cell GSM is made by means of statistical traffic analysis. The aim is to minimize the effect of these causes through coverage parameters changes, such as dynamical potency control, coverage border between cells, correct definition of neighboring cells. The reduction of dropped call rate by means of optimization of coverage parameters, changed via remote commands, eliminates costs with physical changes, such as the height of the antennas and installation of new radio base station. Parameter changes, however, must be carefully made because they can degrade other indicators and bring coverage area and traffic reduction. The two main causes of dropped call are sudden loss of connection, due to failure in the equipment used, behavior of subscribers and the failure in handover and drops due to the low signal strength in the air interface. In this study, based on statistical data of GSM traffic, a cell operating in 900 MHz that presented high dropped call rate was chosen. Adjusting the coverage parameters, the monthly dropped call rate went from 8.6% to 1.6% and there wasn\'t any degradation of any other performance indicators.

Esta pesquisa de tese teve como objetivos a identificação de como e por que as empresas de call center e contact center utilizam a modalidade de teletrabalho executado por teletrabalhadores em suas residências; a identificação das forças propulsoras do uso do teletrabalho, nas empresas pesquisadas; a identificação das forças restritivas do uso do teletrabalho residencial junto a estas empresas; a verificação das contribuições (ganhos e benefícios) advindas do uso do teletrabalho para os atores (empresas e teletrabalhadores) envolvidos neste processo, e a identificação das perspectivas de continuidade ou não do uso do teletrabalho residencial, nos próximos anos, pelas empresas em questão, inclusive com as razões deste posicionamento de continuidade ou não continuidade. Foram consideradas inicialmente seis empresas. No entanto, apenas quatro delas foram pesquisadas. Utilizou-se o método de pesquisa quali-quanti - uma combinação do método de estudo de caso e o método survey. As conclusões da pesquisa revelaram que o teletrabalho residencial tem sido utilizado com muito equilíbrio. As empresas, cujos casos foram estudados, representavam 92% do universo de empresas de call center e contact center, prestadoras deste serviço, por meio de teletrabalhadores residenciais deste segmento, no Brasil. As atividades mais executadas eram as típicas de call center e contact center: cobranças, televendas, pesquisas de satisfação com clientes, entre outras. As razões do uso desta modalidade, apresentadas, foram a redução de custos; o aumento da produtividade; a melhoria da qualidade de atendimento aos clientes; a possibilidade de se proporcionar melhor qualidade de vida aos teletrabalhadores residenciais e portadores de deficiência, proporcionando-lhes oportunidades de empregos com inclusão social e digital. As forças propulsoras e restritivas foram identificadas como sendo as de natureza econômica, social, legal e comportamental. As contribuições (ganhos e benefícios) obtidas pelas empresas e pelos teletrabalhadores foram identificadas como sendo as econômicas, as de qualidade de vida, as sociais, as ambientais e institucionais. Apurou-se que três das empresas, entre as quatro pesquisadas, pretendiam continuar utilizando a modalidade de teletrabalho, nos próximos anos. Uma empresa havia desistido desta continuidade, até o final desta pesquisa, e duas delas, que fariam parte do estudo, desistiram antes da coleta de dados. / This research thesis aimed to: 1) identify how and why call center and contact center companies use the method of telework performed by teleworkers in their homes; 2) identify the driving forces of telework in the surveyed companies; 3) identify the restrictive forces of residential telework of these companies; 4)verify contributions (earnings and profits) for the actors as a result of the use of telework (enterprises and teleworkers) involved in this process, and, 5) identify the process and reasons for the continuity or discontinuity of residential telework by these companies in the coming years. Six companies were initially considered. However, only four of them were surveyed. It was used the qualitative / quantitative method that combines the case study method and survey. The research findings revealed the residential telework has been used very sparingly. The companies whose cases were studied represent 92% of the population of call center and contact center providing service of this nature, by means of teleworkers in the residential segment in Brazil. The activities performed are more typical of call center and contact center, i.e., collections, telesales, customer satisfaction surveys, among others. The reasons for the use of this modality were: 1) cost reduction, 2) increasing productivity , 3) improving the quality of client service; 4) providing better quality of life for residential teleworkers with disabilities by giving them employment opportunities with social and digital inclusion. The driving and restrictive forces were identified as being of economic, social, legal and behavioral nature. The contributions (earnings and benefits) achieved by businesses and teleworkers were identified as economic,quality of life, social, environmental and institutional. It was found that three companies among the four surveyed intended to continue telework in the coming years. One company withdrew to continue with this mode at the end of this research and two that were found to integrate the objective analysis of this study withdrew before data collection.

