Indian call centres provide an inferior service when compared with their British counterparts, a report from Contactbabel has claimed.
Contactbabel, an organisation which provides research and analysis for the call centre industry, said its research showed that more than a third of callers to Indian call centres had to make repeat phone calls.
This compared unfavourably to the UK call centre industry, where more than 90% of queries or problems were resolved at the first attempt, said Contactbabel.
The research also found that almost a third of calls to Indian call centres did not meet with customer satisfaction, and that most Indian call centres relied on recording calls to identify any service problems.
Contactbabel said: "At the present time, UK businesses moving their contact centre operations to India will generally end up providing a lower quality of service to their UK customers.
A UK caller will generally spend longer on the phone to an Indian agent but have less chance getting their issue resolved the first time. The phone will often be picked up more quickly than in the UK, but the caller is likely to speak to a relatively inexperienced and unempowered agent."
On a more positive note, the research found that the facilities in Indian call centres tended to be of a higher standard than those in the UK, and that Indian call centre operatives were given a slightly higher level of training.
It also said the salary levels for staff in Indian call centres showed a clear saving when compared with their UK counterparts.
New agents in India earn around £1,500 per year, less than an eighth of the comparable UK salary. Indian managers earn roughly £5000 per year on average, said Contactbabel.
