We recently reported about some idiot DJ who threatened and insulted a call center operator, to boost his ratings. [I’m waiting for Indian DJs to reciprocate] But the life of a call center operator is varied, and also includes moments like this one, from Conan’s show. It turns out that lonely, horny Americans are coming to the same conclusions that our parents want us to come to – that Brown Lovin’ is good Lovin’ [Either that or they’re to cheap to pay for phone sex]:

Nineteen-year-old Kajal aka Jessica Taylor could not help smiling when her admirer on the line questioned “Do you look like the Indian beauty Aishwarya ?. [sic]Come with me for a hot date tonight.” At 6 in the morning, Kunal aka Oliver Stone was just wrapping up for the day, when his last call earned him a kiss and a passionate dinner invitation.

Note – these are outbound rather than inbound call center operators, and since they are “breaking the bubble” of the person being called, the recipient may feel better about taking liberties.

Whole article posted below b/c it is only available as a cached copy and will probably soon disappear:

Smita aka Sara Roberts was in the process of making routine calls to her customers when the person at the other end asked, “Would you like to have sex with me?” Nineteen-year-old Kajal aka Jessica Taylor could not help smiling when her admirer on the line questioned “Do you look like the Indian beauty Aishwarya ?.Come with me for a hot date tonight.” At 6 in the morning, Kunal aka Oliver Stone was just wrapping up for the day, when his last call earned him a kiss and a passionate dinner invitation. No, these people do not work at a sex-talk hotline. They are in fact, employees of international call centres, in Ahmedabad. While calling customers to discuss insurance and mortgage charges, they often get entangled with clients thousands of miles away, who have other things on their mind. For Nitu Aidasani (21), getting such calls is very common. “I get a flirtatious customer every alternate day while calling for my campaign. Earlier I used to get nervous, but now I enjoy it,” says Nitu with a smile. Shweta Desai, a college student, who has been working at a call centre for over two years now, says “My policy is simple, just hang up on the person. These people aren’t interested in our products anyway. They just want to pass time.” This phenomenon is not restricted to girls alone. Bhavik, a resident of Chandlodia, is the object of affection of many American ladies. “It is funny actually. I like talking to such customers as they are entertaining,” he remarks. If Bhavik is chuckling, Sujata (name changed) is fuming. “I hate customers who try to indulge in such idle talk. On my first day at work, a customer asked for my email address and despite my attempts to divert him, he would not budge. Finally, I had to terminate the call,” she said. Americans seem to come out on top when it comes such amorous advances over the phone. A seasoned caller, Amruta Sulani said, “In my four years of working with a call centre, I feel that Americans are bold and lecherous, while British are curt and rude, and Australians are polite and professional.” She recalls an experience where an American had pounced on the idea of going out with her on a date. “I was just kidding but he had even fixed the date and place, it was so funny. In his place, a Britisher would have simply hung up, while an Australian would have said “not interested” courteously. Flirting with clients is not recommended by Oorvakx Boyce, a trainer with Styx Infosoft, who has worked with call centres and medical transcription companies. “Being calm and composed is very important. Many people get a cultural shock when they such calls and get nervous. But by being smart and shrewd, one can actually make a sale out of the call.” Boyce says outsourcing is very common now, hence clients in US, UK or Australia know that it is generally an Indian who is on the other end of the line. Often, their accents also give them away. [cite]