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Making Bangalore Sound Like Boston

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DQI Bureau
New Update

Hari Kishan readily admits that he's not the best guy to

put on the phone with impatient Americans. With his heavy South Indian accent

and rapid, abrupt cadence, Kishan knows US customers have a tough time

understanding him. In any case, he says, he's “not the type of guy who likes

to talk a lot.”

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So what is he doing processing orders for a US retailer?

Like growing numbers of call center agents in India, he doesn't talk. He

types. Put the 26-year-old computer science grad at a keyboard, and he might as

well be in Peoria. “Welcome to our wireless world,” Kishan chirped to open a

recent online conversation from MphasiS BFL's huge call center in Mangalore.

He calmly tapped out crisp answers to a battery of questions from a US customer

frustrated that he hadn't received a cell phone he had ordered. The

conversation, Kishan learned later, was a test set up by his employer with a

reporter-and he passed with flying colors.

Demand for such skills is growing fast as Americans become

increasingly hostile to overseas call center agents. Even if the service is

actually the same as or better than what's offered by US-based call centers,

many Americans are turned off by foreign voices. Some 62% of US consumers gripe

about service if they suspect the agent is overseas-double the dissatisfaction

rate with calls to agents they think are in the US, according to a study by

Opinion Research. “Irritation kicks in when hear the accent,”

especially if they're already having a problem, says MphasiS Vice-Chairman

Jeroen Tas. And a study by Convergys, found that 72% of US consumers claim they

would rather use automated voice systems or the Web than speak with a foreign

agent.

Such perceptions matter. Nearly 7 in 10 consumers say they

are less likely to do business with a company after a bad call center

experience, Opinion Research says. So companies are trying alternatives to voice

calls-including online chat, e-mail, and improved automated voice systems that

can resolve problems more quickly. Web-based service is a popular alternative

because agents such as Kishan can be fast, accurate typists and have superb

technical knowledge. Many have spent years instant-messaging cyberbuddies in

English. Chat “eliminates the accent issue,” says David A Steinberg, CEO of

InPhonic, the Washington online retailer whose calls Kishan handles. Online

services can also be cheaper, since agents can handle two or three conversations

simultaneously while they wait for responses from customers.

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THE

STATS

69%



of Americans say they're less

likely to do business with a company after a bad call center experience

62%



say their most recent experience with an overseas call center agent was
disappointing

Cultural Cues



That has call center operators devoting greater resources to chat. As with

telephone agents, MphasiS puts newly hired chat operators through cultural

training. They read US newspapers, learn that 'AAMOF' means 'as a matter

of fact,' and familiarize themselves with phrases such as 'cut to the

chase.' By 2008, MphasiS expects about 30% of its agents will handle e-mail

and chat inquiries, vs. less than 10% of its 6,500 Indian customer-care staffers

today.

Still, voice calls aren't going to disappear anytime

soon. For Americans overwhelmingly prefer to talk to a live person. So companies

are also beefing up efforts to neutralize agents' accents, and have started

installing sophisticated voice analysis software to help call center personnel

speak more like Americans. But as today's chat-obsessed kids grow up and start

getting credit-card statements, electricity bills, and mortgages, expect them to

spend plenty more time online with the likes of Hari Kishan.

By Pete Engardio

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