Nickname: SM

Review: I completely agree with all of JRinPDX's comments. If a caller is having an issue that isn't able to be resolved, kindly ask for the manager, explain the matter, and provide feedback on ways to improve. Managers take feedback seriously. Call centers are providing jobs to people, whether they're university grads or simply students trying to save up money for tuition fees. Be careful not to give harsh comments because it could jeopardize jobs for the youth. Instead suggest ways to improve so it is a win-win situation for the customer and the technologists.

Date reviewed: Jun 4, 2007 6:22 AM

Nickname: ristle

Review: I have tried to get support from 2 companies and ended up overseas with people with heavy accents who did not understand what I was asking. No matter how many times I tried to reword something, they just kept repeating the same phrase over and over. When I call with a question or need support, I need someone who can understand.

Date reviewed: Sep 28, 2006 4:13 PM

Nickname: R K Iyer

Review: It would be good if all BPO work is removed from India. We Indians are smarter than that. University educated Indians do the jobs in these BPOs that high school pass out boys and girls do in the US. Not only are we frustrating the dreams and aspirations of those kids there (they do these jobs to save money for university), we are also taking a giant leap backwards. If we continue in it for a little more longer, our brains will most assuredly become vestigial organs. What a comedown from Aryabhatta and Bhaskaracharya to the ignorant boys and girls of today!

Date reviewed: Sep 20, 2006 7:41 AM

Nickname: not Baboo

Review: Call center work should never have been outsourced in the first place. There can be nothing more frustrating than calling for help and being put on the line with someone who has an accent so strong that rather than problem solving you are thinking and rethinking what the "help" said trying to figure out what they meant. I called THREE TIMES for information about a new brazilain steak house in my area and all three times the operator's accent was so bad that I could not understand a word she said; and I have a LOT of experience with different accents having lived and worked in other countries and with friends from all over the world; including India. Being able to understand each other is the FIRST step in customer service. If you can't understand each other, how is service possible? I won't buy a product from a company that outsources its customer service to another country, and when I've had to call for help for products I already owned, I INSISTED on speaking to someone IN the U.S.

Date reviewed: Sep 11, 2006 4:19 PM

Nickname: himgreat

Review: India has good talent in software skills and hence should be used as an outsourcing destination for only problem solving jobs, like fixing Dell computers. Just doing regular customer support to answer how much money your account has needs no brains and should not be done by anybody. Maybe the companies in India should make a completely automated call center to answer such low level tasks.

Date reviewed: Aug 6, 2006 7:27 PM

Nickname: JRinPDX

Review: It is disheartening to see that the decisions are still made on the short term costs/margins of call centers themselves while the real issue is the quality of the underlying product or service. When someone has a problem & they contact a call center for help, they expect, and need, someone with insight & experience. A new employee with a script just doesn't cut it and the quality issue just gets worse as it extends to the call center. I think it's time to think about the customer relationship. How many people will not now buy another (insert brand here) because the call center experience broke the last piece of the brand promise. Similarly, while the people I've talked to in India have always been incredibly polite & well intentioned, they are often disabled by poor information, systems, and scripts. Not having current information or switching between between multiple computer systems to manage different aspects of a customer relationship does them disservice.

Date reviewed: Aug 5, 2006 9:31 PM

Nickname: griffy

Review: Why is it always India, Phillipines and the usual suspects that get mentioned in offshore outsourcing articles. Many Chinese consultancies/providers can offer equally good services at competitive prices in many of the typically outsourced areas (software development, data processing, BPOs, etc.) too with local Chinese staff and resources. Agreed that we, the Chinese, may not have much of an advantage in voice-based call centre jobs (but since text-based is on the rise and it is predicted that text-based will account for nearly 30% of call-centre traffic in 3-5 years time, China can still compete for business in this area. I think another article from BW has mentioned text-based stuff before, but we are certainly on par with the other more recognisable ones, including India, in other areas such as software development, QA, data jobs, analytical jobs, Back-office functions (payroll, invoicing, payment collection, etc.). My company can certainly fulfil those needs-www.welltitled.com

Date reviewed: Aug 3, 2006 5:12 AM

Nickname: Bull

Review: Analyze the situation from an employee's angle who works at a call centre. What is he learning in the process? Probably some language skills and some very rudimentary knowledge about how the firm for which he is doing outsourced work functions. At the prime of his/her age, who would want to be in an environment where learning is small and tends to get saturated fast? And that too in a hostile, abusive environment! That explains the 60% attrition. Call centres are just used as a stop-gap arrangement in India until folks are able to move onto something better. That is another reason why firms are more bullish on data processing and analytical work. That gives employees a deeper understanding of processes, are better paying and also give them an opportunity to move into industry at a later stage as they have an equally good idea about the process as folks in the industry. So yes, India is definitely moving up the value chain and an important driver is the desires of its folks.

Date reviewed: Aug 2, 2006 5:15 AM

Nickname: Calling For Help

Review: Good news what India is showing to the corporate police of world America. Americans have understood that they cannot live without Indian market. If their industries have to survive they have to look in Indian perspective as well. This is the time when Indian industries can make their words heard and make sure they are attended into. Take this opportunity to now bully the Americans and give them a taste of their own medicine which they have been giving to the world till now. We don't need America to survive now.

Date reviewed: Aug 1, 2006 5:51 PM

Nickname: Tactical

Review: Kevin what you say seems to be advice worth its weight in gold- well, probably worth a lot more than its weight in gold! Each business seems to go in cycles about the value of customer service (like they cycle through everything else too). When they are losing customers, it's time to beef up customer service, usually in a panic. Then when customer retention is good the business leaders just want to cut costs- maybe we can save some money on customer service? Can't these folks remember anything for more than 6 or 8 months?? If it was a good idea a year ago, it is probably still a good idea today, even if it is not in vogue in the current "business cycle".

Date reviewed: Jul 31, 2006 3:32 PM