March 21, 2001
Hi, I'm in Bangalore (but I Dare Not Tell)
(Page 3 of 3)
"This slowdown will force us to explore new markets," Mr. Soota said. "But this time, there is another factor — bandwidth."
In the last two years, India has installed reliable high-capacity telephone lines in most of its major cities. That makes it possible for people in this country to communicate with customers in the United States, by phone or over the Internet, with no discernible difference from a calling center in Nebraska.
The improved telephone network has essentially erased the advantage of other countries that offer back- office services — notably Ireland, one of the growth leaders of the expensive new Europe.
India's greatest strength in this business may prove to be its ability to adapt, chameleon-like, to its customers. For a decade, Infosys, Wipro and others have run development centers in the United States to reduce the anxiety of American companies in dealing with foreigners.
Now, companies here are blurring the line between India and the United States further. Mr. Ramdas of Bangalore Labs plans to relocate to Northern California so he can live among his customers. Mr. Soota's partner, Subroto Bagchi, also plans to move, to North Jersey, in two months.
"We see ourselves as a next-generation company that is neither Indian nor American," Mr. Bagchi said.
In recent years, the best engineers and programmers left India for the United States. But as India's industry has matured, émigrés are returning home to apply the lessons of the American market in local companies. In some cases, they bring home the culture as well.
At Customer Asset and other call centers, Indian trainers who have lived in the United States drill new employees in phonetics, American pop culture and colloquialisms.
"If you're hiring people for Citibank," said Gayatri Balaji, vice president for client services, "you want them to know that bulls and bears are not just different animals found in nature."
The regimen includes listening to the likes of "Friends" and "Ally McBeal" without the picture, and then reconstructing the dialogue. The new recruits are put through role-playing sessions in which the trainer, posing as a caller, interrogates them on American movies, sports and television programs.
At Customer Asset, employees are allowed to fashion their own telephone aliases and identities. Ms. Anthony chose "Naomi Morrison" because, she said, she has the same skin tone as the model Naomi Campbell and is a fan of the late Jim Morrison.
"If I gave people my Indian name, it would be too confusing," said Ms. Anthony, a 26-year-old from Cochin, a coastal city. "The whole intention is for them to understand us, and us to understand them."
And what happens if a caller asks too many questions?
"When the conversation goes too deeply into Chicago," Ms. Suman said, "you just ask politely, `Can we get back to business?' "
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