Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: It is Friday night and you crave a pizza. You call the corner shop and a guy who sounds like he's tossing dough, slamming oven doors and in rush takes your order for a large ham and green pepper with an order of wings on the side.
For the past half century, that has been the norm. But technology, efficiency experts and a chronic shortage of willing teen employees is pushing pizza makers to try solutions that are turning the transaction into something more akin to ordering a swimsuit from Lands End.
With a growing number of pizza call centers setting up around the country, customers dialing the local shop now may be placing orders with a person in another state. For a restaurant operator buried in pizza dough during a Friday crush, a call center can be invaluable, offering relief from the constant interruptions of ringing phones. But the introduction of the centers is not coming without its share of ruined orders and upset stomachs.
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