Indian Call Center

8/6/2019 Indian Call Center

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SECTION D

STUDY OF INDIAN MARKET

Business Process Outsourcing- The New Growth Sector

Global outsourcing spending is projected to top $1.2 trillion by the

end of 2003.

Globally, outsourcing spending is increasing by 11 percent per year.

Two thirds of the outsourcing spend is in large Fortune 500

companies.

Two-thirds of outsourcing spending is in the US.

Shrinking margins will force more companies to break with tradition

and consider BPO to reduce operating cost.

A lot of demand is expected to be generated by HR processes

especially payroll Management

In India , ITES-BPO segment registered a growth of 59% to reach Rs.

113bn (US $2.3 billion)

According to current industry estimates, India commands more than

90% of all offshore outsourcing in IT services

ITeS contributed 25% to the total IT Software and Service exports

from India during FY03


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Captive ITES-BPO players have almost doubled their share in Indian

software exports, growing by a phenomenal 90% in last financial year

ITES-BPO segment is projected to register a growth of 54% to clock

revenues of US$ 3.6 billion during FY2003-04

The ITeS industry is expected to grow to Rs. 810bn in 2008.

What to outsource to India?

Forward-thinking companies are realizing the importance of the holistic

approach to IT strategy, where information is regarded as an essential tool

for furthering business. However, these skills may not be available to you in-

house.

If you've been tearing your hair wondering how to find someone to write

XML for you or update your website or answer customer queries, don't give

up. You'll find that India is well-equipped with qualified and experienced

people to provide IT services and IT enabled services. You can tap them

through Outsource2India's network of strategic partners, technology

specialists, and service providers.

Scan the following categories to see the outsourcing potential in India.

IT Services

Software development services

Application development and management


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Re-engineering

Conversion and migration (across platforms/ languages/ versions)

Data warehousing and mining

Embedded systems

E-commerce applications

Data Entry

Data control audits

Regular reporting of work systems

Data entry software and validation tables Dispatch of data to the customer

Double keyed data (when required by the customer)

Proof checks

Programming

C, C++, VisualC++, Java, Javascript, Java Beans, Java Server Pages

(JSP), Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), ASP (Active Server Pages)

Visual Basic

Microsoft Access

Novell Networking

EDI and Integration

Bar Coding and Hand Held Data Collection

DOS, Windows 95/98/2000, Windows NT

Business and Industrial Systems

Support of spreadsheets, word-processing and various 3rd party

applications


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Defined Contribution/ Defined Benefit administration and customer

service

Health claims administration

401(k) plan record-keeping

Human resources

Asset management and staffing

- supplement your existing e-business staff

- access both management and technical assistance on a long

term or monthly basis

Infrastructure

Communications and messaging

Upgrading and configuring message management software

Launching an XML strategy

Integrating e-business messages with CRM, ERP and legacy systems

Managing change as your e-business programs and business systems

evolve

e-business operations

management and day-to-day operation of EDI infrastructure

creation and management of a new XML strategy

e-marketplace development

ERP integration

communications monitoring

trading partner management

order processing

workflow enhancement, evaluation and benchmarking

application hosting


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system implementation and integration

system maintenance

upgrades

backups

disaster recovery

Communications and Networking

Telecommunications

Computer telephony

Internet telephony

e-solutions

Media and Entertainment

Advertising

Film-making

Animation

Printing and publishing

Consulting services

Photography

Web Development Services

Portals

e-commerce consulting

e-business IT consulting

Domain registration


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Website design and redesign

Website promotion

Web-enabled applications

Website maintenance

Web hosting

Operations

e-marketplaces

web applications XML and EDI operations

implementation assistance

security administration

monitoring data traffic

generating activity reports

troubleshooting problems

creating any necessary maps

system support

help desk

Relationship management

Customer Care Services

customer acquisition

customer activation

customer retention

cross-selling/up-selling


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inside sales

surveys and polling

Community Management

Managing your ongoing partner relationships

opening e-business channels with new vendors and customers

meeting with partners

defining e-business requirements

establishing the rules of play

educating them on benefits, security measures and day-to-dayprocedures

Medical Transcription

Patient history and physical reports

Clinical notes

Office notes

Operative reports

Consultation notes

Discharge summaries

Letters

Psychiatric evaluations

Laboratory reports, x-ray reports and pathology

On-site services

On-site assistance

System setup and testing, software installation


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Preventive maintenance

Communications and network testing

On-site and depot hardware repair

These are just samples of several outsourcing services that are available in

India. Outsource2India is a marketplace that will put you in touch with

reliable vendors who will deliver the results you want, within your deadlines

and budget.

