Small group of workers (manager plus three other employees). Location within a site and close co-location. Focuses mainly on the way in which the routine interruptions of calls to the help desk (also from other sources) can be problematic for completing and recording the work generated by other calls, correspondence and so forth.
The business of the calls is recorded on a special application - Capricorn. This involves opening up a session for the call and categorising the call upon completion, providing a text narrative, then closing. The time from opening to completion is measured. The study draws attention to the problems with these representations off the calls. Interruptions can mean open call sessions are forgotten meaning their times are inaccurate.
One help desk operator is sitting by their computer and telephone with multiple windows open on their system (yellow backed chair). The phone rings while a colleague asks for help and someone from another department comes and says Hi.
Placing work in an interruptible state and picking up work from where one left off constitutes an extra time overhead. An informal system of first, second and third on the phones was operated by the call takers but had to be negotiated as some clients sought continuity of service with particular operators. Operators interrupted one another to draw on individual knowledge, elaborate records, engage in teamwork activities and so forth. Interruption also came from other areas of the bank.