This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz
by Michael Cote.
Original Post: Dell Closes Overseas Call Centers
Feed Title: Cote's Weblog: Coding, Austin, etc.
Feed URL: https://cote.io/feed/
Feed Description: Using Java to get to the ideal state.
"Customers weren't satisfied with the level of support they were receiving, so we're moving some calls around to make sure they don't feel that way anymore," Weisblatt said.
He would not discuss the nature of the dissatisfaction, but some U.S. customers have complained that Indian support operators are difficult to communicate with because of thick accents and scripted responses.
I'm sure with bit more money spent on training (to give overseas call center people the same training the domestic replacements get) that can all be fixed. After that additional training, though, would overseas labor still be cheaper?
On a tangential note, the "thick accents" part revels a part of the subtle cultural imperialism that a global economy imposes: regional dialects are less important than the dialect of your largest/richest customers. (Actually, they could both be equally "important"...at the very least, it's important to be able to speak the second dialect well.) So, the anti-globalization thinking would be that regional dialects get deemphasized in favor of the more homogenous dialects.
I'd suspect, however, that this effect isn't very wide-spread. In the example at hand, the number of call center employees is probably tiny compared to the over-all population that isn't effected. Then again, if a government mandated this homoginization, that might be another story.
Previous Topic