When you run your eye over the list on this page, you'll find lots of things

you can outsource, so that you can do what you do well, even better.

Oursourcing in Software

The Indian software industry has grown from a mere US $ 150 million in

1991-92 to a staggering US $ 5.7 billion (including over $4 billion worth of

software exports) in 1999-2000. No other Indian industry has performed so

well against the global competition.

Outsourcing software requirements depends mostly on quality of services,

and quality has continued to remain a prime edge for Indian software

companies. According to the NASSCOM survey, the Indian software

industry continued to win recognition for its quality in software development

over the last year. Out of the top 400 companies, more than 250 have already

acquired ISO 9000 certifications. Out of the 54 companies in the world that

acquired SEI CMM Level 5 certification, 27 companies are located in India.


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The annual growth rate of Indias software exports has been consistently

over 50 percent since 1991. As per the projections made by the National

Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) for 2000-

2001 (April 1, 2000 - March 31, 2001), Indias software exports would be

around $ 6.3 billion, in addition to $ 2.5 billion in domestic sale.

(US $ million)

1995-

96

1996-

97

1997-

98

1998-

99

1999-

2000 2000-01*

Domestic

software

Market 490 670 920 1250 1700 2450

Software

Exports 734 1085 1750 2650 4000 6300

Indian

Software

Industry 1224 1755 2670 3900 5700 8750

(* Source: NASSCOM Report)

Today, India exports software and services to nearly 95 countries around

the world. The share of North America (U.S. & Canada) in Indias software

exports is about 61 per cent. In 1999-2000, more than a third of Fortune 500

companies outsourced their software requirements to India.

NASSCOMs survey during 1999-2000 indicates a reversal in the mode of

services offered by India. In 1991-92, offshore services accounted 5 per

cent and on-site services 95 % of the total exports. However, during


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1999-2000 offshore services contributed over 40 percent of the total

exports.

Exports of $50 billion in 2008

Outsourcing in IT-Enabled Services

Indias strengths in the software market also lie in its pursuit of new

opportunities. In fact, two key segments that are expected to open up over

the next few years for India are e-commerce and remote processing.

Opportunities in e-commerce software solutions are emerging as a major

area of growth in the Indian IT software and services industry. A recent

study undertaken by The Boston Consulting Group for NASSCOM clearly

stated that India can earn revenues of US$9 billion from e-business solutions

by 2005.

IT-Enabled Services, or Remote Processing, has emerged as the next

major driver of the technology services industry. Call centers and business

process outsourcing is emerging as the next wave of growth in India. The

McKinsey study indicated that India will earn $18 billion in revenues

through these services and create additional employment of one million

jobs. Already companies like GE Caps, British Airways, Swissair, American

Express and British Telecom are using Indian companies for these services.

The IT-Enabled Services segment currently employs around 70,000 peopleand accounts for 10.6 percent of the total IT software and services industry

revenues.


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India IT Software and Services Industry

US$ billion

Source: NASSCOM

A study conducted by renowned consultancy firm McKinsey and Co., for

NASSCOM, has proven why India is becoming the offshore software

development out-sourcers destination of choice. According to the

NASSCOM-McKinsey study, the Indian software industry is expected to

gross US$50 billion in exports in 2008! This is based on an average growth

rate of 35 percent per year. The industry is well placed to achieve this target


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India is Best positioned for cross

border IT services

Source : NASSCOM-McKinsey Study

Indias success in the software arena is attributed to the software industrys

knowledge and expertise in cutting edge technologies and skilled manpower

base. Both these strengths are likely to contribute towards the industrys

future growth.

