call center news stories on Newser

Your Call Center Helper Might Be an Inmate

John Johnson — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:43:49 CST

Talk to any prison inmates lately? The answer might be yes if you've called a call center for help or to register a complaint. MSNBC profiles a little-known but long-running federal program called Unicor under which inmates staff call centers in both the public and private sector. One example: New...

Netflix Was Ready for Your Hate

Kevin Spak — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:02:06 CDT

Well, now we know what a portion of those new, higher Netflix fees could be used for: to pay call center reps to deal with angry customers . Customer service reps have been telling callers that the company not only told them to be ready for a backlash, it hired extra...

How Call Centers 'De-Indianize' Workers

Sarah Whitmire — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 16:50:00 CDT

A salary of $5,000 per year may not sound like a lot, but in India, where per-capita income is just $900 per year, such a wage is highly desirable. That's why the systematic outsourcing of many customer service and sales lines to India, where US companies are more than...

Call Centers Return to US, With a Twist

Harry Kimball — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:10:00 CDT

It’s still not as cheap as outsourcing to India or the Philippines, but US companies are increasingly choosing homegrown telephone operators to handle their customer service needs. The trend is fueled by the advent of “phonesourcing” or “homesourcing,” which uses linkups to allow trained operators to work from home, instead...

Job-Rich N. Dakota Lures the Unemployed

Sarah Quinn — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:37:01 CDT

North Dakota, not usually known for much other than open space, has suddenly become a job-seeker's paradise. The state of just over 640,000 has 9,000 open jobs and employs a recruiter who works full-time to lure workers, the Washington Post reports. "In North Dakota, it is pretty much...

Picking Up on Frustration, Call Centers Move Back Home

Rebecca Smith Hurd — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:28:57 CST

A new service from computer-maker Dell spotlights a customer-service trend: US-based call centers catering to American consumers. Dell users frustrated by language-barrier-induced difficulties they’ve encountered while on the line to India or the Philippines can pay $12.95 per month, the Washington Post reports, for access to a domestic agent...

Indian Debt Collectors See US' Dark Side

Kevin Spak — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:49:51 CDT

Most Indian call center employees develop a fairly utopian view of the US, which seems a land of brand-name splendor and plenty. Not so at Aegis BPO Services, a call center specializing in debt collection, where employees are getting an up-close and personal look at the credit crunch. “It’s like...

Call Centers Go From Booming to Begging

Jason Farago — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:04:00 CDT

India's call centers are the classic symbol of how outsourcing has helped the world's second-largest country to boom, but Time reports that the sector is suffering as India grows richer and better educated. College graduates who several years ago aspired to work in a call center now say that the...