Call Center Services India - Attracting business from other countries

Most countries consider India a threat or an opportunity(its the way you look at it) in the call center services and outsourcing business. While America and Europe went to Wales, Ireland, Scotland and such regions before, India has emerged as the front runner in this business, so much so, that they can become a global threat to any country that does not upgrade its skills.

In the latest warning in this direction, a leading economist has warned the Welsh call center services industry that their business will move to India if they do not improve on their skill sets and technology. they also need to concentrate on moving skills up the value chain by constantly investing in training and development.

More on Call Center Services India, tomorrow...

Call Center Services India - A taxing affair!

While the government of India has made it clear that call center income would not be liable for tax payment, call center service providers in India might be caught in another net.

Now, the government is examining whether a non-resident company is liable to pay tax for outsourcing business process to a call center in India. Call center service providers, which often conclude contracts for their clients as dependant agents or agency permanent establishment, will have to look out for the kind of policy that distills out of government boardrooms. The competitiveness of pricing depends on this taxation policy which is not clear at the moment.

If clients of Indian BPO outfits are taxed, they will consider it as an additional cost. This will surely alter the competitiveness of the call center service industry in india with respect to its counterparts elsewhere.

More on Call Center Services India, tomorrow...

Call Center Services India - News

Ebix.com has reported an increase in its revenue from the same period last year. A 21% increase for this international supplier of software and e-commerce solutions to the property and casualty insurance industry in the second quarter, is good news. Comanies sources have stated that this revenue increase is mainly due to their call center services provided, hosted ebixASP services, and consulting services.

Call Center services have become a trend in the outsourcing business with many companies opting for such companies to handle their customer care and support departments. Many American companies use call center service operators from India to get professional customer handling expertise at a fractional cost compared to the call centers in America.

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Call Center Services India - Health services

Market research firm NFO has stated that more than 50% of Call center staff in India quit due to tough working condition. The erratic work hours, accent change, changes in social life and fake identities during work hours have a negative effect on the health of the call center professional.

Call center service providers have set up shop in India because of the low cost and easily available talented work force. The call center staff in India have to work at odd hours because the western daylight hours coincide with Indian nights. This has started having negative effects on their health with stomach and sleep disorders. Call centers that have been able to lure a large portion of fresh graduates to work for them with good pay packets, will face a serious problem of staff health in the future.

This gives an opportunity for the call center and BPO ancillary industry to join hands to create a special health care services industry catering to call centers and BPOs alone. The BPO ancillary industry already has transportation, training, food and consultancy generating a fair bit of revenues. With the call center and outsourcing sector in the consolidation phase, this sector has immense potential to generate revenues on a long term basis.

More on call center services india...tomorrow

Call Center Services India - News

Do-not-call registry to hit business

Call center service providers have become the most cost effective method of co-ordinating telemarketing businesses, but with the recent do-not-call registry, business will be affected. The registry was started to prevent outbound 'nuisance' calls from Indian companies for their American vendors. These calls are normally for selling products that people dont want to hear about.

This curb will affect small telemarketing firms that make calls to attract new clients. Recognized call center service providers in India that have direct contracts with American companies won't be affected directly.

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Call center services india - a new problem for HR.

Call center services in India has emerged as a major industry in the last few years. It has been able to increase the availability of jobs and offer better for fresh graduates than ever before. On the downside, call centers have taken their toll on the individual with high stress levels and burn out. Erratic work hours, assumed identities and fatigue resulting from this has made the call center executive quit due to the tough working conditions. These are the main reasons of the high attrition rates in the call center services industry.

Industry and HR experts are now keen on helping their employees cope with the high levels of stress and workload. In an industry where retention and motivation wane with time, it is a problem that the management will have to solve sooner or later.