In fact, Indias prowess in emerging technologies is also helping the

software and services industry obtain new customers, even in the face of a

debilitating U.S. economy slowdown. There is only one way that the Indian

software industry is headed and that is up. The coming years will only

reiterate this trend.

The segments within ITES that will witness tremendous growth include

back office operations, remote education, data search, market research

and customer interaction services. As per Nasscom-McKinsey report


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The Government of India has announced a special policy for call

centers

Many state governments in India are offering incentives and

infrastructure for setting up IT enabled services.

A comparison amongst some countries in Asia Pacific based on these factors

highlights the following: (Ratings are on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being the

lowest and 3 the highest.)

Country Workforce

Market

Access

Local

Market

Infra-

structure Cosmopolitan

Cost

base

New

Zealand2 2 - 2 3 2

Kuala

Lumpur1 2 - 2 2 2

Japan 1 2 1 3 1 3

Hong

Kong 1 2 2 2 2 2

India 3 2 2 2 3 1

1 denotes low; 2 denotes average; 3 denotes high

Source: Mckinsey & Co

Outsourceing of call center

India commands 90% of IT offshore outsourcing


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The call-center services sector in India is the part of the booming

outsourcing industry flourishing in India. A report by research firm Gartner

suggests that India grabs more than 65% of the global outsourcing market. In

another report on current industry estimates, India commands more than

90% of all offshore outsourcing in IT services. Of all, call-center services

market attracts most of offshore firms.

The call-center services in Indiaare amongst the most economical as well

as reliant for US corporate market. India is the call-centers hub for some of

the major companies from US and Europe

Last few years have seen India as cheap-hub to outsource businessby the

giant companies mainly from United States of America as well as some

European Nations. Call Centers in India have grown manifolds - partly the

result of broad outlook of Indian Government, the Low Cost Structure, and

Technically Vibrant Workforce along with numerous other reasons.

Outsource Business Process can be defined as handling the management

and optimization of ones business to a third party to lower stress and

demands of the business management. This Third Party logistics are based

on the companys credentials and outlines to abide strategies and procedures.

The Call Center Industry estimated to grow into $301 billion industry by

2010 is a sheer pleasure for the aspiring workforce in India. Indians have

tactfully managed to produce quality assurance in the areas of Database

Management, customer service help line, helpdesk services, handling credit

and billing problems, entertaining complaints from the customers with
http://www.telegenisys.com/http://outsourcingtoindia.blogspot.com/http://www.telegenisys.com/http://www.telegenisys.com/http://outsourcingtoindia.blogspot.com/http://www.telegenisys.com/


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personalized solutions along with numerous other chores that arises within

business operations.

Call Centers in India has also effectively developed a niche in the areas

of data verification, data capture, Tele research, service follow-ups and

renewing subscriptions, which becomes the core outbound activities of a

call center. Unless there is talented enough manpower to handle such

queries, no business organization will make a move. Thus India have

taken a leap step in Call Center Industry, which in recent have been the

home more developed nations like Australia, New Zealand, and

European nation.

India is all set to register the highest growth rate in call centre services

industry in Asia Pacific region. Recently conducted survey on Information

Technology Enabled Services (ITES), predicts, there are currently more than

150 call centres operating in the country, inclusive international and

domestic. This industry in India went into an overdrive after the release of

NASSCOM-McKinsey report which predicted that IT-enabled services

would account for a mammoth $17 billion business a year. Why this sudden

gold rush in this industry? Despite the imminent shakeout, 'call centres will

be larger than the IT industry in the next eight years,' predicts Sandeep

Gulati of Renasonic. It is widely believed that this industry is expected to

compensate for the loss of revenue for the software industry. With

increasing competition, reducing margins and increasing customer

expectations, organisations are looking for tools to serve the customers

better which resulted in the mushrooming of call centres. The report also

predicts that IT-enabled services in India might generate 1.1 million jobs and

Rs 810 billion in revenues by the year 2008. Currently, the industry is


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growing at the rate of 30 per cent annually and will employ over 2.5 lakh

