Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Work keeps at bay three great evils: boredom, vice, and need.
—- VOLTAI RE
IT'S 6:30 P.M. AND A NEW SHIFT IS STARTING AT THE LIVEBRIDGE CALL CENTER. Tw e n t y -
year-old college graduate “Kristy Grover” begins phoning people to verify information
they have provided on their credit card applications. She will work until 3:00 A.M. Her
hours are unusual because “Kristy Grover” is actually Shilpa Thukral, and she is calling
the United States from India. Companies like LiveBridge are saving billions of dollars
every year by employing hundreds of thousands of Indians to staff call centers and back
offices [1].
Back in 1996, the Indian telecommunications infrastructure supported a mere
13,000 simultaneous overseas phone conversations. Multinational corporations invested
in new underwater fiber-optic cables, and by 2002 the overseas phone capacity had in-
creased to more than 2.5 million simultaneous calls, making it possible for American
companies to export hundreds of thousands of jobs to India [1].
Many Americans were unhappy with the customer service they received from Indian
call centers. They complained they could not understand the accents of the agents and
asked for representatives who spoke American English. Companies responded to these
complaints by building new call centers in the Philippines. Filipinos learn American
