🚀 go-pugleaf

http://www.anorak.co.uk/news.cfm?id=165063

Passage To India Next Broadsheets story   

5 Feb 2004

WE may have given India their railways and their trains a century and
a half ago, but the Indians could soon be giving us our train times.

India's biggest call centre houses 150,000 operators at any one time 
National Rail Enquiries is just the latest company to announce that it
is switching to call centres in Bangalore and Bombay with the loss of
600 jobs here in the UK.

The company receives 50 million calls a year, according to the Times,
half of which will in future be routed to overseas.

NRE boss Chris Scoggins explained that the whole process should become
a more pleasant experience for customers.

"There is a higher level of politeness in India," he said, "and a
greater desire to help."

It also helps that Indian call centre staff are paid a fraction of
what British staff are paid, but we imagine that that played only a
very small part in NRE's decision.

Of course, none of this helps if you don't know the number for NRE. 

In that case, we advise you to phone up one of the many new directory
inquiry services and ask the operator there to put you through.

You'll either have to pay for a call to India to be routed back to the
UK to bounce straight back out to India or the operator will just hand
the phone to the bloke sitting next to him...