MASCO's Call Center never closes. It's 24/7, rain, shine or SNOW.

So when Blizzard Juno blew into town, keeping staffing levels up was a priority.

"I am humbled by the dedication and perseverance of our employees. Many were not even called in, but showed up knowing that we were looking at a long 24-48 hours handling calls with some employees simply not able to make it to work due to travel bans and the T shutting down," said Dina Pinto, MASCO Telecommunications Manager.

Some examples of these exemplary employees: 

Quantai James has been with MASCO for about two years.  She stayed at the Verb Hotel since Monday and walked to and from work to be here by 7am each morning and stayed well into each evening.

Ceila Perez has been with MASCO for eight years.  While battling a lingering flu, she walked three miles to and from work.    

Teresa Cheng is a BU Junior who has been with us since she graduated from the Boston Latin School.  Recognizing she may be needed, she called on Monday and offered to work during the day before she began her lab work.  Teresa walked to and from BU to help on Tuesday. 

Jasmine Henderson is a regular 3rd shifter (11 pm - 7 am) who came in early on Monday to ensure she would be here for her critical overnight shift Tuesday into Wednesday.  Jasmine worked during the day, got some much needed rest at the Longwood Inn and returned to complete her 10+ hour overnight shift.

Saudia Abubakar has been here for a whole two weeks and managed to not miss a beat.  On Tuesday early morning, she lucked out by hailing one of the only cabs in town to get in on time.  At the end of her shift, she was not as lucky because Boston Cab literally laughed when asked to give her a ride home. Luckily, another team member, Joel Arias, had a 4-wheel drive truck and got her home safely after getting stuck twice on her unplowed street.

Ilya Spitkovsky, beginning his 10th year, is one of our most seasoned associates.  Ilya usually works 2nd shift, but willingly flexed his scheduled to cover an overnight position.  Ilya also called and came in ahead of the storm to ensure he was close by.  He walked from Marriott Residence Inn-Fenway to help with whatever the call center needed.

Seiyam Suth is beginning her second year with us.  She was scheduled to be the 2nd shift leader on Tuesday night, and she lives in Cambridge, about 3 miles away, and walked to work.  At one point, she encountered a mountain of snow at the end of a sidewalk and, unable to walk over it and too large to go around it, she jumped, climbed on her belly and hurled herself over the mountain of snow.  Knowing there would be no cabs when she left at night, she brought a light that she pinned to her ski outfit so plow trucks would see her when she walked home.

"Our employees truly stepped up and went more than the extra mile," said Gary Dupont, Call Center Director. "And Dina (Pinto) kept everything moving seamlessly while arranging travel and accommodations for employees."

Additional management staff, who were at the Center on Monday, remained and took resting shifts at the Longwood Inn while four other Call Center representatives and management processed calls from home.

And a special thanks to our telecommunications technical staff who monitored all the call queues and made adjustments as required by individual customers' needs. 

True MASCO teamwork.