More on the call center industry in India... tomorrow

Call center services india - news

State contracting to India viewed seriously

With government agencies in America running on a tight budget, they are using the outsourcing route to get work done at cheaper rates. last year, when South Carolina wanted its unemployment tax system revamped they outsourced it programmers in India. Many such cases of outsourcing to BPOs and call center service providers in India have created discontentment among the legion of Americans who stand to lose their jobs.

Moreover a section of the media has created a fear pshychosis among Americans with news like "United States will lose $136 billion in paychecks by 2015 as it sheds 3.3 million service jobs overseas". This has also created a panic reaction to ban outsourcing to India, but its the only viable method of cost cutting for American companies, at the moment.

Many states in America are trying to pass legislations to protect jobs in the US. This came to a head, when companies like eFunds moved their EBT call center work to India from its call center services operation in Wisconsin. It upset welfare administrators in the state, which contracts with the company for food stamp and welfare EBT.

Undoubtedly America is having its problems with unemployment but until they find solutions to the core issue they will not be able to ban something that is profitable for American companies.

Gartner analysts expect government IT outsourcing to grow to $7.15 billion in 2006, or 15 percent of total IT spending, from about 9 percent this year. This has caused concern in political circles over the outsourcing and call center services sector. but as long as American businesses are making a profit out of it, it will be impossible to build a political consensus on the issue.

Call center services and BPOs in India have become the new controversial subject in America with many of them taking projects that have resulted in Americans losing jobs.

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Call Center Services india - More potential in the future...

As consolidation phase setting in the call center services and outsourcing industry, call centers and BPOs will have to adapt their strategy to innovative business models. They might have to provide ideas to facilitiate outsourcers to increase business instead just implementing tasks provided to them. In a sense, they will be become true outsourcing business process providers rather than just providing 'out-tasking' services.

Call centers, in the future might have to improve, redesign and suggest changes to the entire process they were, until now, just implementing. This can change the entire job profile of the call center industry professional who was doing mundane repetitive tasks until now. It's not just good for the industry but also an opportunity for employees to get more exciting jobs.

India, with its huge talent pool of graduates holding technical degrees, has been and will play a very important role in this transition period. It could also be testing times for change managers to cope with cost cutting and recruitment hassles. But this will surely give call centers their due, in the course of time.

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Call center services india - transition time...

The volatility in the call center services is forcing a consolidation in this sector. Big players are being forced to compete with slashing of costs by some small players by acquisitions. This has become necessary to counter many small players who are in the call center industry to cash in on the boom in this sector. Achieving economy of scale has become very essential in this regard.

In the future, take overs and partnertships will be norm with major players coming under pricing pressure with the downturn in the global economy.

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Call Center Services India - News

With call centers and the bpo business getting into the consolidation phase, big players are getting into the acquisition phase. ICICI OneSource Ltd, an Indian business process outsourcing unit has acquired FirstRing, a Bangalore-based call center services provider with a 650-seat facility. This acquisition takes OneSource's staff to over 3,500.

In the near future it's very likely that one sees many such acquisitions in the call center services domain in India. Many fly-by-night operators entering this industry for short term profits will find it difficult to generate revenues in the long term and might prefer entering into partnerships or becoming part of some other bigger operation.

Call centers and BPO units have sprung up all over india to cater to the huge business in the financial and non-strategic processes from America companies. The competition in the call center services industry from both Western and Indian suppliers in countries such as India, China and the Philippines, is threatening to force consolidation in the market over the next few years.

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Call Center Services india - Fear of unions

Industry experts say that what happened to the monotony of manurfacturing jobs in the 60s, 70s and 80s could happen to the BPO and call center industry. The primary fear in this is that in India most unions are political inclined. This is one of the reasons that call center CEOs should opt for smaller units, say industry sources.
Further, 20% of functions will never be outsourced and the customer will prefer to retain 30% of outsourced function close to shore. That means India’s possibility reaches its limit at 50%.

