Chapter 6. Call centre service encounters
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Gerrard Mugford
Abstract
Non-native English-speaking call-centre agents, often located hundreds of miles from their customers, engage in asymmetrical transactional relationships with callers who often question their language proficiency and their overall work competence. Potentially placed at a communicative disadvantage with their native-speaking callers, the operators cannot directly confront their customers. Furthermore, agents tend to engage in conversationalised transactional talk as they adhere to scripts, standardised politeness routines and “synthetic personalisation” (Fairclough 2010). A critical discourse analysis framework examines Mexican call centre agents’ own perceptions regarding how they face up to the challenges of constructing a dialogue on equal terms, negotiate conflictive situations and overcome a sense of powerlessness due to their restrictive discursive options.
Abstract
Non-native English-speaking call-centre agents, often located hundreds of miles from their customers, engage in asymmetrical transactional relationships with callers who often question their language proficiency and their overall work competence. Potentially placed at a communicative disadvantage with their native-speaking callers, the operators cannot directly confront their customers. Furthermore, agents tend to engage in conversationalised transactional talk as they adhere to scripts, standardised politeness routines and “synthetic personalisation” (Fairclough 2010). A critical discourse analysis framework examines Mexican call centre agents’ own perceptions regarding how they face up to the challenges of constructing a dialogue on equal terms, negotiate conflictive situations and overcome a sense of powerlessness due to their restrictive discursive options.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of tables ix
- List of figures xi
- An introduction to technology mediated service encounters 1
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Section I. Social services
- Chapter 1. Language discordance and technological facilitation in health care service encounters 17
- Chapter 2. Context and pragmatic meaning in telephone interpreting 45
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Section II. Call centres
- Chapter 3. Managing verbal and embodied conduct in telephone-mediated service encounters 71
- Chapter 4. Globalizing politeness? 97
- Chapter 5. Navigating commercial constraints in a service call 121
- Chapter 6. Call centre service encounters 145
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Section III. E-service encounters
- Chapter 7. Responding to bargaining moves in a digital era 173
- Chapter 8. Intensification in online consumer reviews 199
- Chapter 9. Relational practices on commercial Facebook wall interactions 223
- Index 245
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of tables ix
- List of figures xi
- An introduction to technology mediated service encounters 1
-
Section I. Social services
- Chapter 1. Language discordance and technological facilitation in health care service encounters 17
- Chapter 2. Context and pragmatic meaning in telephone interpreting 45
-
Section II. Call centres
- Chapter 3. Managing verbal and embodied conduct in telephone-mediated service encounters 71
- Chapter 4. Globalizing politeness? 97
- Chapter 5. Navigating commercial constraints in a service call 121
- Chapter 6. Call centre service encounters 145
-
Section III. E-service encounters
- Chapter 7. Responding to bargaining moves in a digital era 173
- Chapter 8. Intensification in online consumer reviews 199
- Chapter 9. Relational practices on commercial Facebook wall interactions 223
- Index 245