English-speaking Indians in coming seven years. The growth in this sector is

phenomenal in India. With US and European companies looking at countries

like India and Philippines for outsourcing their non-critical back-office work

and transaction processing the critical issue would be how fast existing call

centres can build its operations to meet overseas requirements. A study by

the International Data Corporation (IDC), predicts that India will clock over

50 per cent of compound annual growth rates until 2005, which will be

ahead of China's 40 per cent plus growth rate. Currently, more than 10,000-

seat in the country handles an average of 45-80 calls per seat per day. The

cost of investment per seat varies from Rs 5 to 8 lakh is required for setting

up a state-of-the-art call centre with 100 to 300 seats. Revenue per seat

ranges from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per month. Most of the companies are

poised for a big growth. Some of the major players which have already

ventured into the bandwagon are GE, American Express, E-funds,

Spectramind, Msource, Air Infotech, 24x7, e-Serve Technologies (HCL), E-

Serve International (Citibank), Exl Services, First Ring, Brigade, Bharti,

Daksh.com etc. The list is endless. Hoping to achieve at least a seven-fold

increase in its revenue several companies are investing heavily.

Current salaries in the BPO world in India


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o Customer Care Representatives [CSRs]: Rs 7,500 - Rs 11,500

per month

o Team Leaders: Rs 16,500 - Rs 24,500 per month

o Managers: Rs 3 lacs - Rs 5.5 lacs per annum

o Training Heads: Rs 8 lacs - Rs 12 lacs per annum

o Training Managers: Rs 5 lacs - Rs 8 lacs per annum

o Trainers: Rs 2 lacs - Rs 5 lacs per annum

Note: Rs 1 lac = Rs 100,000

Competitor of India

Philippines boasts of strong skills in finance and accounting. The

other countries India is competing with are Mexico, Canada and

Ireland. In terms of cost, Philippines and Malayasia are competitive

with India.

BPO Competitors of India

Country USP Limitation

PhilippinesUnderstands the US market;

voice work; low attrition

More expensive than

India; small talent pool

Canada,

Ireland,

Australia

Understands the US market;

high-end skilsHigh costs

South Africa

Time zone similar to

Europe; 25% cost saving,

good for niche work

Skill shortage

China Low costs Quality of English not


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Finance & Accounting Services 15.0

Translation, Transcription & Localization 2.0

Engineering & Design 1.2

HR Services 5.0

Data Search, Integration & Management 44.0

Remote Education 18.0

Networking Consulting & Management 15.0

Website Services 5.0

Market Research 3.0

Total 141.2

Source: NASSCOM McKinsey Study India IT Strategies

In that the opportunity for India will be $ 17 Billion.

Indian ITeS industry employed more than 100,000 people in 2001-

2002. This industry clocked approximately 70% growth last year is

expected to grow similarly in 2002-2003.

Global Market size estimates of BPO

o $712 billion in 2001

o Gartner/Dataquest: $ 544 billion in 2004

o Gartner: $173 billion in 2007, of which $24.23 billion would be

outsourced to offshore contractors

o IDC: $300 billion in 2004

o IDC: $1.2 trillion in 2006

Indian Market size estimates


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Indian Market size estimates of BPO

o Nasscom has estimated that the Indian ITES industry will gross

over $5.7 billion by 2005 (based on a conservative year-on-year

growth of 65 percent by Nasscom).

o Nasscom-McKinsey: In 1999 they estimated by 2008 it will be

$17 billion but it has been revised to $21-24 billion by 2008.

Indian can capture 25% of global BPO offshore market and

12% of the market for other services such as animation, content

development and design services.

o Gartner: $1 billion (2002), $1.2 billion (2003). $13.8 billion by

2007. Gartner does not incorporate animation, medical or other

(legal) transcription services, GIS, market research, data search,

research and development, network consultancy and other non-

business processes in its estimates on the ITES market size and

potential.

