Monday, June 30, 2003

Call Center Services India... News in June!

KANA, customer support software vendor has released its KANA Service 8 software application for multi-channel contact center management. It outsourced development of the product to Accenture in its US and India.

Peoplesoft announced that its adding a new component to its CRM Suite. Its called Predictive Analytics for Customer Relationship Management, and it's available in the market. It is a tool that uses sophisticated analytics to transform complex data into useful information; that information, in turn, can be used to make real-time decisions that increase customer profitability and retention.


Challenges faced by Small Call Center Service providers

Managers of small Call Centers often find it more tough to manage than large callcenter service providers. With tough workload dynamics, agents in small Call Centers have to be jack-of-all trades handling multiple tasks many a time with much lesser resources than large call center service providers.
The challenge is to not let the work volatility and unforgiving schedules affect your work and maintain high standards in the Call Center's Services.


Some of the largest Call Center Services providers in India that have leading outsourcing operations are:
Spectramind : http://www.spectramind.com
24/7 Customer : http://www.247customer.com
Daksh : http://www.daksh.com
ICICI Onesource : http://www.icicionesource.com
Transworks : http://www.transworks.com
Vcustomer : http://www.vcustomer.com
iSeva : http://www.iseva.com

Saturday, June 28, 2003

Call Center Services India - Training your call center representative

Your call center rep often needs to be trained in customer interaction essentials,
after all, "what he/she speaks is what he is". He/she has to be trained in communication and people skills, its all about speaking intelligently, politely, emphatically and not sound like an answering machine.

You will have to train your call center rep to operate the phone set, desktop and software to manage call flow.Your call center rep has to understand your business, without knowing what you are selling, he/she will be deficient in beringing true value to his job.

Last but not the least, time management skills give your call center rep the edge in getting you more business. Its not just about the job, but about the perception you give the client when you keep a call on hold, your availability(if you take a break) and how productive you are with client list given to you.

Training your personnel for better performance will increase your chances of better client handling in the Call Center Services industry.

Call Center Services India - Six Sigma scenario

Call Center and BPO companies in India are using COPC(based on Malcolm Baldrige) as a BPMS(business process managemenet system) to get industry specific metrics and processes.

Indian cos have the fasted adoption in the world, with more than 25% of 3rd party of call center and BPO capacity in India, COPC certified.

Call Center Services India... News!

Cincinnati based, Convergys Corp. was presented the Call Center of the Year 2002 award in this years, Call Center Demo and Conference event in Orlando. With its operation in India, Convergys has set a high standard in quality and cost effectiveness in the Call Center Services Industry. It has also adapted to India's cultural pratices and ethos the call center magazine said.

Friday, June 27, 2003

Call Center Services India- Gold rush, Bubble or bust!

Since the dawn of time, money has been a motivation to achieve and conquer new frontiers. Before, it was land and gold, now it is business. The latest trend is Call Center Services, which have become the hunting ground for many a young graduates' careers.

While the US market shows Call Center Services as a stop gap job option, in India many young graduates find it a challenging long term option. With the number of Call Center Service providers in India increasing, it has become a gold rush where youngsters find a challenge.

While Call Center Services have become a trend many believe that it could become an extension of the dot com bubble. Will it burst? When will it? Cynics wait, while others make money. Industry sources come up extravagant statistics to show upward trend and how it is the next "Big thing" in industry. In the latest round of talks on this subject, as per the June Business Today issue, Call Center managements think that this industry is here to stay.

All trifles apart, any "trend" remains a viable business if it undergoes continuous change, correction and improvement. Change could be in technology, telecommunication, management methodologies or business models. As long as positive changes happen, the Call Center Services in India will go on, as long as they are economically viable options. Change management in the Call Center Services industry is going to be deciding factor for their survival!

Thursday, June 26, 2003

Call Center Services India - A look at the Business analyst at work!

Call Center Service providers hire business analyst for number crunching and data analysis. He/she has to have strong analytical skills, public speaking and spreadshhet and database skills.

The business analyst of a Call Center Service Provider has to be a number juggling and throwing machine; helping with strategy development. He/she can make or break a project with his numerous multi-colored charts and numerical vocabulary.