Call center news - Acquisitions

ICICI OneSource declared its intention to buy FirstRing, a Bangalore, India-based customer-care outsourcing company. It is one of the earliest companies in the Indian call center outsourcing market. Founded in May 1999, it has one 650-seat call center located at Information Technology Park Limited (ITPL) in Bangalore, with 800 total employees. The combined company, which will be branded under ICICI OneSource's name, will have more than 3,500 employees and 2,000 seats in four call centers in Mumbai, and Bangalore, as well as international business development offices in New York and London.

Call Center Services India - from cost cutting to profit center

Call center services in India have started making a mark in every day life. Most of us have interacted with a call center executive sometime or the other, either at the bank or someother service provider. Though still in or about to enter the consolidation phase in India, call center services have come a long way in America and Europe. Starting with the airline industry where it was first adopted in the 70s, call centers went on to a second phase in the 80s, with more productive call center agents. But even then, call centers were still considered an expense, an expense to provide better service, not ever a part of corporate strategy. With the advent of the internet age of the 90s, call centers became for visible and many call centers hit wall street and our daily lives. Outsourcing and call center service providers became the new mantra.

The millenium has brought with it a new vision and strategy and corporates have started using call centers as a part of a more wholistic strategy. Small changes in corporate vision has resulted in huge changes for the call center and outsourcing industry. For example, if a call center executive was seen as a problem solver before, now he/she can even suggest a product to a client if he/she sees the opportunity for a sale. In fact, more profitable customers can be targeted for more human interaction while less proftable customers can be shifted to automated services. So, you have more opportunities to make a sale and optimize the time spent per call. Besides, you also make your employees job more interesting. A satisfied customer, a more stimuted staff, more profits makes for a happy ceo, surely. Common sense used in the corporate world, often becomes a revolutionary idea, emulated by all!

With call centers mushrooming in India and other Asian countries and consolidation right at the corner, it's become pertinent that Indian companies view call centers as near-future profit centers than as just service providers or as a part of corporate strategy. The future of the call center and BPO industry depends on the innovative management practices it can affect...

Call Center Services India - a high potential industry

Plenty of columns and inches of space has been devoted to 'scathing' remarks about the outsourcing and call center industry in India. 'Americans losing jobs', 'America to lose 3.3 million jobs by 2015' are often headlines that cause more panic than is due. America still employs 6.5 million call center workers compared to 0.15 million in foreign countries. So theirs no reason to panic. Everyone will get his share of the booty and a large part of it will remain in the US, in spite of this statistics-created brouhaha.

This trend of outsourcing business processes and call center services in India started in the late 1990s with software jobs moving to India. In recent times, companies have found it a necessity to cut costs to cope up with the slowing global economy. They have also found the potential to get better returns per employee in Asia.

India has always been a country of low wages compared to the US. With starting salaries as low as $174 (Rs.8000) per month India is a goldmine for call center service operations. Added to this, a $2 billion industry of simple but critical jobs has made India the capital of the call center services and business process outsourcing industry.


Call Center Services News

Hinduja Group acquires 930-seat call center unit from Manila-based Benpres Holdings Corp.

Hinduja TMT Ltd. the technology arm of the Hinduja group had said that it was exploring the possibility of acquiring a call center services operation in Philippines. They are also planning to expand this call center seat strength to 2000 agents. The company has plans to expand its IT-enabled services in Mauritius.
Started in 2001, Manila-based Benpres had invested 100 million pesos in the call centre business of Customer Contact.

Call Center Services India - A career option

With the newspapers having atleast one column on call center services and BPOs, most people would consider it as a career option of substance. there are various agencies that come up with mind boggling statistics and call center industry pitches. '50000 jobs by 2000 something' or '$ x billion call center market by 2008' are common sales pitches found in leading dailies. How much of this true, one wonders?

Call Center jobs are the hottest in the market at the moment. Graduates who have a daunting task of searching for jobs can get jobs easily in call centers, as long as they have good English with a neutral accent. This is quite common in metro areas and often can be achieved with training. It has undoubtedly created many more job opportunities for young graduates in India.

