Two Different Worlds of Call Center Outsourcing
Outsourcing emerged as an ubiquitous term in the business world which is actually referring to the act of commissioning another company to do non-core activities of your company. One of the most recognized type of outsourced work is the call center. Call center industry became an emerging industry in countries like India and Philippines. These two countries are the rivals in terms of call center outsourcing services.
The two countries are known to be the best in the world of call center outsourcing. Being two of the best English-speaking countries respectively, this had helped them to be acknowledged and advantageous in the business. Moreover, both countries possessed skilled IT workers.
With this great competition these countries have, there have always been comparisons made with what these two can offer. It has been said that being a former American colony, the Philippines is way ahead than its best competitor. This is for the reason that the country’s education system is patterned after the American education system and this includes American-style diction and pronunciation of the English language. This gives Filipino-English a neutral or an almost American accent, an advantage in dealing with the mostly American clientele.
Contrary to this, the call center industry of India is criticize for having a language barrier primarily because Indians, being a former British colony, are educated in British-style English compounded by the heavy Indian accent.
Not just the fact that the people here can speak good and fluent English, the Philippines is as well found to have a great availability of skilled labor. A study conducted by the Swiss International Institute for Management Development in 2004 found that among Asian countries, the Philippines was number one in the availability of skilled labor.
In addition to that, there has been a survey administered by the Michigan-based global staffing firm Kelly Services Inc. and the Singaporean market research outfit ACA Research Inc. that shows that “Filipino call center employees worked harder, were easier to train, had better language skills and were more devoted than their counterparts in India”.
Call centers had emerged faster than a blink of an eye. And the uncertainty of which does it best is not a so-easy thing to think about. However, many have already taken their sides in matters like this. And their opinions are good enough to turn those uncertainties into certainty.
SOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call-center_industry_Philippines
http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php
http://www.outsource2india.com/why_india/