Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr announced a set of proposals to require a customer service representative to either be American or be understood by one. The call center industry is one of many that’s seeing artificial intelligence supplant humans. He announced Wednesday that the FCC will vote this month on a series of proposals requiring […]
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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr announced a set of proposals to require a customer service representative to either be American or be understood by one. The call center industry is one of many that’s seeing artificial intelligence supplant humans.
He announced Wednesday that the FCC will vote this month on a series of proposals requiring certain businesses to train their call center employees in English language proficiency.
“Americans get frustrated when they call a U.S. business and end up connecting with a call center located abroad,” Carr said in a news release. “Language and communications barriers often make it difficult for callers to promptly and efficiently get the results they want.”
Carr added that foreign-based call centers can create a heightened security risk.
In addition to an English-language proficiency requirement, the commission will consider incentives to encourage businesses to bring back call center jobs from overseas.
Some of the options included limiting call volume from overseas call centers, allowing callers to be transferred to a U.S.-based location, or requiring some providers to disclose to the caller where the customer service representative is responding from.
He said the votes will be on several proposals to “reshore” call center jobs and improve customer service.
The release didn’t specify which industries the proposed rule would apply to, but did include that the commission would explore the scope of its authority to impose the rule.
Call centers are big business
The FCC estimates that nearly 70% of U.S. companies outsource at least one customer service department abroad, a trend that’s been decades in the making.
Estimates of the global call center market’s value vary from $63.88 billion to $352.4 Billion.
AI could be the answer
Whether the call center is in Bali or Birmingham, the issue could become less relevant in the coming years with the emergence of artificial intelligence agents.
A July 2025 report from Research and Markets predicts that AI agent software grow from $17.05 billion in 2025 to $49.8 billion over the next five years. Many companies already use a form of conversational AI as a sort of first response, but still keep live customer service lines as a backstop.
