We’ve all experienced it - you call an airline, a bank, your insurance company, and the voice on the other end of the line gives it away - an outsourced call center.  Accents so pronounced to obviously give it away cause unnecessary abrasion with many customers, and not just in the US.  Our expectation is that our banks, credit card and insurance companies zealously safeguard our identities and private health information, and therefore the thought that folks in far flung locales have such access is disheartening to many.  The point here is that a call center with good accent neutralization training, together with a bit of cultural education, can alleviate a good deal of the worry associated with this type of outsourcing.  Such neutralization will limit the number of customer complaints associated with outsourced call centers.

Of course, the reasons why our airlines, banks and insurance companies outsource call centers is to not only to reduce overhead costs, but also to increase the level of service provided.  It’s no secret that one call center agent in the US may make in terms of monthly wages what two, three or more agents may make in another part of the world.  Thus, more agents may be hired and trained to answer more calls more quickly.  However, customer service is not only judged on the service, but who is providing that service.  An agent that sounds familiar, like the teller at the bank, or your insurance agent, will provide a measure of customer satisfaction that is hard to quantify but nonetheless important.