On the downside, call center service operators in India cater to the US market and mostly have to work in the night-shift. This has resulted many call center operators with health problems. They, most often, don't socialise enough, to the extent of not meeting friends for months. The social problems caused by this industry might take some more time to come into focus, but it might be incurable by then. Many reports claim that it has resulted in increase in the number of extra marital affairs. More youngsters are smoking to stay awake at night.

In spite of this, call center services in India are profitable and here to stay.

Call Center Services India - News...

As the call center services market in India is hotting up, more companies are investing here. This upward trend in investment will surely benefit charge up the economic scene in India. In the latest news, Silicon Valley VC-firm Sequoia Capital has invested $22 million into the Indian call center services operation, 24/7 Customer. This VC firm has always invested in high-tech companies like yahoo, oracle, cisco and google.

The call center services and outsourcing industry has been able to draw millions of dollars of investments to India and will continue to do so for the next few years.

More on Call Center Services India - news...

ebix.com Inc. receives ISO 9001:2000 certification for its call center services operation and software development units in India. A globalsupplier of ecommerce solutions and software to the property and insurance industry was given the certificaiton for design, development, maintenance and service of software and IT solutions, providing business process outsourcing and call center services including transaction processing, voice and Web-based CRM.

Companies in America are invested in the call center and outsourcing industry to cut costs that they incur by operating from local centers. In countries like India, they get highly talented human resources at one-fifth the price and better quality and performance.

Call Center Services India - News....

With a net 11.6% rise in quarterly net profits, Satyam Computer Services has shown commendably that outsourcing and call center service operations do make a lot of difference to their bottom lines. They are also negotiating for an international fund to invest in their call center services operation in India, Nipuna Services Ltd. It employs 164 people with an initial investment of $4 million in june 2002.

More on call center services india

As many more companies start outsourcing and call center services operations in India, the market is sure to consolidate. Many companies have already upset the apple cart by charging much lesser rates creating a huge imbalance in the market. It might be difficult for them to sustain their projects for such low charges but it sure has affected the prospects of even some big players. Some companies that are in the outsourcing and call center services market for the short term are cutting rates to increase market share. This phenomenon will surely affect the outsourcing market. But as they say, quality of services will be the ultimate deciding factor for outsourcing and call center services. Whether small players will be able to sustain their quality of service and focus on the customer is the big question. This race might result in many players closing shop overnight. The shake down is in the offing. Only time will tell who will survive!

Call Center Services India - reflections...

With the backlash to outsourcing and call center services from America, many feel that the American IT industry is just using this as pretext to blame someone for their economic problems. The core problem they have is their stagnant economy. America is trying to blame the outsourcing industry in India and other countries in Asia for the jobs they have lost.

Outsourcing and call center services are here to stay. The ultimate solution to American woes is to solve their economic problems instead of sending armies to Iraq. The onus is on Mr. Bush!

Call Center Services India - Certifications

Improvement of any industry can be accomplished when best practices are documented and a set of standards are drawn. The role of certifications is essentially in that you can compare your call center services performance to the best practices in the call center services industry. It's important not just to do some process but to also document its methodology.

Industry benchmarks have been set in the call center services industry in India. You can check your call center performance with these standards. Call Center operations certification examines call center service quality and performance. Certifications can help in checking a call center's accuracy in call handling customer and employee satisfaction, problem resolution and correction, and agent staffing and training.

Call Center Operations certifications

There are two call center certifications, the ISO 9001 certication and COPC-2000. The ISO 9001 is part of the 9000-series of quality standards.
ISO certification is a process where auditors from an accredited registrar examine your management process or product. In the US there are several accreditation organizations, such as the Registrar Accreditation Board (Milwaukee, WI).
COPC-2000, a standards program administered by the Customer Operations Performance Center, Austin is for general call centers and technical support desks.

