Offshore Call-Center Services
ALTA provides a wide range of offshore call-center solutions aimed at helping you maintain the quality of service that is necessary to compete successfully in the North American market. We have provided services in India, the Philippines and the Caribbean or offer training at our U.S. Training Center.
American English Accent Assessments
ALTA offers American English Accent Assessments to identify the accent problems that an agent or potential agent has compared to the Standard American Accent. Many offshore call-centers use ALTA's Accent Assessments as a hiring criteria. This is particularly valuable in a situation where the call-center has a large pool of potential employees and wants to minimize the training costs for accent training.
More about English Accent Assessments
American English Accent Reduction Programs
Providing a service to Americans clients requires effective communication skills. ALTA offers American Accent Reduction training so that your intended message is understood. ALTA will provide this training at your site.
ALTA also offers train-the-trainer programs which are a cost-effective solution for many organizations that have large numbers of people to train. This program gives you the capability to provide American English accent reduction training on your own.
Online programs are available for very large groups that have a limited range of subject matter to communicate. These programs are suitable for a scripted environment only.
More about Accent Reduction
Training Your American Trainers to Work Offshore
Setting up offshore call-center operations requires your organization to train agents from the host country in your technologies. Simply sending your trainers to the offshore location is not sufficient. Learning methods and teaching styles vary widely in other cultures. An effective trainer in the U.S. may not have the cultural skills to be an effective trainer offshore.
ALTA has considerable experience in training people from outside the U.S. We have knowledge of how to develop programs, create the support materials and deliver the programs effectively.
ALTA also can prepare your trainers for actually spending time in the offshore locations so that they can function effectively in an environment that may be economically, politically and culturally very different from their experience.
More about Language Training
Cultural Communication Programs
More sophisticated offshore call-centers realize that effective communication with North American clients is more than speaking English like an American. Developing an understanding of American cultural patterns is also vital. Cultural understanding is not gained by showing call-center agents American television programs. Cultural understanding is developed through a definition of the differences and similarities between the agents' culture and American culture followed by practical application to the agents' job. The focus is on how to apply this cultural understanding to show effective persuasion, and empathy, and to effectively handle anger.
Quality Assurance
Most call-centers have a quality control and quality assurance function to maintain and improve the service provided to its clients. ALTA offers monitoring assistance services by native, American-English speakers to assist with the quality issues of language (pronunciation, intonation and word stress) as well as the cultural issues that impact the customer.
