Anyone Else Notice That Recently Avigilon Tech Support Have Far East Accents?

Anyone else notice that recently Avigilon tech support are from the far east?

It used to be that I always got someone from the US or Canada, but the past few weeks I have been getting people from the far east?

Thank you

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Michael Miller

What time of day are you calling?

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Undisclosed Integrator #1

In reply to Michael Miller

I just called at 7PM Eastern and a different time at 230 Eastern

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Undisclosed Integrator #2

You should know Canada has a very diverse population. Especially western Canada.

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(1)

Undisclosed Integrator #1

In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #2

I guess that could be. But up until a few weeks ago, I never had it happen. Now suddenly everyone that I talk to has a very heavy accent.

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Undisclosed Integrator #3

I have not noticed it.

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Rob Kilpatrick

IPVM • IPVMU Certified

We asked Avigilon to comment on this, I will update if we get a response.

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Ethan Ace

Avigilon says there has been no change in support, adding:

We are proud to have a talented and culturally diverse team of Avigilon support specialists who provide exceptional customer support in multiple languages from our global headquarters in Vancouver, Canada and EMEA headquarters in Lisbon, Portugal.

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John Honovich

IPVM

In reply to Ethan Ace

#1 mentions a 'very heavy accent'. Regardless of culture or ethnicity, if the support people have a 'very heavy accent', that would be a challenge for phone support, yes/no?

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Undisclosed Integrator #1

In reply to John Honovich

I had a customer speak to them regarding a problem that he was having. After he spoke to them, he called me up and said "I thought you told me that one of the benefits of this company is that it is american based. The person I spoke to sounded like they were from India".

So even if they are based in Canada or Lisbon, the customer definitely got the vibe that they were for the far east.

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Josh Bylsma

In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #1

BLUEmark Technologies

Avigilon tech support is based out of Canada (I used to work for AVO), not the US.

The western part of Canada, specifically Vancouver where AVO is based, is extremely diverse. Vancouver is considered one of the most diverse cities in Canada.

If one calls into support, one will get different accents. Even engineers, that are US citizens and have been in the US most of their lives, still hold some accent.

I recall a customer complaining about a support call they made (another company I worked for, not AVO) complaining that the women they talked was from India. What they did not know was that they were talking to one of our chief engineers who was the key architect of the database (which is what they where calling about). She was brilliant, had lived in the US most of her life and is from Indianapolis, IN.

Just because one has an accent, does NOT mean you are getting sub-par support.

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John Honovich

IPVM

In reply to Josh Bylsma

Just because one has an accent, does NOT mean you are getting sub-par support.

If the accent is strong enough and is impacting the ability of the support requester to understand the support, it will reduce the support quality, yes/no?

It's a little like the difference between a researcher and a teacher. You could be the world's best researcher in a certain subject but if you have difficulties expressing it verbally, you will likely be a sub-par teacher, yes/no?

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John Honovich

IPVM

Note: I changed the title, original - 'from the far east', now 'have far east accents', since Avigilon has stated tech support all tech support is based in NA or Europe. Any questions or disagreements on this, feel free to share.

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Armando Perez

Hoosier Security and Security Owners Group • IPVMU Certified

Have not noticed this.

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John Booth