CCMA Membership Guidelines
Note: Reference to the 'Board' refers to the duly elected Board of the CCMA Ireland
ARTICLES I - NAMING AND INCORPORATION
1. The organisation shall be a non-profit unincorporated Association to be known as the Call Centre Management Association - CCMA (Ireland). The name is currently unregistered.
ARTICLE II - PURPOSE
1. The objective of the CCMA (Ireland) is to bring an identity to the profession of People working with a Call Centre Environment.
2. The purpose of the Association is to:
promote the professions and recognition of Call Centre —Managers, Call Centre Team Leaders and Supervisors, Call —Centre Trainers and Coaches, Telemarketers, Telesales —Executives, Telephone Account Manager, Telephone Customer —Services Representatives and Telebusiness.
provide its members with access to formal and informal —education qualifications and information.
provide representation to Regulatory and consultative bodies —within Ireland and Europe (OFTEL, TSG).
promote communication between call centre product and —service vendors and end users.
promote and provide links to other Associations (e.g. —Telebusiness Forum, IDMA)
encourage (where commercial considerations permit) —co-—operation among its members including the exchange of —information, both technical and administrative.
endorse, instigate and in other ways assist in the promotion of —Call Centres within the Ireland.
act as a collective to influence appropriate legislative bodies —and to negotiate favourable terms and conditions for —CCMA(Ireland) members for the creation and use of Call Centre —products and services.
act as a management forum for Call Centre service quality and —other related developments and services.
Arrange regular member meetings for the benefit of the —membership and for the provision and exchange of information —and adoption of best practice.
2. Additional subsidiary purposes may be added by agreement of a simple majority of the members.
ARTICLE III - SCOPE
1. Call Centres are defined as a focused point of communication for organisation to open or maintain customer contact using Telecommunications Equipment.
2. Telebusiness is defined as the provision of services too or from a call centre. (i.e. staff working within a call centre or selling products or services used primarily by call centres)
3. Geographic coverage of the CCMA (Ireland) will include mainland Ireland including Ulster.
ARTICLE IV - MEMBERSHIP
1. Introduction
The primary purpose and scope of the CCMA (Ireland) are to bring an identity to the profession of Call Centre Work
1.1 To avoid conflicts of interest or bias, members involved in a marketing or sales function of a Call Centre or telecommunications products or services provider will be excluded from meeting involving discussion of equipment or services. On this point it is, however, recognised that this is an increasingly complex issue. Therefore, a set of rules of governing provider membership will be set out, to be interpreted by the Board.
2. General Membership
Membership of the CCMA(Ireland ) will be availble to individuals and Call Centres Groups. Members must meet the following requirements at the time of admission and continuously thereafter:
2.1 The membership grades and criteria for each grade are:
a. Fellow - FCCMA(Ireland). Must have been a full member of CCMA(Ireland) for an uninterrupted period of at least 10 years or to have performed outstanding work for the CCMA(Ireland) as stipulated by the board.
b. Honorary - HMCCMA(Ireland). Awarded to persons who have been "friends of the Association" for a period stipulated by the board, or, by the very nature of their achievements, will have brought and added value to the Association as a whole.
c. Management Member - MMCCMA(Ireland). As well as holding an approved formal or informal qualification, applicants must also fill one of the following criteria to qualify for membership.
i. Responsible for the management, development or supervision of a Call Centre, including staff and/or budget responsibilities.
ii. Independent consultants engaged in planning, implementation, development or training in Call Centres.
d. Member - MCCMA(Ireland). Applicants must be directly employed as a full or part time staff member of a call centre team. Including all staff working directly with customers and prospects and those staff who support their activities such as Team Leaders or Trainers and Adminastrators within a Call Centre.
e. Affiliate - Aff. CCMA(Ireland). Vendor community.
f. Corporate - CCMACC(Ireland) . Applicants must be a Call Centre in good standing using current best practice... (Subject to Testing)
g. CCMA(Ireland)Sponsor
2.3 Membership is on an individual basis (exc. CCMACC(Ire), CCMA(Ire)Sponcer) with members attending meetings represent themselves only. Membership is not transferable.
2.4 Members must pay their Annual Subscriptions by the due date and any other separate funding as stipulated by the board. Funding of any separate activities must be agreed in advance and members have the right to decline to participate in and/or contribute to each activity. Once they have agreed to participate in and fund an activity, each member must pay their agreed share.
2.5 Membership may be withdrawn if any member breaches the Articles of Association as interpreted by the Board.
2.6 Members have the right to withdraw from the CCMA(Ireland) at any time.
2.7 Membership of the CCMA(Ireland) is to be focused on the user community and only with Board approval will suppliers of Call Centre equipment or products be considered for membership.
2.8 The interpretation or application of these rules of membership will be the responsibility of the CCMA(Ireland) Board.