The certification procedure examines the specific service that the call center provides and all the processes that go into it, such as voice, e-mail, fax, US mail handling, agent training, credit card processing and new program setup. Each call center must be separately certified.


Call Center Services India - News

In the latest news on the Call center services front, Ebix.com inc an international supplier of software and e-commerce solutions to the property and casualty insurance industry has received ISO 9001:2000 certification.

After a detailed audit of the company's BPO and development units, the certification was given for design, development, maintenance and service of software and IT solutions, providing business process outsourcing and call center services including transaction processing, voice and Web-based CRM.

Call Center Services India -- onus on American economy

Newspapers writing on call centers and the outsourcing business speak of the cost cutting and the major changes caused by this, in the industry. In the same breath they mention news about Americans losing jobs, as if to say that the onus of outsourcing of business processes and call center operations lies with Asian countries like India. 'Blame the east,they are taking our jobs' could be an apt slogan for American woes.

Reality could be very different though. The American economy is in the doldrums with a worsening political handling of the situation in Iraq. The US President is facing more pressure from European countries, the presidential elections next year and his own soldiers in Iraq to bother about the current deflating economy. To blame any country other than America for their situation is too simplistic.

If the American economy takes a further downturn, more American companies will have to cut costs and the simplest move to do so would be to outsource. At the moment the hottest outsourcing and call center services destination is India.

On the other hand, if the American economy swings back to normal within a few months, more Americans will get jobs and their general frustration over outsourcing to India will be reduced. They will recognise India as a genuine outsourcing destination more on the basis of high quality and skill rather than cost.

So, whether the American economy improves or not, India is sure to gain. India would definitely prefer the American economy to improve as this would help it in the long term. The real consolidation in the call center and outsourcing industry would set in. The small and 'for a quick buck' short term players would be shrugged aside by the industry. It might also result in higher value jobs be outsourced to India. Quality will be the deciding factor rather than the present scenario where lower costs are the bottomline.

This surely is a better scenario to end up with, rather than bitter laws against call center services and outsourcing to India.

Call Center Services India - more role for government...

Call Center Industry sources have admitted that India is the back office of the world. More and more outsourcing jobs are heading for India now and India will be the first country that companies think of while outsourcing their business process. Most companies in the US find India the ideal destination for starting or operating their call center services. With a huge talent pool of English-speaking graduates working at nearly 1/5 salaries compared to the same in the US, the call center services and BPO sector is on a high. Outsourcing to India actually gets companies highly skilled workers, i say highly skilled, because a majority of these workers are often tech-graduates with backgrounds in software or engineering.

Starting call center service operations in India is often a task in itself, what with the numerous permissions required and the prevalent and oft-talked about redtape. But as the govenment has realised the significance of the call center and outsourcing sector, they have taken it upon themselves, atleast in some states, to give all help to investors in this area. States like Karnataka with their now famous IT Secretary, Vivek Kulkarni have taken the task of promoting Bangalore and Mysore as call center destinations. Delhi and Mumbai are already call center havens with some plush offices in the best areas of the city. It is very important that more states use this business opportunity fully.

India has been projected to generate some amazing numbers in the call center and business process outsourcing industry with $ 13.8 billion by 2007. whether these numbers will turn to reality and revenues for companies and generate jobs will depend a lot on how the goverment projects other cities in India and reduces red tapism in getting permissions. Expediting the entire process of setting up a call center shop in India could attract more dollars than any amount of speeches or publicity. It has been estimated that it takes nearly 4 times the time to set up an entire call center operation in India. This might be excused now, with just 3 and a 1/2 years of outsourcing. But as the outsourcing industry consolidates every detail will count.

The goverment will have to make sure that power problems, roads and general infrastructure problems are taken care of. That will create the ideal atmosphere for business. It's time for more action and less words from the government...