Revenue

\ Year2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 CAGR

Offshore

BPO

Revenue

1,322 1,825 3,017 6,439 12,563 24,230 78.91

Indian

BPO

Revenue

912 1,205 1,961 3,928 7,412 13,811 69.35

Total

BPO

110,167 121,687 131,171 143,090 157,033 173,070 9.45


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Market

CAGR in % 2002-

07

Figures in $

million

Source: Gartner Dataquest (May

2003)

Revenue areas for Indian BPO companies

India's BPO Market in 2008

Service LineFirst Estimate

(1999)

Second Estimate (2001)

HR 5.4 3.5-4.0

Customer Care 4.1 8.0-8.5

Payment Services 2.9 3.0-3.5

Content

Development2.6 2.5-3.0

Administration 1.3 1.5-2.0

Finance 0.7 2.5-3.0

Figures in $ billion

IT Services is the largest contributor to the exports pie.

Year ITES IT Services

1999-2000 14% 86%

2000-2001 14.5% 85.5%

2001-2002 19% 81%

2002-2003 24% 76%

Source: Nasscom


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Few companies are into both IT and BPO. What percentage of the

revenue is contributed by BPO?

Company June2002

Sept2002

Dec2002

March2003

June 2003

Mphasis 16.48% 21.71% 22.61% 25.24% 28.9%

Wipro 4.85% 5.78% 6.81% 7.785% 8.61%

Infosy 0.027% 0.23% 0.85% 1.01% 1.175%

Digital

GlobalsoftN.A. N.A. 1.454% 3.53% 5.9%

HCL Tech 5% 5% 6% 9% N.A.

BPO sector performance in 2002-2003

As on March 31, 2003, the sector employed 171,000 professionals. It

has $1 billion invetsed in it, creating about 100,000 smart cubicles in7.5 million saq ft of space. It generated revenues of $2.3 billion in

2002-03.


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Benefits for OUTSOURCE TO INDIA

India has the largest English speaking population in the world after the

United States.

Principal language for the business transaction is English.

India has the fastest growing pool of expertise.

High availability of English speaking & educated customer care

professionals.

India has a huge number of computer literates.

Indians are highly reliable and can deliver world-class quality and ensure

rapid delivery of service.

They are increasingly adapting to international quality standards.

The country is moving towards next generation telecommunication

technologies.


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The Government of India has recognized the potential of IT-enabled services

and has taken positive steps by providing numerous incentives.

Indian companies can provide call center services to clients based in the U.S.

or the U.K. at less than half of what it costs in U.S., U.K. or Australia.

Per employee cost in USA is approximately $40,000 while in India it is only

$5,000.

Comparison of India Vs US BPO operating costs

US$ Cost per FTE

(Full TimeEmployee)

UnitedStates India India as % of US costs

Personnel 42,927 6,179 14%

G&A Expense 8,571 1,000 12%


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attributes, India gives foreign investors the additional advantage of an

affordable location.

"You save considerably setting up an operation in India," says Keith

Fiveson, managing director of IT Enabled Services Alliance, a New York-

based consulting firm that helps foreign investors set up sites in India.

"Generally, you can save anywhere from 30 to 50 percent on administrative

costs setting up an operation in India."

India intends to be a major player in the call center arena, as indicated by the

current construction of a telecommunications network. Restrictions have

been removed for foreign direct investment into business-to-business e-

commerce and telecom and teleservices.

"Up until a year ago, in order to do any business in India, you could not have

a 100-percent stake in your investment," notes Fiveson. "You had to have a

49 percent stake with an Indian firm." Many foreign firms are also

partnering with Indian companies to set up centers, among them firms such

as The Godrej Group and The Hiranandani Group. The latter firm, a

construction giant, launched call centers at Powai in Mumbai for automobile

export firms.

"With the awareness increasing for greater customer service, the demand for

call centers is bound to grow," notes Priya Hiranandani, a director with his

namesake group.

Fiveson also notes the Indian government is offering incentives for call

center jobs, approximately $1,000 per job per year. While that doesn't sound

like an enormous amount of money, it amounts to a substantial sum in a


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country where most call center employees only make $3,000 per year.

Fiveson notes that the supply of highly educated workers and a low demand

creates these low wages, but he hastens to add that this is not subsistence

pay.

Supply-and-Demand Economics

"It is not because they are treating people badly. It is due to supply and

demand economics,".

"You're talking about a country where you can feed a family of four for

about $5 to $10 dollars a day."

