Call Center Outsourcing is Getting New Attention

As the United States economy experiences its most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression, an increasing number of companies are recognizing the benefits of outsourcing all, or at least some of their call center operations. While it is not a monumental shift, domestic options are gaining traction not only for political reasons, but more notably because of evolving applications.

While the primary value propositions for outsourcing call center operations have typically focused on decreasing costs, taking advantage of new technologies, reducing capital investments, employing scalable infrastructures and gaining access to best practices; the revenue side is emerging as a prime consideration. Also, despite the stressful environment in which many companies are operating in, the decision making process on whether to outsource is being conducted in more methodical and strategic ways compared to previous periods where a singular justification such as projected costs savings carried overwhelming weight.

In order to take advantage of a fertile market, call center service providers face several challenges. They need to address concerns such as performance quality measurements, customer data security and even government regulations. New delivery models must be developed that recognize the increasing complex nature of customer interactions and integration with a multitude of business processes. This requires providers to move from a transaction mentality to a strategic partnership mindset driven by continuous improvements in business processes for both the call center and the client.

The benefit most often cited about outsourcing call center services is that it enables companies to better focus on their core competencies. However, this is a very incomplete, if not flawed assessment as it suggests that customer interactions do not have strategic implications. Today, a customer interaction in all its forms, whether an inbound phone call, web chat or email exchange, can have a profound multiplier effect and bottom line impact when these experiences good or bad instantly traverse online media and social networking spaces and pick up a life of their own.

Traditionally call centers have primarily been used in a reactive role. In today's world there's much greater emphasis on developing new personalized and proactive applications including:

• Lead generation, surveys and customer retention
• Cross channel communication marketing and sales campaigns
• Health and medical support
• Providing emergency assistance
• Industry-specific solutions

Off shore call centers are receiving more scrutiny. Countries like India and the Philippines aggressively positioned themselves as viable call center outsourcing options in the 1990s. Accordingly, they were quite successful in attracting computer, financial services and software related firms.

However, it did not take too long for friends and family members to share their frustrating experiences of talking to somebody in a distant country and for this to also become the brunt of late night talk show jokes. Cultural idioms often created uncomfortable communication barriers and prevented agents from admitting they misunderstood something or even worse offended the caller. Plus, conversations were often conducted over less than stellar voice networks.

From a company's perspective, when problems arise in the operation of an off-shore call center, not only does the company face the same cultural barriers their customers confront, the geographical distance makes problem resolution in real-time, even with video conferencing, a considerable challenge.

A growing number of U.S. based companies that shifted call center operations overseas have come to the realization that the projected cost savings is diluted by significant customer dissatisfaction, outright defections and many other hidden costs that negatively impact the bottom line. These experiences don't mean that in every instance foreign outsourcing creates a problem, but what it does illustrate is that outsourcing is an involved undertaking.

With the unemployment rate continuing to rise, the public relations and political pressures to keep call center jobs in the United States is substantial. In addition, recent political uncertainties in foreign countries have quickly escalated into broader disruptions. As a result, many companies are dividing up their outsourcing activities among domestic providers.

Outsourcing call center operations to foreign countries will continue to be a reasonable option especially since we live in a global economy. However, the choice where and to whom will require a deeper analysis with U.S. based options earning more consideration.

Ron Weinberg is Director of Marketing of FFP Global, a provider of outsourced business services.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expertRon_Weinberg

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