If you are planning on a career in the Call Center Services sector in India, you get to be part of a team that improves Call Center performance. You prioritize projects that can make a difference to the Call Center Services industry in India.

Call Center News...

Call Center Agents get lifeline from the Customer-relationship management and billing software vendor, Amdocs Ltd. It has released the Amdocs ClarifyCRM 12 with a new Customer Interaction Manager module, improved order-management capabilities, and predictive analytics for more targeted marketing and selling.

It will help by integrating to the billing systems. Next time round, billing inquiries and adjustments can be resolved in the first conversation between the customer and the company. Will it revolutionalise the Call Center Services industry? Only time will tell!

More on Call Center Services India...tomorrow

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

Call Center Services India - a 'night'mare!

Call Center Service operators in India hire graduates with a clause that they won't mind working in the night shift. With a 10-12 hour time difference between India and the US, most employees have to slog it out in the night while their saner counterparts in other saner jobs sleep. This has created many social and health problems. They not only don't have a social life but also go against a biological cycle developed since the dawn of time.

Doctors also find that they are getting more patients from the Call Center Services industry nowadays than ever before. Health problems related to work stress can only increase in the future with increasing competition. Well, at least doctors can make some profit out of it!

The bottom line is that Call Center Services are helping business, the financial situation in India and giving fresh Indian graduates an opportunity to start a career without too much of a struggle. The Indian government is also removing red tapism and giving permits for new Call Center Services to start operations in India. In the long run, this can be profitable for other sectors as well and can improve the general business scenario in India.

Hopefully the Indian government will create many more cash cows like the Call Center Services sector! Lets hope for the best!

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

Call Center Services- Customer service representative!

One of the main focuses of a Call Center Services provider is to handle customers for their clients. Due to reducing profit margins and an uncertain business environment, it has become important to be able to retain and build a mutually beneficial customer relationship strategy. It is not longer just a now-on, now-off interaction with clients but a process that has to be sustained to realise and maintain standards that a client wants. This calls for experienced and qualified people to be at the helm of Call center customer service departments. Call Center Customer care has become an industry of its own.

Call Center Customer Care representatives need to interact directly with customers using the various forms of communication like telephone, email, text chat, mail and fax. They have to be comfortable with computers and handle transaction processing.

The pre-requisite for a 'Call Center Customer Service representative' job is not just excellent communication but good voice quality, grammer and an articulate manner. Telephone etiquette, sales skills, conflict management skills and excellent people skills are the qualities just right for this profession.

If you have any of the these qualities, head for the Call Center Customer Services department!

Monday, June 23, 2003

Hiring in the Call Center Services market in India- a hotbed of oppportunity!

When Call Center Service providers set up shop in India, they started hiring Science, Commerce and Arts graduates with good communication skills. As the Call Center and BPO trend caught on, the need for graduates with excellent communication skills has just multiplied. With 25 CTI(Computer Telephony Integration)-enabled call centers and 300-500 non-CTI call centers in India, the job market for not just domain expertise but also graduates is hotting up.
British Airways' subsidiary has hired about 750 people and is going to hire 800 more, and GE has 1000 seats at its Gugaon facility.

From telesales, teleservicing, customer service representative, supervisor or team leader, technology specialists, Call Center Managers, call center executives to training manager, training delivery, workforce scheduler, quality monitoring or quality assurance team member, business analyst (reporting and financials), process specialist, human resource (hiring and recruiting), information technology specalist and Call Center Director, the job opportunities in this sector are enormous.

Today we will discuss the profile of Call Center Services Manager. A Call Center Manager is the main man of a call center. He/she manages the day to day operations of a call center, sets operating goals, monitors and optimizes performance, creates synergy between departments and interacts with clients on a regualr basis. His role involves managing training, Quality Assurance, hiring and IT support, he's the epicenter of every call center activity. He(she) should be an astute leader and should have experience in people and tenology problem resolution.
With varied skills, he/she can make his Call Center operations a huge success and set a standard for Call Center services industry.

Lots more Call Center hiring news and job profiles coming up next...

