Report from a fly on the wall: A behind-the-scenes look at AlertPay

Hey everyone,

We want to do something different this blog and give you a behind-the-scenes look into AlertPay. Since many of you probably wonder what it's like to work here, we would like to invite you on a journey through the AlertPay office over the course of a somewhat typical day....

**NOTE: This is a creative re-imagining of a day in the office and an amalgamation of some of my own treasured memories here at AlertPay. Names have been changed to protect privacy.

8:32 a.m.

The office is eerily quiet. Ian, the IT guy, is bouncing from desk to desk, doing software updates in his quiet and efficient way. Customer Support Specialists filter in a couple at a time, with heavy-lidded eyes and large coffee cups in hand. This is the perfect time to wade through the plethora of emails that have accumulated since the evening before. Walt, a web designer, sits at his desk wondering where these emails come from and who sends them after 5:30 p.m.... Must be the magical email elves who work around the clock generating random messages about Friday night bowling competitions and free fruit in the kitchen on Tuesdays.

9:48 a.m.

Over the course of the last hour, the office has transformed from a den of tranquility to a pulsing bubble of frenetic energy. The day has commenced. The Customer Support folks are talking and typing customers through password resets, email validation, account verification and banking issues. The din of banter and step-by-step instructions permeate the floor. Aleida, a team lead, circles like a satellite, lending a hand and watching over her team in case of potential crisis, be it an irate customer or a bug in the system preventing a customer from doing whatever it is they are trying to do. [Please note that these "bugs" are a rare occurrence, of course].

10:05 a.m.

The software developers are in an almost meditative trance, coding their way through new features and other developments. Nadia complains about "clusters" to one of her non-technical colleagues who has no idea what she's talking about. Developers have their own language. An office manager carries an open box of fresh Tim Hortons donuts, the scent of chocolate and maple syrup wafting from cubicle to cubicle, and offers them to employees who demonstrate the same kind of glee a child would when in... well, a donut shop.

10:52 a.m.

An assortment of people from different departments -- Jo, Camille, Ernesto, Siobhan, and Paulo -- gather by the coffee machine, chuckling at Raj, a Resolution Specialist, while he creates alternative career paths for them if they were in another dimension. Who wouldn't want to be a one-legged storm chaser in Kansas?

11:17 a.m.

Flecks of sunlight dance across desks and computer monitors, beckoning some employees to take a break out of doors, like a walk down the street or fifteen minutes of escape with the help of a discman and some good tunes. Wait a second..., a discman? Some AlertPay employees, despite working in a highly technological environment, downright refuse to conform to new trends. Music is music, regardless of the medium.

12:37 p.m.

Tummies grumble and eyes dart towards the kitchen where aromas of Chinese take-out and left-over spaghetti sneak out like teasing tendrils, enticing an increasingly hungry brood of AlertPay employees. The time to take a repast and share a couple laughs has arrived. In scheduled succession over the next couple of hours, employees saunter to the kitchen to nuke left-overs from the night before or take a trip to a quaint Indian restaurant down the street to glut themselves on samosas and sag paneer.

2:45 p.m.

Christian, the HR rep, rolls a high-backed desk chair -- complete with lumbar support and cushy arm rests -- through the office looking for a new owner. A batch of brand new desk chairs just arrived and he is looking to rid himself of his old chair -- which has been the object of envy by many an AlertPay employee. "Who wants this chair?" A group of Customer Support Specialists rise slowly to look over their computer monitors in his general direction, then glare at each other with a competitive fervour that would scare a Hockey goalie. Christian senses the tension and responds nervously, "Uh, maybe we should have a raffle or something," and rolls the chair safely away. The tension dissolves, the Customer Support reps exchange amicable glances and settle back down into their emails. A well-known quirk in the AlertPay office is possessiveness over chairs and competition for newer, comfier ones. It's just weird.

3:01 p.m.

Thunder rumbles in the distance, drowning out residual tummy grumbling from lunch. Dark ominous clouds gather in the sky visible from the windows on either side of the main office floor. Lightening bolts across the sky like a fiery branch. One can almost hear Gandalf the Gray exclaiming "You shall not PASS!" (Sorry -- geeky Lord of the Rings moment). The power flickers but holds strong. A few people decide to take their fifteen minute break to play a game of soccer in the rain.

4:10 p.m.

It's almost the end of the day and customers are queued up, waiting for a solution to their issues before the phone lines close for the night. Customer Support reps juggle calls and emails better than would a highly dexterous octopus. The decibel level of the Customer Support department escalates to head-pounding proportions. The developers are still engaged in their semi-meditative trances and code away the last hour and forty minutes. The Product team -- decked out in hand-knitted slippers courtesy of Robyn's mother-in-law -- stand up for a mid-afternoon stretch.

5:01 p.m.

An instant message goes out to the whole company announcing birthday cake in the kitchen in 10 minutes.

5:30 p.m.

The hum of dozens of computers starts to die down. Employees commune in the kitchen to sing happy birthday to about ten co-workers all celebrating birthdays this month. Cake crumbs litter the tables, jokes and witty anecdotes are exchanged and some people drift back to their desks to finish their tasks before heading out to bash around the lovely city of Montreal or home to relax with family and friends.

Another day has come to an end, but yet another is on the horizon.... Thanks for reading!