Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 20:41:10 -0800 From: Michael Pugliese <debsian-AT-pacbell.net> Subject: AUT: Fw: [PEN-L:8971] Re: Globalising Call Centres -----Original Message----- From: Tim Bousquet <chicoexaminer-AT-yahoo.com> To: pen-l-AT-galaxy.csuchico.edu <pen-l-AT-galaxy.csuchico.edu> Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 3:00 PM Subject: [PEN-L:8971] Re: Globalising Call Centres >Quite a bit of what I call the "economic development >scam" in Chico--petty bureaucrats latching on to >hundreds of thousands of dollars from local >governments by promising "new jobs" via corporate >recruitment--is geared towards selling our low wage >paradise to call centers. > >The most recent "success" was when United HealthCare >closed their Long Beach and East bay call >centers--union shops, both--and moved to Chico, >offering up non-union jobs starting at $5.75. Of >course, United HealthCare doesn't offer coverage in >Chico--wages aren't high enough. > >Now, about a quarter million dollars more in public >money is about to be dumped into a "business >incubator" project, complete with "hi-speed >telecommunication lines" and so forth, supposedly with >the intent of seducing software firms. I got into the >meat of the proposal, however, and discovered that the >only new businesses slated to use the project were two >call centers--one for a mobile windshield installation >sales center. And yes, the "Incubator" is managed by a >private firm that is well-connected to the local >political elite. > >Even these, no doubt, will move offshores as soon as >the companies figure out how to do it. > > >--- Ken Hanly <khanly-AT-mb.sympatico.ca> wro > >te: >> The Guardian March 9, 2001 >> >> Delhi calling >> >> It may look like a UK number, but do you really know >> where the >> person on the other end of the line is? Luke Harding >> visits a call >> centre in India where the staff take crash courses >> in Britishness >> >> It is 6.30pm and in a smart open plan office in >> south Delhi, the air is >> humming with a thousand telephone calls. Sitting in >> a row of sound- >> muffling cubicles, a group of pleasant-looking young >> Indian graduates are >> talking into their designer headsets. Some are >> dressed in jeans; others in >> bright salwar kameez. Their customers, however, are >> rather a long way >> away, in a place where it is still lunchtime and >> probably cold. >> They are in Sidcup, perhaps, or verdant East Cheam - >> dotted across a >> grey island nation that from here seems remote and >> eccentric. The >> customers have rung a number in the UK to check >> their mobile telephone >> bill, or to ask about a new product or service. They >> are, for the most part, >> spectacularly unaware that their inquiry has been >> routed thousands of >> miles away to an Indian call centre, which serves >> rotis in its upstairs >> canteen and has a good view from the roof terrace of >> a giant lotus temple. >> Not, of course, that there is much to give the game >> away. The >> subterfuge is truly magnificent. Callers are greeted >> with a "good >> afternoon" when it is already evening in India and >> dark. Should the caller >> lob in a reference to David Beckham or the Queen >> Mother, Indian staff >> are able to give a suitable off-the-cuff reply. >> Nothing is left to chance. >> This is Spectramind, one of India's newest and most >> sophisticated call >> centres: a place of soothing pastel colours, >> tasteful lighting and expensive >> green carpets. The entire four-storey building >> exudes the smell of fresh >> paint - and of colossal corporate self-confidence. >> Here, recruits receive a >> 20-hour crash course in British culture. They watch >> videos of soap >> operas, including The Bill, Emmerdale, Brookside, >> Coronation Street and >> EastEnders, to accustom them to regional accents. >> They are told who >> Robbie Williams is. They learn about Yorkshire >> pudding. And they are >> taught about Britain's unfailingly miserable >> climate. >> Each computer screen shows Greenwich Mean Time and >> the >> temperature in the UK, in case a staff member feels >> the urge to reveal >> that India is enjoying yet another day of blue skies >> and sunny weather. >> "We find showing new staff videos of Yes, Prime >> Minister is particularly >> effective," says Raman Roy, Spectramind's sleek, >> pipe-smoking chief >> executive. "They get a two-hour seminar on the royal >> family. We >> download the British tabloids every morning from the >> web to see what our >> customers are reading. We make our new staff watch >> Premier League >> football games on TV. And we also explain about the >> weather, because >> British people