How Important Is Where Your Answering Service is Located

Perhaps one of the biggest decisions a company has to make when outsourcing any of its telephone support is whether to use a call center located in the United States or in a foreign country. Many are tempted to use a company located in India or the Philippines because of their perception that these providers cost less than those located domestically. For these companies, price is the biggest factor in deciding where to send their calls. Others take a hard stance against outsourcing outside the country and even outside their own area, insisting on a local call center. These individuals represent the opposite of the spectrum. They not only hold quality as most important but assume that the small, locally-based company down the street is the best option.

Labor costs in developing areas of the world are indeed lower in general than those of more developed ones. In addition, many companies have benefited greatly from buying goods and services from these areas. At the same time, however, it is important to note that certain factors frequently disfavor many service providers in these areas. For example, although a call center located in India may be well-managed and employ modern telecommunications technology, the staff may be lacking in their ability to speak English and communicate effectively by telephone. On the other hand, an answering service located in California, for example, may cost slightly more than the one in India but offers a much higher quality service.

Beyond the up front costs of starting an account with a provider and the reoccurring costs of using it, you should also consider the indirect costs or benefits of using any service. For example, your customers may become frustrated if their support calls are answered by someone in a foreign country and they have trouble conveying their needs. You may not lose this particular customer at that moment, but a sub-par answering service that is consistently frustrating for your callers will stress your company's image and drain the patience of your customers. Of course price is always considered a factor for any product or service, so it is important to be cognizant of both your budget and the acceptable level of quality when searching for an answering service in California, India, or anywhere else.

For companies that end up sourcing their calls to an answering service in the United States, they have to decide whether to use a national service or a local service. Although both can provide excellent service, many people have encountered some problems with using a local service. For example, a doctor's office might not use a local service because of the increased possibility that someone working at the answering service knows a caller. It can be very uncomfortable for a patient to give out personal medical information when speaking to an acquaintance. Even if they do not realize they are speaking to a local call center, there is an increased possibility for gossip among others in the community to occur.

Another situation where it would be advantageous to use a national provider of answering service rather than a local one is when weather is a factor. Oftentimes a call center is used as a point of contact in an emergency or a power outage. For companies using a local service, it is a very real possibility for them to run into problems when their call center is encountering the very same issues they are. Indeed weather and regional events can be a wildcard for both call centers and their customers alike. When using an answering service located elsewhere in the country, you cut down on the likelihood of an outage or emergency damaging communications with your callers.