It's Derek from Delhi

Graeme Philpson of The Sydney Morning Herald spends some time in a Delhi call centre and gives us a snapshot what happens inside the call centre. The tone indicates that Australia and the rest of the world are more to such Indian call centres than ever before.

A new worker in a call centre, armed with a university degree, earns about $300 a month. A programmer will earn about $500. That may not sound like a lot but it goes much further in a country where a good haircut costs a dollar and a new car less than $10,000.

You and I might regard unsolicited telephone calls from India or elsewhere as a bit of pain. It's certainly an irritation but it's also a massive business employing hundreds of thousands of people.

There is much more to it than out-bound telemarketing. These call centres also handle airline reservations, insurance claims, help desks, political campaigning - you name it. And they are getting better at it.

The bottom line remains someone trying to sell you something but they are getting cleverer at doing it.

And they are not about to disappear from our lives any time soon.