The Indian government has also established tax-free zones. These areas

allow foreign firms setting up new locations to bring into the country

without penalty goods such as computers and furniture. Local Indian

governments are also helping establish technology parks near areas such as

Goa, with telecom infrastructure in place.

Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay and within the Indian province of

Maharashtra, has been the site of numerous major back office investments.U.S. companies such as GE Capital, Dell Computers, Oracle and Citicorp

have located in the area. Some of these firms have retained outsource

partners, while others are maintained by the companies themselves.


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"We want American companies to know they are welcome additions to our

broad-based economy," says Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister of the

province. "Maharashtra is determined to create a knowledge-based

economy."

India also offers firms a huge pool of well-educated workers without

preconceived notions about working in a call center. Companies have

discovered Indian employees do not associate working within the call center

industry with a negative stigma and are committed to building a career

within the business. The salary costs for skilled workers are among the

lowest in the world, and it is not uncommon to find supervisors with

advanced degrees.

"This is still one of the largest English-speaking populations in the world,"

notes Fiveson. "The quality and ethic of the workforce is much higher and

you have a six day work week here."

Call center service providers are also offering American English courses to

their employees, to allow them to be more familiar with American

terminology. Service providers are also aware of quality issues and many

offer certification programs to their employees.

"You will see in India more certification than nearly anywhere else in the

world and more adherence to call center practice standards," adds Fiveson.


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Top 9 ITES Cities of India

New Delhi, August 6, 2002: oNASSCOM, the apex industry body of

Software and Service Companies in India, today, revealed the findings of an

extensive study conducted in association with Netscribes to assess the

competitiveness of nine Indian cities as destinations for IT Enabled Service

companies. The three-month long study evaluated the top nine cities

including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi,

Mumbai (including Navi Mumbai), Pune and NCR (Delhi, Noida and

Gurgaon). The cities were assessed on factors such as manpower

availability, real estate, telecom infrastructure, policy initiatives, power

infrastructure, city perception and entrepreneurial history.

Speaking on the study, Mr. Kiran Karnik, President, NASSCOM, said,

"About 90% of all ITES companies in India are concentrated in nine major

cities while others have not been able to

attract more than two companies each. Our

study reveals that despite a large number of

ITES companies being based in Mumbai,

NCR and Bangalore, these cities are facing

increasing competition from other cities.

Cities such as Hyderabad, and Kochi are

emerging as attractive ITES destinations

primarily due to rapid improvements in

infrastructure (power, international bandwidth and urban transportation) and

lower manpower costs due to lower cost of living and lack of alternative

employment opportunities in these cities."

RANKING OF INDIAN ITES

CITIESCITY RANK HYDERABAD 1KOCHI 2CHENNAI 3KOLKATA 4AHMEDABAD 5BANGALORE 6MUMBAI 7

NCR 8PUNE 9


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According to NASSCOM, the ITES industry in India is experiencing the

third wave of growth; both in terms of geographical areas of operation and

services offered

In the first phase, the industry was dominated by captive centers of

large multinationals such as GE, American Express, and Swiss Air

who set up operations in leading metros of the country such as Delhi

and Mumbai

In the second phase, the growth of the industry attracted numerous

entrepreneurs (in many cases, employees of multinationals who quit

their jobs to set up their own ITES ventures) again in and around

Delhi (NCR) and Mumbai (including Navi Mumbai)

The third phase of growth has been more geographically dispersed -

with new locations emerging such as Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore,

Chennai, and more recently, Kochi.

The growth has been driven by three factors:


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The desire by state governments to attract entrepreneurship, which

resulted in the former offering attractive policy environments and

incentives

The rapid improvement in key infrastructure such as power, telecom

bandwidth, and real estate in newer locations

The need for ITES companies to lower operating costs (especially

employee costs, and transportation)

According to the report's findings, Hyderabad has emerged as the most

competitive city for ITES. Chennai, Kochi and Kolkata too rank highly in

their infrastructure offerings, policy incentives, and low cost manpower

availability though not at the same level as Hyderabad. On the other hand,

Ahmedabad, which ranks highly on availability of low cost manpower, loses

out on competitiveness as a result of weaker policy incentives and

infrastructure availability. Bangalore, Mumbai, NCR and Pune ranked low

in infrastructure availability, policy support and availability of low-cost

manpower.

