Offshore this !

So many things are getting offshored these days ... And, it looks like there is no end to it - Of course, this is an outcome of the lack of Free Trade in the US.

Of course, it started with manufacturing. And quickly moved on to IT Services, Medical Transcription, Tax Preparation etc.. There is even a service now where executives in the US can send an outline to India and get a complete Powerpoint Presentation the very next day.

I started thinking of services in the US that could be offshored to India ... An interesting one that I thought of was "Mall Security Services".

Every mall in the US has a security center - Where there is a bank of about 100 TV's each showing different sections of the mall and parking lot. There are about 5 security people sitting there watching the TVs. If they notice something suspicious, they radio the guards that are walking around the mall.

In this age of super-fast communication, why not have the security cameras transmit the video to India and have five people in India monitor the footage. Then, if there is a problem, they just need to pick up the phone and call the guards.

I would think that with 5 people working in each shift, with 2 full shifts a day, @25 dollars an hour, that would cost $730,000/year. In India, it could probably be done for $200,000. Half a Million dollars saved in each mall - This could be a pretty good business ...

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great idea dude. Next you will see them blaming India for every break-in attempt.
Ideamani said…
Haha, I know ... The solution might be to have an on-shore supervisor to maintain a physical presence ..
Anonymous said…
Dude...do we even know how much bandwidth it takes to transmit 1 High Definition frame. Add to that the amount of overhead for the ability to zoom in/out of the video. The companies might end up spending 4 times what they save on the bandwidth & transmission equipment. Plus the 5 extra security fellows in the supermarket simply means extra security. Don't you concur?
Anonymous said…
Even the cops don't get paid $25 an hour in a city like Raleigh! The way malls handle security is by outsourcing it to smaller security companies that use a combination of electronic motion sensing/proximity sensing gadgets and 1-2 patrol vehicles.

During daytime, it is mostly the electronic infrastructure at work.
Ideamani said…
Anup, good point - I havent done the research, but I guess satellites would be the way to go - Especially, with the amount of excess satellite capacity with the failure of Orange.
Ideamani said…
The cops dont get paid $25, but they cost that much to the city after Insurance/Liability Coverage/401K - These usually work out to 40-50% of the base salary - Which is another reason why offshoring has taken off so much.

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