ABSTRACT
There are many examples of companies who have begun to operate user support on an international scale. It makes sense, especially where the userbase is international. Two distinct types of international support have emerged. The first is the single centre, where all customers make their queries to a single, central point. The second is the multiple centre: several support desks, in different time zones, attempting to provide out-of-hours (even 24-hour) cover as well as to solve the problem of supporting users in different time zones. In both cases, they are a form of centralization. The single centre is obviously centralized; the multiple centre may still be centralized as far as customers in that time zone are concerned.