For decades, the focal point has been with leadership and what it implies. In recent years, attention has been set upon employeeship. This study aims to contribute to an understanding of how the organization handles employeeship at a call-center. Previous research about employeeship focus on employeeship within various organizations, this study is the first regarding call-centers. Also, previous research has shown a certain confusion about the concept of employeeship amongst coworkers. It is not completely clear what the notion is all about.In this study, previous research about employeeship, call-centers and the work ability of young people is used. The theoretical frame consists of theories as Sense of Coherence and the Wheel of Employeeship. The study was performed at a call-center, using qualitative semi- structured interviews.The result shows that a call-center may have difficulties with the concept of employeeship since the coworkers are restrained in a position where they are not free enough in their profession. However, it is clear that the company in this case focuses on the parts that they have the opportunity to work with in the employeeship to make the coworkers feel good and thrive.

This thesis deals with the issue of job and working conditions in British call centers located in the third world countries (understood in developing countries and countries of the former Soviet Union). The aim of this thesis is to analyze the existing job opportunities and working conditions and the applied principles and practices of human resource management and marketing in the call center of the British International company Cupid plc in Ukrainian city Dnepropetrovsk, identify the problems and suggest solutions. The thesis is divided into eight chapters: organizing (explains the essence of organizing and classifies the types of organizational structures), call center (describes the traditional call center model, modern trends and problems in call centers), international company (explains the philosophy and strategy of companies at the international market); the third world countries (defines and characterizes the problems of the third world countries), human resource management of the international company (defines and explains the strategy, policies and practices of human resources management of the international company); marketing of the international company (defines and explains the strategy, policies and procedures of customer relationship management of the international firms); call centers of the international companies in the third world countries (gives examples of the activities and problems of British call centers in India, Pakistan and the Philippines); British call center in Ukraine (analyzes specific British call center of the international company in Ukrainian city Dnepropetrovsk). This thesis is processed using literature, case studies, internal documents and personal experience of the author.

Video games have become the highest grossing entertainment industry in the world, earning more than double that of the music and film industry combined. Many of these games contain political messages, intentional or not. Some game developers explicitly claim that the games they make are apolitical, and this thesis examines whether Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is as apolitical as its developers claim. The research is conducted with the aid of Barthes’ work on mythologies and semiology to analyse the various signs present in the game in relation to construction of myths and ideological messaging. This is aided by Bogost’s procedural rhetoric to enable the analysis of gameplay choices as a semiological sign. The main theories are supported by Murray’s writing on immersion and the first-person perspective. The analysis shows that Modern Warfare consistently uses signs and myths that construct an ideological message that coalesce into a mythical image of the special forces soldier as a sort of human but superhuman character that must be given free rein to perform their mission, while also displaying western politicians as incompetent, the threat of terrorism as omnipresent, and Russia as a dangerous threat. Regardless of intent, such a message is undeniably political.

This diploma thesis focuses on a possibility of introducing of assistance services in medical facilities or a setting up of a new subsidiary company for these services that increase a comfort for patients. It contains the instructions how to realize the comfort of the health conditions which is provided by the health care system in the Czech Republic. It specifies a method that increases a performance of an additional medical facility service.

Over 22 billion derivative contracts were traded on different stock exchanges globally during the year 2010 of which almost 50% were futures while the remaining 50% were options. An overall 25% increase in such contracts was registered as compared to those traded in the year 2009 (International Options Market Association (IOMA) Report, 2011).Investors often use a wide array of trading tools, market indicators and market trading strategies to get the best possible returns for the money that was invested. The main objective of this paper is to focus on the use of market sentiment indicators, specifically the Put-Call Ratio (PCR) as a predictor of returns for an investor.The Put-Call Ratio is defined as a ratio of the trading volume of put options to call options. It is called a sentiment indicator because it measures the “feelings” of option traders. Additionally, it has longed been viewed as an indicator of investors’ sentiment in the market (Put-Call Ratio, 2012) and is possibly the most favoured description of market psychology (James, 2011). / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study examined the relationship between the continuing professional education practices of Southern Baptist pastors and their tenure in their pastoral positions. A survey questionnaire was designed to collect data about the pastors' continuing education and pastoral tenure. A stratified sample of 500 pastors was selected from the 36,235 Southern Baptist churches according to church membership. A total of 217 (43 percent) of the questionnaires was returned and used in the data analysis. Thirty percent of the pastors reported spending no days in continuing education during the past year. Sixty-two percent spent five days or more in continuing professional education. Tenure was not significantly linked to continuing education among the pastors. A personal perception of ministerial competency was positively related to continuing education. The majority of pastors felt accountable to God and themselves in terms of their competency. They strongly resisted any move toward certification or accreditation. The majority of the pastors did not view mobility as an alternative to becoming involved in continuing education. However, the reasons reported for mobility could be interpreted as needs assessment addressed by professional growth. A majority of the pastors strongly agreed that a basic seminary education did not alone prepare a minister for the pastorate. In addition, they were personally committed to being lifelong learners. However, only a small minority had developed a personal strategy for continuing education for the coming year. Neither part-time nor full-time work status nor past formal education influenced the amount of days spent in continuing education. The level of formal education did increase the pastors' commitment to being "lifelong learners." However, there seemed to be missing links between the following: 1) formal ministerial preparation and continuing professional development, 2) mobility and needs assessment, 3) competency and accountability, and 4) a commitment to lifelong learning and a practical strategy for continuing education.

