The client context
A national MSP had reached a breaking point with their after-hours support model. Their existing vendor was providing offshore resources, but the experience had become increasingly unreliable. Calls were being handled inconsistently, shift coverage was unpredictable, and end clients — already frustrated when calling after hours — were not receiving the professionalism or fluency expected from a Canadian service provider.
Internally, the MSP team was also struggling. They were paying for resources but often saw minimal productivity logged. Scheduling was chaotic, leading to full days without coverage. Turnover at their vendor was high, so the team was constantly retraining new analysts. Instead of focusing on service quality or SLAs, the MSP found themselves micromanaging attendance, performance, and basic scheduling — not the work they wanted to be doing.
They knew they needed a more stable, cost-effective, and well-managed solution. But they were cautious. Previous outsourcing attempts had failed, and they wanted to understand whether a global partner could truly replicate the Canadian customer experience during the most sensitive hours of operation.
The challenge
The MSP had three core concerns that needed to be addressed before making a change:
First, they wanted analysts with strong communication skills — people who could handle frustrated callers at night, speak fluently, show empathy, and represent the brand as well as their Canadian team. Their past experience made them skeptical that offshore analysts could deliver this consistently.
Second, they needed performance accountability. Their biggest frustration with the previous vendor was paying for resources who weren’t producing meaningful outcomes. They wanted a partner who managed the team — not a model where the MSP had to chase attendance, monitor ticket volume, or correct performance issues.
Third, they needed predictable coverage. Their existing vendor billed for vacation and sick days, often leaving entire shifts unstaffed. The MSP wanted a rotation that had built-in flexibility and someone responsible for managing coverage so they weren’t constantly stepping in to fix scheduling gaps.
Underlying all of this was one final requirement: They wanted a cost-effective after-hours team without lowering quality.
The solution
After several conversations, we proposed creating a dedicated after-hours talent hub in Pakistan, where the time zone aligns naturally with North American evening and overnight hours. This allowed us to build a stable, long-term team that could deliver Canadian-quality customer service at a cost structure that made sense for the MSP.
We designed a four-person rotation that covered 6:00 p.m.–6:00 a.m. EST on weekdays and full 24-hour coverage on weekends, ensuring no gaps across the most critical support windows. Each analyst worked no more than eight hours per day and only 30–33 hours per week, which created built-in room to absorb vacations and sick days without requiring the client to pay for downtime.
To solve their performance and management challenges, we added two layers of oversight:
- A Shift Supervisor in Pakistan responsible for daily scheduling, attendance, live performance monitoring, and immediate issue resolution.
- A North America–based Account Manager acting as the MSP’s single point of contact, ensuring proactive communication and true partnership — something the client specifically valued based on past experience with us.
We also integrated a 15-minute shift overlap at no additional cost to the client, ensuring smooth handoffs, zero downtime, and a clean record of ticket and call transitions.
On the technical side, analysts were trained to:
- Answer and resolve first-level issues confidently
- Log, manage, and triage tickets accurately
- Escalate according to documented procedures
- Proactively monitor systems
- Document recurring issues and update knowledge base articles overnight
To address concerns about fluency and customer experience, we hand-selected analysts with strong English communication skills and prior experience supporting North American clients. Our screening focused heavily on empathy, tone, problem-solving, and the ability to manage callers during emotionally elevated situations — a key requirement for after-hours support.
The results
Within weeks of launch, the MSP saw a dramatic improvement in service quality. Calls were handled professionally and consistently, and after-hours client escalations dropped noticeably. The MSP received feedback from their own customers that the new team “felt like an extension of the Canadian staff” — the exact outcome they hoped for but doubted was possible offshore.
Coverage issues disappeared. Sick days and vacations no longer affected service levels because scheduling was fully managed by the Shift Supervisor. The MSP no longer needed to intervene in staffing — their time shifted back to strategic leadership instead of firefighting vendor problems.
Productivity also improved. Ticket volume, documentation quality, and monitoring discipline became predictable and measurable. Because we managed performance in real time, the MSP finally felt they were buying an outcome — not just paying for warm bodies.
Costs were reduced, service quality increased, and — most importantly — the MSP regained confidence in their after-hours operation. What had been a constant source of frustration became a well-run, dependable global support model with the right talent, right management structure, and right partnership behind it.
Today, this Pakistan hub remains one of their strongest operational layers, supporting clients across Canada and the United States with consistency, professionalism, and a level of care that aligns fully with their brand.
