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Indian call centre quality declining: British survey
Friday, 02 January 2004, 20:30 IST
LONDON: There is a growing sense of ennui among British customers dealing with Indian call centre workers over poor diction, according to a recent survey.
The quality of Indian call centre workers is said to be declining rapidly as poorly qualified and trained staff is being deployed to meet demand from Western companies, says the survey.
British customers have reported that staff at Indian call centres, despite "cultural training", do not always appreciate the nuances of life in British society, and have also experienced difficulty in understanding some staff.
The survey also reveals that more and more customers are upset at being forced to talk to operators and call-centre staff half way round the world.
The survey said that nearly 60 percent of the public said they did not want call centres to be based abroad.
Even more strikingly, nine out of 10 customers of financial institutions said they would consider changing companies if their organisation moved calls offshore.
A spokeswoman for Transversal, which produces technology for call centres, said: "In some Indian call centres we are seeing attrition rates in the region of 30 percent - similar rates to those in the UK, but they seem to be hitting those attrition rates earlier on in their development."
Mike Allen, of call-centre research specialist Mitial, said: "The customer attitude to this is absolutely clear - they don't want it to happen - and it is being ignored."
The Evening Standard reported that nearly 160,000 Indians work in call centres and Deloitte expects another two million jobs will be created in the subcontinent within five years.
Allen said: "We have seen the recruitment of the really high quality Asian staff tailing off. They are now recruiting poorer quality applicants - which means they will offer a poorer service.
"Our research indicates that there definitely is a diction problem with Indian call centre staff."
Source: IANS
Source: IANS