"Given the potential of the industry to create jobs and generate foreign

exchange, NASSCOM will actively work with the various state governments

and ITES companies in order to create a conducive policy environment and

a world class infrastructure to develop the ITES industry in different states",

stated Mr Kiran Karnik, President, NASSCOM.


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Highlights Concerns

Telecom Pune, Ahmedabad and

Bangalore have direct

international bandwidth.

All cities expect Kolkata

have tele-density in

excess of 14%.Power The variance in the ranking

comes due to the tariffs existing

across various cities. Kochi has alow tariff of Rs 3/unit and it goes

as high as Rs 4.97/unit in

Mumbai

Pune, Bangalore, NCR

and Kochi experience pre

scheduled power cuts.

Real Estate Increasing real estate cost have

pushed NCR and Mumbai down

the 'affordability' list.

There is a large variance

in the rates within larger

cities, for example real

estate cost in Mumbai

ranges from Rs 287 to Rs

50 per square feet per

month. However the

variance is lower in cities

like Ahmedabad and

Pune and thus they areranked higher in real

estate.Manpower Manpower cost varies depending

on the city's cost of living. The

city's attractiveness also depends

on the number of trained

manpower.

Manpower cost is as high

as Rs 51.59/hr in Mumbai

as compared to Rs

17.04/hr in Kochi.

Perception Perception plays an important

role while deciding the location

of a new units. Bangalore ranked

high because of the state's IT

policy.

Kolkata, Ahmedabad and

Kochi lag behind in the

IT initiatives undertaken

by the government.

Recent riots at

Ahmedabad has harmed

its perception even more


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In order to assess the competitiveness of different locations, the relative

importance of parameters such as telecom and physical infrastructure, IT

orientation and policy support provided, each city was ranked on a scale of 1

to 10, in order of increasing importance. Weights were then assigned to each

of the factors. Multiplying the rank for each factor with its particular weight

and then dividing the sum total of all the factors for each city by the total

weight derived the score for each city. The study also highlights the

importance of qualitative parameters such as entrepreneurial culture and

perception of policy environment. It is important to note that these are

indicative scores and the attractiveness, or otherwise, of a city could also be

a function of a company's business mix and strategy. To illustrate, a

company in the inbound call business would have to invest significantly in

training its employees in accent neutralization, thereby offsetting the lower

employee costs in a particular city.

ANNEXURE: Findings of the NASSCOM ITES Super Nine Study:

Though the 'Super Nine' cities have already herded a number of ITES firms,

there are many areas that need to be addressed to make them globally

competitive. These requirements vary from city to city.

Ahmedabad

According to the profile of the ITES companies operating in the city,

Ahmedabad is strong in website services and Web applications, call / contact

centers and back-office operations. However, in other services such as

database management / development, data processing / management and

network management/remote maintenance, the city is relatively weak,

though it has the telecom infrastructure to support these services. This shows


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that the manpower available in the city is best suited for call / contact centers

and back-office operations. In order to attract the entire range of ITES

companies, the city needs to address

The recent communal riots have raised security concern for

businesses. The government needs to address the issue proactively if it

has to attract ITES companies

Though the city's power infrastructure is reasonably good, the same

can't be said about the public transport system

Though power is not a major problem in the city, the cost of power is

one of the highest in the country. This reduces the competitiveness of

products and services coming out of the city

The city has a fairly good educational infrastructure, however many

students migrate to Mumbai each year in search of better prospects.