3. Board Membership of the CCMA(Ireland)
3.1 Election to the Board will be from fully paid up general members of the CCMA(Ireland) only. Members may nominate themselves for election. If more members are nominated than positions available a ballot will take place by those Board members already elected and those receiving the highest number of votes will be elected. If less nominations are received than all nominees will be elected.
3.2 The Board of the CCMA(Ireland) will consist of three appointed officers; Chairman, Deputy Chairman, and Treasurer with additional Board members as deemed necessary to effectively manage the CCMA(Ireland).
3.3 Following election of the Board at the AGM the Board will select a Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Treasurer from those elected. The Chairman must be from the MMCCMA(Ireland) grade or above excluding consultants. All Board members will serve for a period not exceeding two years following the AGM at which they were elected, they must then stand down.
3.4 Members can self nominate for Board membership irrespective of whether they have served on the Board previously or not. With the exception of the Chair and Deputy Chair positions, members can be co-opted onto the Board at any time to assist the Board in the efficient functioning of the CCMA(Ireland)
3.5 The Board can co-opt both a Secretary and PRO who shall both be members of the CCMA(Ireland), co-opted onto the Board and receive remuneration for their services. Both will have voting rights, except in respect of their remuneration. Both shall serve on the Board and provide services to agreed Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and rates of remuneration as agreed by the Board.
4. Meetings
4.1 The CCMA(Ireland) can hold two General meetings a year. One of these must be an Annual General Meeting (AGM).
4.2 The purpose of the AGM will be to: * Approve the Association Accounts. * Elect the Board for the ensuing year. * Approve changes to these Articles * Fix membership fees * Conduct those businesses notified previously, for the betterment of the Association.
4.3 Notice of an AGM together with nomination forms for a new Committee shall be transmited to the membership no later than four weeks prior to the meeting.
4.4 An Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM)can also be called by written request to the Secretary by a minimum of 10 Members or 10% of the Membership as at the last AGM whichever is the greater. Notice of the EGM must be transmitted to the Membership no later than four weeks prior to the meeting.
4.5 The Association will endeavour to hold a minimum of four member meetings a year at which Members can take part in association activities as arranged by the Board.
5. Eligibility
As stated above, eligibility will be determined by the Board under the guidelines set out. The Board is responsible for ensuring that applications for membership are only approved for applicants who meet the membership criteria. Members whose circumstances change must declare the change to the Board, who will determine continued eligibility.
6. Voting Rights
All bona fide members, less Honorary members, are eligible to vote at General meetings.
7. Subscription Rates and Registration Fees
The annual subscription and joining fees will be set each year at the Annual General Meeting. The current fee for Individual Members will be EUR100. For Corporate Members the fee will be EUR800 which will allow for 10 individual members that are transferable, which is a saving of EUR200.
For Sponsors and Vendors please contact 1850 353595 or email info@ccma.ie for further information.
ARTICLE V - FUNDING
1. The CCMA(Ireland) will, in the main, be funded by annual subscription from its members. The level of subscription will be set by the Board on an annual basis and agreed by the membership. 2. Sponcership of the CCMA(Ireland) will be limited to six sponcers, who will have first refusal of renewal each year.
2. The subscription will cover general items of expense and administration by the CCMA(Ireland). The Board may also, by agreement, agree to the funding of additional consultants and professional services as required by the Association. General members (including the Board) may not recover the cost of their time spent on CCMA(Ireland) business.
3. In each and every funding case each member will be asked to agree to their contribution and no member will be committed in their absence or by majority vote.
4. Annual Subscriptions will be non-refundable under any circumstances.
5. Remuneration levels for the post of CCMA(Ireland) Secretary will be decided by the Board, following SLA set by the Board and bid tender proposals from interested parties.
ARTICLE VI - BOARD RESPONSIBILITIES
1. The Board will be responsible for the general running of the Association, specifically:
- the organisation of CCMA(Ireland) meetings (venues, dates, facilities)
- control of membership (eligibility).
- setting up and running of special interest and working groups
- management of any funds
- holding of elections and polls
2. The Chairman of the CCMA(Ireland) is responsible for chairing the general meetings of the CCMA(Ireland), but may delegate this to another member of the Board. The Chairman may also assign duties of other Board members to discharge any other responsibilities of the Board.
3. The final decision on matters affecting members of CCMA(Ireland) will be by the general membership (including duly elected Board members) based on simple majority voting.
ARTICLE VII - SPECIAL RELATIONSHIPS
The CCMA(Ireland) will establish and maintain relationships with Call Centre users and other similar Associations for the betterment of the Industry.
ARTICLE VIII - AMENDMENT TO ARTICLES
Amendment to the Articles of Association must be submitted by the Board to a general meeting and be subject to the agreement of the general membership by a simple majority vote.
CCMA(Ireland) Articles of Association June 1999