Management
Technology
- Applications
- Business Intelligence
- Development
- Hardware
- Mobile & Wireless
- Networking
- Internet
- Operating Systems
- Security Products
- Servers & Datacentre
- Storage
Toolbox
Training
Books
White Papers
Webcast
Resource Centre
June 26, 2007
Savings from offshore call centres fall in three years
Staff costs rising up to 15% a year in India
By ComputerworldUK reporter
The cost benefits of offshoring call centres fall away over three years, compared with staying onshore and running improvement programmes, analysts have found.
Advert
A study of over 50 call centres by Compass Management Consulting found that the cost benefits of offshoring decreased substantially over a three-year period, relative to an onshore environment where an improvement initiative was implemented.
Analysis of onshore and offshore environments revealed that increases of up to 15% a year in staff costs in countries such as India were reducing the price advantages of offshore call centres.
Simon Scarrott, head of business development and marketing at Compass, said: “It is not enough to simply offload problem operations and inefficient processes to other countries in the hope they will improve. The key issue is to what extent savings are real, sustainable and continue to enhance the consumer experience.”
He added: “In too many cases, service quality is being compromised by an offshoring decision that fails to deliver the level of savings anticipated.”
The research found that language difficulties could also lower productivity, with calls to offshore contact centres lasting up twice as to UK-based operations. Failures in listening or understanding customers affected 18% of calls to offshore centres, compared with 4% of calls to onshore facilities.
Each of these communication breakdowns could increase call duration by between 39% and 105%, Compass found.
The management consultancy urged businesses not to ask: “Which country is right for our call centre?” Instead, companies should investigate three key questions, Compass urged.
- What is right about our call centre and what needs fixing?
- How do we compare to the best call centre operations in our industry?
- What can we learn about call centre efficiency from other sectors?
Follow highlights from ComputerworldUK on Twitter
Sign up for our Daily Newsletter
The UK IT News widget Get it for your site!
« prev article | more networking news | next article »
Advert
Email this article to a friend or colleague:
PLEASE NOTE: Your name is used only to let the recipient know who sent the story, and in case of transmission error. Both your name and the recipient's name and address will not be used for any other purpose.
- This article is now being printed.
What are your views on this subject? Use the form below to post a comment on this article up to 1000 characters.
Click below to add 'Savings from offshore call centres fall in three years - Telecoms - ComputerworldUK' to your blog.
If you do not have a ComputerworldUK Account and would like to use this feature, please Register.
If you are a registered, logged-in user, this will post the title and first paragraph of this story to your blog to share with your readers.
Advert
Newsletters
Sign up to our Weekly Round-Up for the past week’s not-to-be-missed news analysis and insight delivered straight to your inbox.
WHITE PAPERS
-
Legal risks: Employee use of the internet and email
Exploring the challenges facing IT Mangers today and vital steps to ensure safe internet an email use by employees. -
Phishing for victims
This White Paper examines the phenomenon of phishing. It explains the potentially catastrophic threat it presents to all kinds of organisation. Exploding some widespread myths, it lights up the murky waters where phishing first emerged and where it continues to evolve. But it also highlights what your business can do to blunt the threat.
