Outsourcing To India - Been There, Done That, Would Consider it Again, Maybe

Time certainly flies when you're having fun. In about 2 and a half months I will have been at this company for 4 years (my last post was almost 3 and a half years ago). I ended up doing the outsourcing thing (a blended model of US agents and their outsourced counterparts in India)  for about a year and a half,  which was great because I got to go back to New Delhi/Noida for a second visit. But I ultimately terminated the partnership, which was quite a bummer since I really liked the people on the team, and the visits.

Funny thing is, I haven't seen the inside of a call center since my last visit to India in 2008 because all of my current agents are home-based.

Overall my experience with outsourcing was positive. The company we used was huge - locations all over India (something like 20 building alone in New Delhi/Noida) and in Europe, but they treated my small project with a ton of attention and effort. Yes, I'd say "effort" is the key word. The whole group worked very hard. Any criticisms or suggestions were acted on immediately. During my two visits there they fell over all themselves with hospitality and graciousness.

There were definitley a few problems though. The group was handling contacts that could basically be described as email (no phone), but the replies that the group had to compose had to be original, humorous at times, and have a kind of casual, upbeat tone. They weren't always successful with that. Understanding US cultural references was sometimes difficult, and their tone was sometimes stiff and awkward. But again, the effort was always there.

In the end I decided to go with strictly US home-based agents (for several reasons), but I will NEVER forget India or the people I met there. I really hope I make it back some day.