The Hindu Business Line : Celebrations there, off-day here

July 4 may be just one more day of hot air and humidity in Chennai. But impact of Independence Day in the US is felt here, in the offshore facilities, such as SlashSupport.

"During the US Independence day week, Americans typically utilise the long weekend and take it easy - taking long drives, visiting friends and relatives," says Mr Shiva Ramani, the company's CEO. "People around Washington area will be participating in July 4 celebrations and most major cities have fireworks in the evening, which is a huge public attraction."

It was on July 4, 1776, that the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence.

"The Constitution provides the legal and governmental framework for the US, however, the Declaration, with its eloquent assertion `all Men are created equal,' is equally beloved by the American people," recounts http://memory.loc.gov, the site of The Library of Congress.

What is the effect of the US Independence Day on a company like SlashSupport that provides technology support, remote system management services and customer support? Celebrations during the week will mean that people use less of technology during this period, and hence there will be a major fall in the incoming technical support request call volumes, concedes Mr Ramani.

However, drop in call volumes is based on the technology line, he adds.

"For instance, we support a leading GPS (global positioning system) device provider in the US, whose GPS devices are being used by people on the road for driving directions, maps and so on. In this product line, we might see higher number of calls as a large percentage of Americans are on the road, travelling," explains Mr Ramani.

"For technical support service providers like SlashSupport, this is a good week for us to engage in all the maintenance works such as technology infrastructure upgrades, scheduled migrations and more," he observes.

"We also encourage our employees to attend technology training programme or take off and spend time with their family."

Thus, a well-deserved break that these IT staff would annually look forward to might well be the US Independence Day. For, aren't men created equal?