More home-based call centers seen rising

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EMERGING TREND
More home-based call centers seen rising
Posted: 3:07 AM | Apr. 01, 2006
Daxim L. Lucas
Inquirer

Published on page B3 of the April 1, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

MOST call centers will evolve over the next three years from present office-based establishments to "on-demand" networks.

These will be based in different locations—including homes—and can offer more services, according to an expert on global trends in the business process outsourcing (BPO).

Speaking to reporters, consulting firm Yankee Group's managing director Sheryl Kingstone said an emerging trend in the BPO sector was the use of so-called on-demand and hosted models.

These will define the next generation infrastructure for outsourced call center operations.

Kingstone visited Manila this week to discuss industry trends in the information and technology sectors and the future of call centers in the Philippines and India.

On-demand or "software as service" (SaaS) is a software delivery model that allows companies of any size to build a contact center anywhere in the world without the large, upfront investments normally associated with putting up a call center business.

Instead of focusing on the physical infrastructure as in most call centers in the country today, the on-demand delivery system allows any establishment to deliver customer relations management services using the software of a host company through the Internet.

A relatively new model, SaaS allows a company to reduce the maintenance, daily technical operation and support of business and consumer software.

According to Kingstone, corporations will be challenged to keep pace with technology requirements and their associated costs.

As such, outsourcers will require better technology.

"Businesses will not choose an outsourcer with outdated technology," she said "Sophisticated business will demand sophisticated capabilities to meet customer requirements."

She said another industry trend is the increasing use of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) in outsourcing.

She predicted that call centers and BPO companies would begin to switch to VoIP in the near future to slash costs and offer more services.

VoIP allows the transmission of digital voice data over the Internet.

This allows users to make phone calls using broadband Internet nconnections instead of regular phone lines.

Kingstone said on-demand delivery and VoIP are two outsourcing models which have evolved to offer sophisticated services, and not just "butt-in-seat" services.

One company that enables call centers and BPO firms to fully tap the features of VoIP and on-demand models is Five9 Inc., an international call center solutions provider that has chosen the Philippines as the site of its regional headquarters in Southeast Asia.

Last year, Five9 introduced its virtual contact center product which allows small organizations to start a call center with minimal capital.

It is currently used by over 1,000 clients worldwide.