Abusive and/or aggressive calls are not uncommon in a call centre environment but are likely to cause some level of distress. The impact will depend on:

the severity of the abuse
frequency of abusive calls, and
the availability of support following an abusive calls
The risk of frequent abusive calls involves physical and psychological harm to the employee receiving the calls as well as low staff morale and high turnover.

Good practices include:

developing clear abusive / aggressive call procedures and guidelines which include reporting the call and the right to terminate the call.
addressing the reason for the abusive call where possible and providing customers and clients with clear guidelines against verbal abuse when using the call centre
providing support following abuse (eg. time to debrief)
providing a rest period following an abusive call
and in extreme cases providing alternative duties (where necessary or possible)

Support...

Recently the Union supported a call centre employee who had received a warning from a supervisor for terminating an abusive call. After representations from the FSU the Bank withdrew the warning and issued the employee with a formal apology. This case highlights the need for call centre's to have clear guidelines for dealing with abusive callers.

It is a health and safety issue - and you have the right to a safe and healthy workplace.

For more information on Good Health & Safety Practices for Call Centre's contact your local FSU Job Rep or your local FSU office.