Telstra is bringing call centres back to Australia

The next time you call Telstra customer service, chances are you will speak to an Australian representative who is working from the comfort of their home.

The telco is bringing its operations back onshore after customers were hit with long delays last March because of the impact coronavirus had on call centre staff in the Philippines.

Telstra is aiming to have all consumer and business calls answered in Australia within the next 18 months.

READ MORE: Big telcos fight back with budget premium products

CEO and Managing director of Telstra, Andy Penn, said he's excited for the company's new chapter.

"Already we answer about 65 per cent of all calls in Australia," Mr Penn told Today.

"We're excited to bring the call centres back on shore. It will cost us more in the sense we've invested very heavily over the last several years in completely re-digitising a lot of our systems," he added, choosing to not reveal how much the restructure has cost.

"Not only are we going to bring all of our call centres for our consumer and small business customers back on shore, 100 per cent of the operators in those call centres will be able to work from home."

Mr Penn said the decision to allow representatives to work from home wasn't entirely fuelled by the coronavirus — the pandemic merely sped the transformation up.

"It wasn't forced upon us," he said.

"I think the pandemic accelerated digital adoption.

"Going forward, the companies that will be most successful will be those that can offer flexibility to their people to work how they want, where they want, when they want.

"Work is something we do, not somewhere we go. This flexibility is going to be with us for the long-term."

Join the Today show family and give yourself the chance to win great prizes by signing up to our weekly newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday with a special message from Karl and Ally. You can sign up for free here.