Timothy Vernon

Senior Customer Service Representative, Eversource Energy

Timothy Vernon is a customer service representative at Eversource Energy who earned his Bachelor's in communications from Fitchburg State University in 2006. He uses Braille and text-to-speech technology to provide email and phone assistance to employees and customers. In 2017, Work Without Limits recognized Tim with their Exemplary Employee of the Year Award in 2017. About this award, vice president of Customer Resources Jessica Caine said:

"There is no one more deserving of this honor than Tim. His perseverance, hard work, and positive approach to life inspire each and every one of us, every day. With Tim on our team, not only are our customers receiving a phenomenal level of service, I can honestly say we’re a better company."

Read more about Tim's Work Without Limits recognition here.

Finding a career at Eversource

After 75 job interviews, receiving excuse after excuse for why a blind person couldn't fill each position, the Eversource human resource department saw him as an opportunity. When he joined, Eversource hired a consultant to script custom screen-reader support for their database software, which allowed Tim to take any kind of call that came in. He handles calls about canceling or changing services, billing, and emergency calls such as reports of gas leaks.

In 2017, there was an opening for a senior representative who would handle one-on-one training and deescalating customer calls that other representatives couldn't resolve. The process involved a stringent written and oral exam, which is passed after numerous hours of studying. You can read Tim's article about his 10-year anniversary here.

Interviews by Trades Win

This section is an except from our book, Sailing Farther than the Eye Can See.

Introduction

Tim’s interview offers us wisdom and practical inspiration on two themes: the importance of relationships and the evolution of technology and its many uses for blind and visually impaired people.

Emma Rolph, whose profile focused on Tim’s insights into relationships, writes, “I decided to focus on this theme because relationships are so important to me. Being a visually impaired person, you do sometimes feel quite lonely, so it’s important to make friends with other visually impaired people who understand what you’re going through and help you to feel part of a community. Being friends with sighted people is also important because you can teach them and help them to feel more at ease with visually impaired people. And I also love sharing information with my friends about some of my favorite things – music and history, especially.”

Juan Figueroa, who focused on Tim’s mastery of technology, writes, “I’m interested in the history and development of assistive technologies. New technologies become obsolete very quickly – roughly every 18 months - and companies then try to improve them and re-release them. The result is a lot of change and proliferation both in hardware and software.” Juan sees technology as a means to independence and freedom and admires the way that Tim is able to build a bridge between people and technology. That dual focus is why we’ve chosen to offer two profiles of Tim.

Using Technology to Help and Connect by Juan Figueroa

“I was at that cusp before the real technology boom, particularly in high school and even into college,” says Tim Vernon, a customer service representative and call center manager at Eversource, an energy company located in Massachusetts. When Tim was young in the 1990’s, technology was very limited and rather expensive: there were no smartphones or tablets, let alone flip-phones. In many ways, this limitation fueled his persistence, drove him to participate in his community, and sparked a lifelong curiosity about the potential of technology.

When Tim was mainstreamed at Mansfield High School in the late 1990’s, the only technologies available to him were a Braille’n Speak and a Braille embosser. He landed a summer job at Collette Vacations, an escorted tour company, and the only software he could use was an early version of JAWS, but the company wasn’t sure if it would be compatible with their database software. By the time he attended Fitchburg State University, the technology had advanced, and an improved version of JAWS and other screen readers were available. Tim says he had a great experience at Fitchburg State and that they made every effort to welcome and accommodate him. He graduated in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in communications.

After graduation, Tim researched possible jobs and participated in 75 different interviews before he found a job at Eversource Energy, a utility company in Massachusetts, where he now works as a customer service representative. In his work with customers, Tim makes use of advanced assistive technologies that enable him to provide excellent customer service. He uses a specially designed headset that allows him to listen to the customer in the left ear while he listens to JAWS in the right ear. He says, “I’m able to look up information and read it back to [customers], and I’m providing them with the information just as a sighted coworker would, and the customer has no idea that I’m totally blind.”

