Offshore call centre demand slows

Technology Spectator writes.

The report, which is based on a survey of senior executives at major North American, European and Australian businesses, has revealed that demand for offshore contact centre services is slowing down.

While India and countries in South America have increasingly become major hubs for call centre services, the results of the Ovum survey will make disturbing reading for a number of operators, with only 2% of the executives surveyed saying they would look offshore for their customer service centres in the next 12 to 24 months, and only 10% saying they would do so within 25 to 36 months.

The main causes of concern for companies is the quality of interaction with customers, stability of the offshore location, pressure from consumers to stay local, and fears over data safety, Marketing Mag reveals.

Ovum analyst Peter Ryan says providers of offshore contact centres should be worried. “Several new barriers to offshoring contact centre work have come to the fore and made it a riskier prospect for enterprises.

“Enterprises feel that the reduced prices simply don't compensate for the potential to lose customers in these tough economic times,” he says.

Voxy.co.nz quotes Ryan as saying: “The issue over the quality of the interaction with customer service agents and end-users is a key one. Customers can quickly become frustrated if they feel their enquiry is not being dealt with quickly and effectively and take their business elsewhere.

“In this tough economic climate, enterprises are less willing to send their contact centres to low-lost offshore locations because they feel there is greater risk that quality will become an issue.”