Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Engg. design cos. make a mark
Indian companies have started to make a mark in the market for outsourced engineering design services, reports Economic Times. And it is not just large companies who get to play in this $7-billion.
"Several smaller Indian software companies like Hyderabad-based Infotech Enterprises, Bangalore- based Plexion, Quest, Easitech, Geometric Software, Rolta and Axis are quietly working with global majors in the cutting edge engineering design space," the ET report says.
The sector has also been receiving the attention of private equity investors. Plexion Technologies recently received a second round of funding from J.P.Morgan, while Quest is reportedly in talks with VCs like the Carlyle Group.
Click Here to read the full report.
Funny stories from Call Centers
A slightly dated article (October 2002) in Wired magazine provides some nice (true-life) humor arising from interactions between Americans and "far away" call center executives in India.
An employee of TransWorks spoke to a man who kissed him over the phone many times before apologizing, "Sorry, if you are not gay. Is there anybody else in your company who is?"....
A female call center agent once dialed an American home in an attempt to sell a caller ID system. The man told her, "Aren't you the girl who lives next door? Can you see me? I am naked."
An American doctor client of medical transcription company Selectronic had said, "the patient's salary is twenty grand." The Indian transcriptionist typed, "The patient's salary is twenty. Very grand." Another worker wrote that the patient was "a base reporter" when the doctor meant "ace reporter." Similarly, a doctor's analysis, "He is fond of marijuana," became, "He is fond of Mary Yuvane." And "the incident occurred while at Macy's Thanksgiving parade," became "the incident occurred while Macy was giving thanks to the parade."
It's no wonder that a UK-based film maker is reportedly making a comedy film with an Indian call center as its setting.
Click Here to the read the full Wired article.
