SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in
news:45f9ed19$0$27170$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net:

> Scott wrote:
>
>> Actually, that is not true. Many studies (including one currently
>> underway at the University of Michigan) show that the inability to
>> understand the many facets of american culture leads to the inability
>> to handle the business cost-effectively. Because of cultural and
>> language barriers, the calls last longer and drive a higher volume of
>> repeat calls, both of which add cost to the business- while the cost
>> per minute is cheaper offshore, the cost per call when additional
>> second-tier support is factored in to handle the additional
>> escalation volume is actually on par with many onshore call center
>> options. This is why you are seeing a number of successful companies
>> pull their work back onshore.
>
> Yeah, I wondered why some major companies were giving up on India and
> moving their call centers back to the U.S..
>
> Still, I'll miss the calls trying to sell me some credit card product
> where the guy is talking so fast that he's totally unintelligible. I
> listen in fascination while he rockets through his sales pitch,
> totally unaware that no one can understand what he's talking about.
>

I should add that while the number of calls taken onshore increases, the
amount of back-end, non-customer facing work being done offshore continues
to increase, as does the amount of computer related customer interaction
being offshored (ehelp desks). There is far less of a need to understand
culture and dialect in these facets and the communication being returned to
the customer can be checked via software prior to it going out. This leads
to a much lower cost per transaction in most cases, something that call
center interaction isn't providing as frequently.