Foreign Call Centres
Two thirds (66%) of British people say that when contacting a company by telephone, they don't mind where in the world their call is answered as long as it is handled quickly and professionally. The research, by MORI for the Gauteng Economic Development Agency, shows a quarter (26%) of British people notice when contacting an organisation by phone if the call seems to be answered by someone who is abroad.
A fifth (21%) are happy for an organisation they want to contact to have its call centre facility abroad. Of those not agreeing with the statement, half (51%) are happy for an organisation to base its call centre facility abroad if it means they are able to speak with a person, rather than an automated push button service.
More than two in five (44%) are happy for call centre facilities to be based abroad if the customer service standard is very high. Three in 10 are happy for call centre facilities to be based abroad if it is in an English speaking country, 27% if they don't notice the difference, a quarter (24%) if it means they pay less for goods or services and one in five if they have 24 hour access.
When asked to state, from a list of distinctive world-wide accents, which four they found the most pleasing and also the easiest to understand, BBC English, English Regional, Scottish and Irish topped both lists of preference, all with levels of preference of over 40%.
Technical details
MORI interviewed a nationally representative quota sample of 1,002 adults aged 16+ in Great Britain between 22-24 August 2003. Interviews were carried out using CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing). Data have been weighted to reflect the known national population profile.