Tim will soon train another blind or visually impaired coworker whom Eversource Energy has hired to work in the customer service department. “I’m very excited about the opportunity,” he says, noting that the call center is one of the jobs that can be most easily made fully accessible. Most of the other jobs at the company involve traveling to a work site to inspect the wiring in the transformers, while the call center requires workers with good people skills who communicate well with the general public. That certainly applies to Tim who is the one to handle escalated customer calls when other representatives are unable to help.

Although assistive technology arrived relatively late in Tim’s life, he has been able to quickly learn and even to master it. His skill with these technologies has enabled him to excel at his work, to connect with friends, to travel with confidence, and in every way to live an independent life of success and contribution.

The Value of Friendships for a VIP by Emma Rolph

“I think that having friendships throughout all areas of life is very important,” says Tim Vernon, a call center trainer employed at Eversource Energy. Tim is a people person and by cultivating friendships he has built a bridge between the blind and sighted worlds.

Tim believes that fostering relationships with other blind people is valuable because the shared experiences can make you feel less lonely. At the same time, Tim adds that it’s important to befriend sighted people because they may be able to explain something that a blind friend cannot. Both blind and sighted friendships offer opportunities, he says.

When Tim was a child, he was mainstreamed into the Mansfield Public School System and received training from a TVI and an orientation and mobility specialist who helped him to integrate into the school community. Tim says it was difficult to make friends as a visually impaired student in middle school and high school, but he did make some long-term friendships, which endure today.  For Tim, taking part in the choir and serving as vice president of his class in his freshman year of high school helped him to connect with peers and create friendships.

It was through a family friend that Tim was able at age 16 to find his first employment opportunity at Collette Vacations, an escorted tour company. He was motivated to seek a job by a desire “to fit in and be part of the community of workers.” He worked at Collette in the summers through high school and college. He says that his experience at Collette helped improve his confidence in communicating and building relationships.

“I was able to not only work at the reception desk, but they also arranged for me to go to some trainings on customer service and inside sales,” says Tim, “so as a result of going to those trainings I was able to build confidence and feel more comfortable when interacting with customers and individuals on the phone.”

Tim also carpooled with fellow employees on his commute to Collette, and he says coordinating schedules and rides helped him grow socially.

Tim attended Fitchburg State University, where he majored in communications. He lived in the dormitory all four years and had a roommate for the first three years. He cites his experience at college as formative in his social development.

“I was really lucky to be paired with an excellent young man who was more than willing to assist me if I needed it,” says Tim. “So, we had our own ideas and our own friends. It was really great to be in a room with someone who was very understanding and willing to assist if assistance was necessary but not overbearing.”

After graduating from college, Tim faced obstacles in finding employment. He dealt with employers’ preconceptions about him as a blind job applicant and found it frustrating. Despite this, he persisted. After 75 job interviews, he found his current job at Eversource Energy, a utility company, where he trains customer service representatives and de-escalates dilemmas with customers. At Eversource, Tim has made friendships with his fellow workers. He enjoys spending time with them outside of work, going out to eat and attending concerts. His social skills are also important to his job. If the original customer service representative can’t solve a customer’s issue, Tim takes over, working collaboratively to find a solution that is good for both the customer and the company.

As it did for many of us, the COVID-19 lockdown hit Tim hard.

“I found the pandemic very isolating,” says Tim. “I never realized how much of a people person I am until such time we were in our house for weeks on end and not able to see friends and family.”

However, Tim has been hard working and resilient his whole life, as he was able to navigate and adapt to the world of school and employment as a blind individual. Eversource will soon be opening its offices to employees, and he looks forward to reconnecting in person with his friends and colleagues.

“We’ll be back full time at the beginning of September,” he says. “It’s certainly an adjustment to be back at the office, but also great to be back with coworkers and being able to collaborate.”

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