[manoloe]

Our development team at IndexTank handles our customer questions. The training they've received comes from working alongside client development teams for years (our team has been together for 4+ years handling search problems for many companies). So we trust each other to type freely.

The misspellings is an interesting suggestion. Since our team originates from Argentina, English is our second language, and we do make mistakes. But we try not to. But now maybe we should ! Thanks for your advice.

[nostromo]

Most people will take thoughtful typing with mis-spellings over a 'canned response' any day - especially younger users.

A bit more advice since you're abroad. If people ask, I wouldn't lie about your location. We had some customers who would ask Indian reps to pick an American name (lots of Bobs) - but sometimes people make chit-chat about weather and the like while waiting - and getting caught in a lie can destroy the company's reputation with the user.

[manoloe]

A great point. We have come across some situations where we are asked where the team lives, and we tell it like it is. Developers are pretty positive about us being both in Buenos Aires and in SF. I think the global community is a nice plus.

[cookiecaper]

It's usually pretty obvious when you're talking to a "real" Bob or a "fake" Bob. In my experience, the offshored agents are almost incapable of communicating successfully.