[Reader-list] Call centres scandalise The Guardian

[Rana Dasgupta]

This was the front page article in the Guardian yesterday.  It's amazing how
naive it is about the outsourcing phenomenon, and how far it mystifies the
notion of nation.  The Guardian has been very vocal about the rights of
immigrants and asylum seekers in the UK but it takes a much more nationalist
view when it comes to the outsourcing of jobs, where a more conventionally
leftist position kicks in.

In particular, its idealisation of the "local" call centre worker, as
opposed to the one based in Bangalore, is very funny.  The people who are
likely to be working in UK call centres are likely to have as strong an
accent as the people working in Bangalore, and possibly as little experience
of travelling on British railways.  More importantly this is a complete
fetishisation of "experience" since what is being traded is pure
information, and whether you can actually visualise stations and "feel" what
it means to travel from crewe to manchester - is completely irrelevant.

R

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1063148,00.html

Catching a train to Crewe? Call Bangalore

Andrew Clark, transport correspondent
Wednesday October 15, 2003
The Guardian

Train travellers will be forced to call Bangalore to find out the time of
their next connection at Crewe or Clapham Junction, under a secret plan to
save up to £10m by shifting Britain's national rail enquiries service to
India.

According to documents leaked to the Guardian, train operators intend to
educate Indian call centre workers in the eccentricities of Britain's
railways. The move could put 1,700 jobs at risk at the existing call centres
in Cardiff, Derby, Newcastle and Plymouth.

Indian staff will need to cope with queries about anything from the
availability of smoking carriages on South West Trains to disabled access on
the Fort William sleeper and weekend engineering works on the
Settle-Carlisle line.

They will have to know every fare and promotion on the network, including
the difference between a saver, a supersaver, an off-peak saver and a
weekender.

An internal memo to the board of the Association of Train Operating
Companies (Atoc) reveals that the chief executive of National Rail
Enquiries, Chris Scoggins, visited eight call centres in three Indian cities
earlier this year.

Mr Scoggins found that they delivered an "excellent quality" service: "In
two operations the agents had virtually no Indian accent."

His memo requests approval to set up a pilot operation in Bangalore, saying
the "business case is strong" but warns: "There may well be trade union
agitation and negative media coverage regarding jobs."

It warns that "short-term ridicule and cynicism" is likely to be a problem,
adding: "We should consider this in the context of a significant proportion
of calls going offshore, rather than just for the pilot."

Under the terms of their franchises, train operators are required to fund a
national enquiries service which provides not only train times but
information about fares, accessibility, cycle conveyance, refunds, season
tickets and booking hotlines. They receive public subsidies from the
Strategic Rail Authority to fulfill their commitments.

One insider attacked the offshore proposal: "They get £10m and UK plc gets
1,500 people on the dole. It's bad enough that it happens but to use
taxpayers' money to achieve it is outrageous."

BT has a contract to answer many of the calls to the inquiries line,
although the service is being re-tendered. BT is pressing for the move
offshore, citing research by polling firm NOP suggesting that the public do
not mind where their calls are answered.

The research, seen by the Guardian, found that callers were unconcerned by
overseas accents as long as they were easy to understand. It adds: "Racial
stereotypes play a stronger role in the 35-55 age range but predominantly do
not cause a barrier."

However, a risk assessment drawn up alongside the proposal warns of a number
of potential hazards such as a nuclear war between India and Pakistan -
thought "very unlikely" - a major power failure or technical breakdown.

The first call centre to see its work moved to India is likely to be
Newcastle. A comparison of the four existing UK locations, drawn up by
consultants CM Insight, found that Tyneside was the least attractive with
high staff turnover and an overheated labour market.

Mr Scoggins's memo says there need not be any redundancies because all the
existing call centres are expecting work from other sources to replace rail
inquiries.

Critics yesterday voiced concern that overseas staff would struggle to cope
with the complexity of inquiries about Britain's labyrinthine railways.

Caroline Jones, of the Rail Passengers Council, said: "Our main concern
would be a lack of knowledge about the rail network in the UK. If you call
up asking about trains from Peterborough to King's Cross, there's no way
they're going to know every stop en route."

The union Amicus, which includes many call centre workers, said it was a
myth that jobs could be exported without loss of quality. It cited research
from consumer analysts Performance House which found that 79% of people
believed companies should inform them when they were dealing with an
offshore facility.

Amicus's national secretary, David Fleming, said: "We think there will be
little confidence among the public in getting adequate train information in
the UK from anywhere else in the world."

In a statement, Atoc said it was evaluating bids from new suppliers for the
inquiries service and would announce the results by the end of the year.