Saturday, June 21, 2003

Graduates head for the Call Center Services market in India!
With a mammoth investment of $325 million in the call center services industry, Nasscom is upbeat about the future of the BPO business. It also predicts that call centers will add an additional 35,000 to 40,000 seats and a growth of $17 billion in the call center and IT enabled services market. Its raining dlollars for india!

GE gives graduates a kick start for their BPO careers with a fifth call center in either Kolkata, Kochi or/and Chandigarh. These are offbeat cities which can be exploited for their cheaper infrastructure costs and large english speaking talent pool.

Texas at Austin based Dell Computer Corp is not far behind with a 1000-seat call center in Hyderabad. They plan to provide services like technical support and outbound direct marketing for their parent company. They have plans of hiring 2000 people with approximately 150 per month. It sure will give lots of graduates a challenging career option.

Another call center big bro with major plans on the blocks is London based Foresight group's Supersight Ceequence Technologies Ltd (SCTL), which plans to start three more call centers by 2006 with over 2000 seats. Its set up a call center in Chennai with 150 seats at a cool $2 million initial investment. With almost no interference and red tape from the Indian government, they plan to milk this cow to the fullest with an investment of $22 million for their 3 call centers in Mumbai, Bangalore and Gurgaon (NCR).

Friday, June 20, 2003

Call Center Services India ... News

Miami-based Epixtar Corporation announced plans to set up a call center in Calcutta, West Bengal by early November. With an investment of $5.3 million for a 1000 seat center, they have major plans to upgrade it to 2500 seats by 2005. They plan to use the IT talent pool in the region to good effect. They also get to exploit the low cost of living, reliable infrastructure and ready access to the rest of Asia.

Talk about cost cutting in the Call Center Services Industry of India!

When eFunds moved its call center from Green Bay, Wisconsin to start an Indian operation, it saved more than a buck or two. They cut salaries from $10 to $12 an hour to the rupee equivalent of $2 to $3 an hour.

More news from the Call Center Services front!

Prudential has invested $10 million in its Indian arm, Prudential Process Management Services to create one of the largest Call center service providers in India. it has constructed a 100,000 sq. ft. service center in Mumbai, India, which it plans to expand to 850 employees by mid-2004.

Call center Services boom!

Call center services include a broad range of services. From highly-trained professionals responding to telephone calls to the outsourcing of back-office work likeconfirmation of airline tickets, processing of medical transcriptions, insurance and credit card claims. Call center services have become an asset that any corporation needs to increase revenue in credit card processing, billing and debt collection, retail banking, telemarketing, mail-order shopping, hospitality help desks and telecom services.

From data warehousing, quality assurance, testing, maintenance and software development, india has come of age in the call center industry. the call center market is expected to go many fold from its $ 277 million in 2001 to $1.59 billion in 2006.

Call centers have cropped up in many places in india. From being a no-no for investments it has come to a stage where the government and many indian companies are in the process of building call centers in cities as varied as bangalore, delhi, calcutta and mumbai. Wipro, Infosys, Spectramind, Mphasis and many other companies famous more for their software skills have ventured into building a clientele for their call center operations.

The Sep 11 and the SARS incident have added to the confusion, with many companies shying away from international travel. they prefer to outsource their projects from countries like India, Singapore and Hong Kong. India having the largest pool of English speaking educated folk has become a haven for the call center and business outsourcing market.

In spite of signs of lowering business trends due to the indo-pak conflict ,the call center business seems to be improving. J D Edwards announced recently that it was planning to open a development center in Chennai with Convansys. A partnership between ClientLogic and ITC is on the cards with major plans of opening a multichannel contact center in Bangalore. With 203 of the top Fortune 1000 companies outsourcing business to India, theirs no chance of a let down in this business.

VSNL, India's telecom gateway to the world has over the decade created a superb network with more than 1200 high-speed leased circuits besides 64 kbps links and 2 Mbps links for videoconferencing. This has changed the face of commucation and the call center market. The various STPIs and infrastructure built over the early to mid 90s have come in handy in setting up call center operations.
With improving technology the Call Center Services industry in India can just get better!