Pros and Cons of Offshore Call Centers Debated at Site Selection Summit During Call Center Demo & Conference in Orlando, May 8? Facility Vacancies and Job Losses Climb As U.S. Companies Move Contact Centers Overseas ?PRNewswire-FirstCall As the pressure to hold down call center costs mounts, many American businesses are moving their CRM to countries such as India, the Philippines, Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada, to take advantage of substantially lower manpower costs. Since staffing represents 60 percent of operating costs, telemarketing, help desk and customer service call centers are exploiting these savings, taking jobs and local expenditures overseas. While there are no hard numbers on how many jobs have left, about 10 million square feet, or roughly 10 percent of existing call center space, is now vacant, and the remaining 90 million square feet of space is operating at two-thirds capacity, according to a recent study by Call Center Magazine. If each employee is allocated 100 square feet, this would indicate that 100,000 jobs have been lost due to offshoring and the poor economy, and more job losses are likely. There is mounting evidence showing that offshore call centers deliver equal if not better quality service than American call centers. Many centers have 75% or more college grads as employees because they can afford to hire them. These foreign call center agents go headset-to-headset with American agents. For example, the winning agent in last October's Call Center Magazine's Customer Care Leadership awards was Arlyn Acleta, a University of The Philippines graduate who works for eTelecare (Monrovia, CA) out of its Manila call center. "The offshoring trend in call center and other IT businesses is strong," notes Brendan Read, Services Editor, Call Center Magazine. "Industries that have high labor costs relative to capital will go where labor is inexpensive, the quality of the workforce is reasonable, and communications and transportation are good." Although the trend toward moving operations overseas is continuing, several issues have emerged in recent years that may stem the tide. Heightened concerns about security and terrorism have raised issues regarding personal safety and the vulnerability of personal data, and there are reports of consumer dissatisfaction with customer service in places like India. In addition, there appears to be considerable frustration as consumers try to understand people who have heavy accents. This year's new and improved Site Selection Summit will take place on Thursday, May 8 at Call Center Demo & Conference at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Orlando. It will feature an interactive panel discussion that will address a complete range of call center strategies including the advantages and challenges of international and domestic locations, IVR/Web self-service, teleworking and outsourcing. Moderated by Read, the panel will include Geri Gantman, a specialist in call center and direct marketing and senior partner at Oetting and Company; King White, vice president, Trammell Crow Company; Harold Vance, director of professional services, TelVista and Eddie Caine, consultant with TManage. The panel discussion will be followed by a Q&A as well as mini-roundtables that will provide opportunities to meet with industry experts, economic development, real estate and service bureau representatives from around the world. Conference attendees may pose questions and learn how to implement the strategies highlighted in the panel discussion. Both White and Gantman have experience working with call centers moving off-shore, and Gantman's firm co-published a guide to outsourcing operations titled "The Call for India." Read authored "Designing the Best Call Center for Your Business" and co-authored "The Complete Guide to Customer Support." About CMP Media LLC CMP Media LLC ( www.CMP.com ) is a leading integrated media company providing essential information and marketing services to the entire technology spectrum -- the builders, sellers and users of technology worldwide. Capitalizing on its editorial strength, CMP is uniquely positioned to offer marketers comprehensive, integrated media solutions tailored to meet their individual needs. Its diverse products and services include newspapers, magazines, Internet products, research, direct marketing services, education and training, tradeshows and conferences, and custom publishing. For further information, please contact: Marci Silverman of CMP Media LLC, +1-917-305-3326, msilverman@cmp.com; or Anne Sage of Casey Sayre & Williams, +1-310-458-1224, asage@cswpr.com, for CMP Media LLC. SOURCE: CMP Media LLC CONTACT: Marci Silverman of CMP Media LLC, +1-917-305-3326, Web site: http://www.cmp.com/ |