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The way of communication is fast changing in Indias call centres. It has been noted that many are not using American or English names when dealing with overseas callers. Some are moving away from put-on accents, and are being advised to speak naturally.
And most recently, companies have started initiating their employees through more advanced English lessons; so that they can understand better and, equally, communicate better. And this new learning approach has just started yielding results for many BPO firms in the country.
IBM launched a pilot on advanced English language for 1,700 of its contact centre workers in Bangalore a few months ago. According to Lauge Sorensen, director, IBM India, The move has resulted in amazing terms of agent productivity and customer satisfaction,"
"Post training, each of the IBM help desk staff, on an average, could save 1.8 hours per week. Their understanding of caller complaints and problem solving ability has gone up immensely. This has led to a significant saving of time, as the number of back-and-forth e-mails and phone calls have come down hugely."
Another BPO giant- 24/7 says "the main factor for future BPOs is not replying to customer calls in communicable English, but ensuring much higher language capabilities armed with better understanding of caller needs.
There is a recognition that the need for communication is not only with native Americans, British, Canadians or Australians, but to a host of others - from places like the Philippines, Singapore, India, China and Sri Lanka - who speak English differently.
The new generation trainers feel that more than the accent or the mother-tongue influence, what needs to be focused on is the use of consonant group, contrast between long and short vowels, use of stress in a word or on a syllable.
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