refer to the subject so frequently. >> It is a science," he >> adds, >> proudly. >> And so it is, so much so that Britain's 3,500 call >> centres are justly >> worried that their jobs will soon disappear entirely >> - as more and >> more firms relocate or "outsource" key elements of >> their businesses >> to India. This apprehension was confirmed by a >> report published >> last month. It said that the Indian call centres >> were superior to their >> British counterparts in every way. They were cheaper >> - costing only >> 35-40% as much. They had better technological >> facilities. They had >> smarter staff. >> American Express and British Airways started the >> trend eight years >> ago, when they transferred their "captive" customer >> service empires to >> Delhi, and then Bombay. BA was attracted by India's >> seemingly unlimited >> pool of English-speaking graduates, 25% of whom fail >> to find jobs. Indian >> graduates required starting salaries of only o2,500, >> as opposed to >> o12,500. They were IT literate, and highly >> motivated. The savings were >> enormous. >> Gradually, other British companies cottoned on. Last >> year, Harrods >> controversially shifted its store-card operation >> from Leeds to Delhi. It has >> been joined by Debenhams, Top Shop, Dorothy Perkins, >> Burton and, >> fittingly, Monsoon. The insurers RSA and Axa Sun >> Life have recently >> moved elements of administration to Bangalore, >> India's IT capital. >> Not surprisingly, British unions are starting to >> complain loudly. They >> object, in particular, to the fact that some Indian >> call centres encourage >> their staff to change their names to sound more, >> well, English. Thus >> Siddhartha might become Sid, or Gitanjali could be >> Hazel, not Gita. At >> Spectramind staff keep their original names, Roy >> explains: "It is not a >> disadvantage to be called Ramakrishna these days." >> (It was obviously >> merely a happy coincidence that his sari-clad >> secretary was called >> Sarah.) >> It is no secret within the industry that "agents" >> are taught to minimise >> their Indian accents, to speak more slowly, and to >> watch the BBC news. >> "We don't try and teach our staff to speak with >> British accents. But after >> talking to British people they do start to sound >> like them," manager Mr >> Viswanathan admits. Even after intense training, >> though, some callers >> from Britain are impossible to under stand, it >> seems. "We borrow tapes >> from the British Council in Delhi. But even after >> listening to them there >> are >> about 20% of callers who don't make any sense at >> all," says Padmini >> Misra, vice-president (training). >> That India has so many charming and intelligent >> English speakers is >> clearly one of the nicer legacies of colonialism - >> so we can hardly >> complain 50 years on that they are stealing our >> jobs. Most of >> Spectramind's new recruits have been educated at >> English-orientated >> schools. They spend Friday nights watching Goodness >> Gracious Me and >> repeats of Blackadder on Star TV, India's most >> contemporary channel. >> But watching Rowan Atkinson prance about in an >> Elizabethan ruff is no >> substitute for actually having visited the UK, which >> most of them have not >> done. This is where Misra's crash course comes in. >> "We have training >> modules on geography, history and the monarchy, and >> on Britain's social >> structure," she says. "We teach them about British >> food - Yorkshire >> puddings for one - which would not be familiar to a >> young Indian fellow >> here. We give them quizzes on Britain and allow them >> to surf the net. And >> we tell them about what high-street shops there >> are." >> Misra also sheds light on why the old sit-com Yes, >> Prime Minister >> goes down so well among the staff - it's because the >> rococo bureaucracy >> of Whitehall corresponds so closely with India's >> own. Such are the >> sensitivities involved, however, that most Indian >> call firms refuse to >> discuss their methods. They also strive to conceal >> who their clients are - >> or what, exactly, they do for them. "We have to >> decline your request," the >> US finance group GE Capital sniffs, when I ask to >> have a look round its >> huge call centre in Gurgaon, on the road between >> Delhi >=== message truncated ==> > >====>Subscribe to the Chico Examiner for only $30 annually or $20 for six months. Mail cash or check payabe to "Tim Bousquet" to POBox 4627, Chico CA 95927 > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices. >http://auctions.yahoo.com/ > --- from list aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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