With Outsourced Call Centers on the Rise, Are They the Best Solution?

Every day people call on customer service centers to discuss problems from broken electronics, to changes in cell phone plans, to insurance claims and much more. As the phone rings, most Americans keep their fingers crossed that they will talk to someone who they can actually understand. Even popular credit card companies have run commercials mocking the negatives of outsourced call centers. However, not all call centers are outsourced to foreign countries. In fact, many call centers are US-based with English speaking representatives.

While many call centers are outsourced to foreign countries, and while many people have experienced poor customer service because of a language barrier or accent difference, call centers are a huge global industry. Call center services pulled in $153-billion U.S. dollars last year alone and the industry keeps growing; strategists are expecting a 12% increase this year.

This is not to say that the call center industry won’t hit some bumps in the road. The recession that has hit North America and Europe will make businesses have to think hard about where they delegate their costs. However, most businesses realize with the proper customer service team, the company will have a better reputation and happier customers. Some of the smaller, individual companies are struggling to repeat the growth they had the years before 2008. US-based call centers take great steps to insure that the customer and client always get the quality service they deserve and expect.

Currently there is a threat of losing call center services to the Philippines, India and other countries. Last year the Philippines led outsourced call centers in revenue, and had over 400,000 Filipinos answering their phones. They edged out India in that category by 600 million dollars. Companies in the United States have been leaning towards shifting their call centers to the Philippines simply because they have American friendly accents, their prices are cheaper, they offer traditional call center services, and back office support.

Still, many American consumers are turned off by any accent at all. With many companies looking to cut costs, turning to outsourced call centers seems to be the best choice. But with Americans becoming more fed up with outsourced customer service representatives they cannot understand, US-based call center services are still the number one choice. Don’t let your customers become frustrated with accents and gaps in understanding, ensure that they are helped the first time, every time with US-based call centers.

Jesse Dugan is a professional writer and guest blogger, contact him for content ideas and guest blogging opportunities. Follow @JesseDugan.