PA Offices in SL

As brands such as Adidas, Dell, Reuters and Toyota break ground in Second Life, some marketers say the virtual world could one day become the frontline for customer contact, writes Silicon.com.

PA Consulting, which has offices in Second Life, says simply having an office to respond to customer queries is not enough. Real people must staff the virtual offices. It says call centers could one day ask customers to follow up a phone call by moving the query into a virtual world.

And instead of being placed on hold to enjoy muzak, virtual world visitors could make more profitable use of their time - talking to other inhabitants, viewing videos and reading information, for example.

Moreover, by using avatars, a whole new customer services workforce can be mustered - those who need to work from home, say, or mothers with young children. And customers' prejudices against call center staffers who have certain accents wouldn't come into play.