LEWISTON – This time of year, carols usually fill the air, but over at the L.L. Bean call center you hear something else.

“Yes, the order has been released …”

“What size do you want? …”

“What credit card would you like …”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch…”

At its peak, the call center employs 1,200 people – triple its usual work force.

Housed in the former Peck’s department store building, the call center helps connect thousands of callers a day with merchandise from the world-renowned outdoor outfitter.

On Monday, representatives were bracing for what was expected to be the busiest day of the year at the call center.

“Traditionally, the second Monday of our three-week peak is the busiest day,” said Vickie Staples, manager of the Lewiston and Waterville call centers. Upward of 160,000 calls come in that day.

There are many spreadsheets to back up her projection, but Staples has something else to base her prediction on: 29 years of experience.

A Durham resident, Staples worked at the original Freeport store as one of 10 customer service reps. She took orders by phone, carefully filling out each request by hand. Now the entire operation is electronic, with reps connected to customers by headsets and computer screens.

On one day last week, the call centers in Lewiston, Waterville and Portland combined to handle hourly sales of more than $1 million, five times. About 75 percent of Bean’s annual business comes from catalog and Web sales. Last year the company netted $1.2 billion in sales.

“I never imagined Bean’s would grow to this size,” said Staples. “I just kind of came up through the ranks. But I remember it grew so fast during the ’80s and we didn’t even have the 800-number then!”

A typical rep will handle between 10 and 15 calls per hour, while other employees handle more specialized work such as tracking orders, or handling online requests and e-mail chatter.

Despite all the activity, it’s relatively quiet over the four-floor building. Staples said having four floors helps disperse the workload and gives everyone ample room to do their jobs.

Temporary work stations and training rooms for the seasonal workers are set up on the first two floors, where rows of folding tables are laid end-to-end with computers, phone sets and chairs. When the seasonal workers are no longer needed, the makeshift work stations come down and space is once again used for meetings and other uses.

“We’re lucky to have this space,” said Staples, noting flexibility is one of the assets of the Lewiston location.

So is the work force.

Staples said the company feels lucky to have such dedicated and hard-working employees.

“People from L-A are extremely hard working,” she said. “We are so blessed with the labor pool here. You can’t teach attitude and work habits.”

About 40 percent of the seasonal workers are regulars – people who return year after year for six weeks of seasonal work. They come for the wages (between $9 and $13 per hour), the Christmas bonus, employee discount (33 percent) and the opportunity to shop at the employee store.

And there’s fun. When one of the team leaders was asked if she’d had any unusual requests that day, she said one of the reps received an e-mail from a man asking if the shirt he was interested in buying would match his pants.

“We needed a little more information on that one,” said Staples.

She’s not worried at all that Bean might go the way of other catalog-based merchandisers and send its call center work offshore.

“Bean’s is absolutely committed to Maine,” Staples said. “Customers love calling Bean’s … they love hearing that accent.”

Including her own, when things get really busy. Staples said everyone helps with the phone work during the peak, from vice presidents right down to the IT people. She confesses she’s a little intimidated by the new technology, but she still dons a headset and flexes her fingers over a keyboard when necessary.

“I can still talk like a Beaner,” she said with a smile.