Dienstleister in der Telekommunikationsbranche haben nicht zuletzt aus rechtlicher Sicht die Pflicht zu einem sensiblen Umgang mit personenbezogenen Daten. Dies bezieht sich nicht nur auf Kundendaten, sondern ebenso auf mitarbeiterbezogene Daten zur Führung eines Call Centers. Je nach Situation und Anwendungsfall regeln die Verwendungsmöglichkeiten dieser Daten in Call Centern das allgemeine Persönlichkeitsrecht und das Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (BDSG). Daraus ergibt sich für die Entwicklung und den Einsatz von Call Center-spezifischen Anwendungssystemen (z.B. Kampagnenmanagement-Systeme, Dialer) die Herausforderung, zum einen die Einhaltung rechtlicher Bestimmungen sicherzustellen, aber zum anderen den häufig detailreichen Informationsbedarfen der Call Center-Leitungsebenen zu entsprechen. Neben rechtlichen Beschränkungen bei der Handhabung von Kundendaten sind hier die Grenzen und Grauzonen bezüglich der Verwendungsmöglichkeiten von Leistungsdaten zur Mitarbeiterüberwachung und -beurteilung (z.B. verdecktes Mithören oder Gesprächsaufzeichnung) zu berücksichtigen.:1 Einleitung 2 Verwendung personenbezogener Daten 2.1 Personenbezogene Daten 2.2 Verwendung personenbezogener Daten nach BDSG 2.3 Legitimation durch Einwilligung 2.4 Aufhebung der Zweckbindung 2.5 Transparenzpflicht gegenüber den Betroffenen 2.6 Zusammenfassung 3 Telefondatenerfassung im Call Center 3.1 Erfassung von Dienstgesprächen 3.2 Besonderheiten in Call Centern 3.3 Mithören und Gesprächsaufzeichnung in Call Centern 4 Fazit

Depression förekommer under 10% av alla graviditeter och medför risker för både den gravida och barnet. Syfte: Studien IKBT för gravida med depression syftar till att bekräfta tidigare studiers resultat av IKBT-behandling samt utvärdera olika besöksmodaliteter, telefonsamtal, videosamtal eller fysiskt besök, för bedömningssamtalet.  Metod: 26 gravida (graviditetsvecka 8–30 vid antagning) med samtidig egentlig depression randomiserades till antingen eget val av besöksmodalitet eller randomiserades till en viss besöksmodalitet för sitt bedömningssamtal. Efteråt tillfrågades deltagarna om sina upplevelser av bedömningssamtalet avseende innehåll, modalitet samt hur Covid-19 pandemin påverkade deras inställning. Resultat: Det förelåg ingen statistisk signifikant skillnad mellan hur de tre besöksmodalitetsgrupperna eller mellan de som fick välja gentemot de som blev tilldelade en besöksmodalitet upplevde bedömningssamtalet. Kvalitativa data pekar mot att deltagarna hade föredragit fysiskt besök men uppskattade andra möjligheter med anledning av Covid-19 pandemin. Slutsats: Deltagarna var generellt lika nöjda med sitt bedömningssamtal oavsett besöksmodalitet och om de själva hade fått välja besöksmodalitet eller ej. Att erbjuda olika besöksmodaliteter ökar tillgängligheten och möjliggör behandling med IKBT för gravida med depression från hela landet. För att validera resultatet krävs vidare forskning med större antal deltagare. / Depression is present during 10% of all pregnancies and leads to risk for both the pregnant and the baby. Objective: The study ICBT towards pregnant with depression aims to confirm earlier studies results of ICBT-treatment and to evaluate different visiting modalities, telephone call, video call or face to face meeting, of the assessment interview.  Method: 26 pregnant women (gestational week 8–30 at intake) currently suffering from major depressive disorder randomized to either free choice of visiting modality or randomized to a certain visiting modality of the assessment interview. Afterwards the participants were asked about their experience of the assessment interview regarding content, modality and how the Covid-19 pandemic affected their attitude. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between how the three visiting modality groups or between the ones who got to choose opposite the ones who was assigned a visiting modality regarding the experience of the assessment interview. Qualitative data indicates that the participants would have preferred a face to face meeting but appreciated other possibilities due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The participants was in general equally satisfied with their assessment interview regardless visiting modality or if they got to choose their visiting modality or not. To offer different visiting modalities increases the availability and enables treatment with ICBT towards pregnant with depression throughout the country. These results need to be replicated in larger trials to validate.