U.S. ire heard long-distance

NEW DELHI, India — Rohail Manzoor thought he had what it took to work in a telephone call center. All he had to do was pick up the phone and answer queries from U.S. customers about their long-distance bills. He was armed with lessons on how to speak English like the Americans: adjust the r's, say "zee" instead of "zed," "mail" instead of "post."

He called himself "Jim" and figured he would pretend to be a U.S. customer-service agent.

But nothing prepared him for the shower of curses that came his way when he picked up the phone one night on the job.

" 'You Indians suck!' an American screamed on the phone," recalled Manzoor, 25. "He was using a lot of four-letter words, too. He called me names left, right and center."

Call-center executives and industry experts say abusive hate calls are commonplace as resentment swells over the loss of U.S. jobs to India. According to a survey in November 2004 by an Indian information-technology magazine called Dataquest, about 25 percent of call-center agents identified such calls as the main reason for workplace stress. The survey said the calls often were "psychologically disturbing" for workers.

"When some callers are unhappy with the service, their frustration often turns racist," said Amit Narula, 25, a call-center agent. "They would say, 'This is why you should not handle our work. Indians are not good enough.' "

The outsourcing industry earns $5.1 billion a year and employs more than 350,000 people, according to the National Association of Software and Services Companies, and is projected to grow 40 percent in the coming year.

The vast pool of low-cost, English-speaking and tech-savvy Indian workers has attracted back-office service operations of companies such as American Express, Sprint, Citibank, General Electric, Ford, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and firms that process U.S. tax returns and welfare benefits.

Some offices serving these companies hold stress-management workshops, set up gyms and pool tables, and offer classes in meditation, breathing techniques and yoga.

"This is a high-stress business, and most of our agents are between 22 and 25 working during the graveyard shift. I have noticed a sudden plunge in their confidence level after an irate, abusive or racist caller," said Rohit Gadhoke, a senior quality analyst with Daksh call center, a subsidiary of IBM, adding that such calls were routine. "They begin to fumble with words and get nervous. I counsel them not to take it personally."

Although a few call-center companies encourage agents to reveal their real name and location when an American calls, many fear backlash and do not allow it. In Bangalore, Ankur Jaiswal, 22, whose phone name is "Mike," answers calls from Americans who need technical support with their computers.

"Many callers refuse to speak to Indians and ask for an American right away," Jaiswal said in a telephone interview.

"So I tell them, 'I am an Indian but I live in America.' They ask, 'Where in America?' I tell them I cannot disclose my location. But they are still suspicious and start asking about the weather."

Industry watchers say some call centers have giant TV screens showing the weather in different U.S. cities, the scores from latest New York Knicks games or news about the latest play on Broadway.

The agents use the information on the screen to make small talk with the caller and mask their location in India.