Lured by cost savings as high as 50
percent, U.S. companies including American Express, Dell, GE, HP,
Microsoft and Sprint are relocating or outsourcing some of their
operations to countries such as India and the Philippines. Indeed,
Forrester Research estimates that as many as 3.3 million white-collar jobs
in America with $136 billion in wages will be exported by 2015, with call
center services in the vanguard of that flight.
Martin Prunty, president of Contact Center Professionals,
www.contactcenterpro.com,
and Brendan Read, services editor of Call Center Magazine
www.callcentermagazine.com,
will be featured speakers at Incoming Calls Management Institute's
Knowledge Exchange conference
www.incoming.com on September 18 at San Francisco's Hyatt Regency
Embarcadero. They will address the risks, advantages and how-tos of
outsourcing and off-shoring critical customer relations.
"The challenge for businesses is to balance cost-cutting needs with
customer expectations, and data and personnel protection," notes Read.
"Unlike computer chip and garment manufacturing or paperwork processing
which require no customer contact and have long been exported, the success
of every call center depends in large measure on its employees' ability to
interact with customers and deliver high quality service. And there is no
doubt that cultural differences can impact the effectiveness of customer
care."
The cost savings come at the risk of customer backlash, and personal and
data security, Read continued. He cites published reports of Americans
having difficulty communicating with Indian call center agents, growing
customer data protection fears, and personnel safety concerns triggered by
military revolts such as the recent Philippines mutiny and terrorism such
as August 25 bombing in Mumbai -- a major call center hub in India.
In addition to this special focus, the Knowledge Exchange, which is
co-hosted by CMP Media and runs from September 17-19, will offer call
center managers in-depth, interactive training sessions in key areas
including workforce management, technology, strategy and leadership.
Attendees will have unprecedented access to industry leaders who will
offer insight into the strategies, techniques and technologies that can
help them maximize the performance and value of their contact centers, and
make informed decisions on whether to outsource their customer care
operations or locate them overseas.
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