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Call center agents have it rough. They never know when the big axe of call center outsourcing will fall on their heads. Outsourcing is becoming the number one way many companies are trying to increase revenue and lower their overhead costs. Opponents of outsourcing are upset over "foreigners" taking away American jobs and are also upset over the language barriers that occur. Before you make your decision you should check out both sides of the argument. Maybe there can be some sort of meeting ground in the future.

Call center outsourcing provides many benefits for a company. Many are turning to outsourcing their calls to home based agents who are essentially freelance workers. The company does not have to pay for overhead or call center furniture. The tax information is kept by the individual and the companies can generally expect cheaper labor. You also have to keep in mind that the business does not have to pay health benefits or contribute to a 401K.

The outsourcing of call centers to home workers can provide the same cons for the call center agent as it does pros for the company. Agents are not provided life or health insurance. They are essentially freelance workers who may not receive overtime pay and receive very little training. Even those found within a designated call center are still subject to monitoring and a general lack of qualified training.

If a company uses a call center in another country, then they do not have to work within American labor laws. The work hours can be far more than the standard forty hour work week and they may not have to pay overtime or health benefits. This is one area that has raised a lot of controversy for many people whose jobs have been outsourced to other countries.

When a company uses a hosted call center, then most likely the call center agents must deal with call recording and call monitoring practices. The workers must follow a fixed set of protocols and scripts for a given situation. There will always be calls that go outside of these normal situations and the lack of call center training can prove to be difficult for the agents.

There are definitely two sides to call center outsourcing. It is not an easy decision for either party to deal with and is one that must be handled with caution. The right outsourcing center can prove to be a boon for the company and the call center agents. It all depends on how the parent company and the call center company interact with the clients and personnel.

By Business Editor

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