When a business is considering outsourcing its call center services, it must decide whether it wants to use offshore or onshore call centers. Offshore call centers are those operated outside the United States in countries like India and the Philippines. Onshore call centers are those operated here in the United States, like San Antonio answering service LTC.
Pros/Cons of Offshoring
The biggest advantage to offshoring is it often costs less to have calls answered in a foreign country. However, this tends to be one of the few benefits. Three of the more common disadvantages of offshoring are:
- Language Barriers – Even in India, where most people have a general knowledge of English, it still results in customers getting frustrated because they are not easily understood.
- Increased Call Handling Times and Volumes – Due to language barriers, call handling times are longer. Not to mention, call volumes also increase, because people get frustrated, hang up, and have to call multiple times to get issues/problems resolved.
- Customers Are Confined to a Phone Script – Most offshore call centers stick solely to a phone script provided by the company they are taking calls for and will not deviate from it, regardless of what the customer is saying, regardless of whether it resolves their problems.
Pros/Cons of Onshoring
The disadvantages of offshoring are advantages companies gain by onshoring their call centers. Language barriers are removed, so callers are better understood. Most companies allow U.S.-based call centers the flexibility to deviate from phone scripts as needed to address customers’ concerns. Further, call handling times and call volumes tend to be less. In addition, the level of customer service callers experience is often significantly higher.
The main con of using onshore call centers is not selecting one capable of providing the services and solutions you require. Fortunately, this is not an issue, when you rely upon Always Answer for your onshore call center needs. We offer customizable options based on your specifications and work with you to ensure your callers are treated with the utmost attention they deserve. Call us now at 1-800-606-9898 to learn more.
