Stream in the News
Hewlett-Packard Calls, Beaverton Answers
Randy L. Rasmussen—The Oregonian
Richardson, TX, February 28, 2008 — Computer giant Hewlett-Packard Co. showed its intent to put the "support" back in customer support Wednesday by unveiling a 500-job high-tech call center near downtown Beaverton.
The round-the-clock center, operated on contract for HP, is a key piece of the California-based company's biggest-ever investment in consumer technical support.
"People manage their lives through technology today," said Mark Notarainni, HP's director of contact center services. "What we've realized is, you can't just change the products and not change the support."
As part of HP's plan to provide better support for everyone from rank novices to hard-core gamers, the company is announcing today the opening of eight new call centers. In addition to the Beaverton operation, other centers are located in Alabama, Missouri and five foreign countries.
The wealth of highly educated workers in the Portland area played a crucial role in HP's decision to locate in Beaverton, Notarainni said. The company, which operates major campuses in Corvallis and Vancouver, is contracting with call-center operator Stream, which employs an additional 750 telephone agents serving seven other corporate clients. The Stream operation is on Murray Boulevard west of Beaverton City Hall.
In the past, the state of Oregon has encouraged call-center development as a new leg of its employment base. Many call centers, however, are known for having comparatively low wages and high turnover. And though they must overcome relatively few obstacles in starting up, they also face few barriers exiting, as a call center for Dell Inc. in Roseburg did in August.
All of the Beaverton jobs are new, filled by employees drawn from the Portland area, said Toni Portmann, Stream's chief executive officer and president. She declined to say how much the jobs pay but said the salaries are above average for industry standards.
One industry analyst said HP's decision to open new consumer support centers in the United States doesn't appear to represent any sort of backlash against the widespread outsourcing of call centers over the past decade to other countries, most notably India, China and the Philippines.
"If anything, companies are significantly expanding the outsourcing of call centers," said Matt Mani, senior associate with Booz Allen Hamilton. "But when it comes to individual decisions, companies are focusing on what type of customers they are serving and what level of technical expertise those customers need to have to solve their problems."
Companies serving "high-value customers," such as HP, increasingly are trying to ensure that those customers can be routed to centers where language barriers don't complicate transactions that are already challenging because the calls are technical.
"If you're looking for technical support for your PC or printer, it's hard enough to communicate in technical language without also having a cultural and pronunciation barrier," said Maggie Klenke, founder of the Call Center School in Nashville, Tenn. "HP is apparently following that trend."
Industry figures show as many as 3 percent of the U.S. work force is employed in call centers, Klenke said.
HP's revamped support structure is part of an initiative developed by CEO Mark Hurd. The initiative, using new troubleshooting software and intensive training programs, is keyed to creating standardized support practices to serve HP customers in 132 countries and 31 languages.
The Beaverton operation is intended to fit seamlessly into that global support network, where customers with particular problems can be "dynamically routed" to agents whose training has specifically prepared them to tackle those issues.
Notarainni said he preferred the term "contact center" to call center.
"People can e-mail us, use real-time chat or voice," he said. "It's far more than just calling someone sitting at a desk."
Proprietary software developed by the company also allows center agents, with the permission of callers, to take over operation of the customers' computers to effect a fix. Customers can see exactly what the agent is doing, thereby increasing their own knowledge of the product and its applications.
The five-month training regimen Beaverton employees receive before hitting the floor differs from traditional instructor-led training, Notarainni said. It requires agents to actively take part in their learning through simulation, role-playing and online learning.
"This training and our contact centers are a critical part of our brand now," he said. "We really think this sets a new bar in terms of where the rest of the industry will need to aim."
About Stream
Stream is a global provider of technical support and customer service outsourcing. The company’s award-winning systems and processes provide effective contact center solutions to help clients achieve business efficiencies and provide an exceptional service experience to their customers. Stream employees around the world enhance more than 60 million customer experiences annually with a fully integrated suite of e-mail, voice, chat, and online self-help solutions. For more information, visit Stream’s Web site at www.stream.com.