This drain needs to be stanched to retain local talent

Bangalore

Though Bangalore has got a range of ITES companies, it seems to be

stronger in the call / contact center, transcription, and back-office operations

services. However, perhaps because of its IT-orientation, the city has also

been able to attract a reasonable number of companies into database

management / development, data processing / management and engineering,

design, and GIS services. Given this, the city should still be able to attract

other forms of ITES companies. However some of the issues that need to be

looked into are:

The city's infrastructure, especially power and telecom, are not

keeping pace with the IT expansion. While the government promises


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Hyderabad

Though the city scores high on infrastructure and policy, it has been able to

attract only certain kinds of ITES companies. The current ITES population

in the city is favourable towards engineering, design, GIS, and data

processing / management / digitization and seems to lag in the contact center

and transcription businesses. The following are the issues that should sit atop

the state government's priority list:

The Andhra government is aggressively marketing Hyderabad as a

choice destination for ITES companies. Thus, it has to take much

greater care of the city's infrastructure

The city's public transport infrastructure can definitely stand

improvement.

The state's ITES policy is perhaps one of the best in the country and

puts a lot of emphasis on quality manpower. The government must

now deliver on those intentions and support institutes that train

manpower suitable for ITES

Accent is a major problem that needs to be addressed through training

support

Kochi

Kochi is an upcoming city in Kerala and is aggressively being promoted by

the state government as an IT destination. Though it doesn't have any ITES

companies of significance yet, it holds a lot of potential to attract many. The

city needs to address the following infrastructure issues:


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Though it has the lowest power tariff among the Super Nine, it still

experiences some power cuts

Like most cities in India, Kochi lacks a decent public transport

infrastructure.

Compared to its larger brethren, Kochi has only a few colleges. As

ITES companies would mainly hire graduates, the state needs to

ensure abundant supply of trained manpower

Kochi loses out in the perception game. The government needs to

ensure that the city moves up this scale to start attracting new

businesses

Kolkata

The profile of the ITES companies in Kolkata suggests that it is relatively

strong in data processing / management / digitization and back-office

operations. However, in other areas, the city hasn't been able to attract many

companies. The government needs to address several issues, especially on

policy, to attract companies from other kinds of services. Some of these are:

The main issue that needs to be tackled to place Kolkata firmly on the

ITES map is perception

Although the state government is aggressively promoting Kolkata as a

destination for ITES firms, it needs to do more. Offering more

incentives - possibly following the Andhra model - and showcasing

the success stories coming out of the city could be the first step

toward achieving this

The state also needs to increase its tele-density, and bring it at par

with other leading cities


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Despite the government's sops for ITES units on the FSI norms, real

estate rates in Pune are not that low

Call Centers in India

In order to meet the growing international demand for cost-effective,

customer-oriented call centers, many organizations worldwide are

outsourcing these services from locations like India. India has intrinsic

strengths which can make it a major success as an outsource destination:

A booming IT industry, with IT strengths recognized all over the

world

The largest English-speaking population after the USA

A vast workforce of educated, English-speaking, tech-savvy

personnel: A boon in a high-growth industry faced with a shortage of

skilled workers

Cost-effective manpower: In a call center operation, manpower

typically accounts for 55 to 60 percent of the total cost. In India, the

manpower cost is approximately one-tenth of what it is overseas. Per

agent cost in USA is approximately $40,000 while in India it is only

$5,000.

Technical support: India graduates about 100,000 engineers each year.

These can be used in call centers for troubleshooting/tech support as

the salaries are dramatically lower than in Europe or the US. The Government of India has recognized the potential of IT-enabled

services and has taken positive steps by providing numerous

incentives.


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The presence of most international technology vendors and solutions

would enable creation of most advanced set-ups in this technology-

intensive segment.

One company in India proposes to harness the high-quality technical support

available here by hiring 300 Ph.D.'s to provide very high-end consulting

through videoconferencing/telephone. Given these advantages, India could

build a $17 billion industry by 2008 according to the NASSCOM McKinsey

Report.

Call centers in India are on upsurge as US and European market is

constantly seeking economical services in their drive to reduce cost of

operating their business. This has opened fortunes for service vendors who

have tapped the burgeoning contact center from west especially USA.

Outsourcing to India registered almost 60% jump in the last fiscal. Since

professionals in India are good at English and are backed by the concrete

Info Tech infrastructure in the country choosing profession as a call center

executive is luring new breed of fresh graduates.

Call Centers in Indiahave shown advantage over their counterparts from

US due to some peculiar reasons. Professionals in Indian Call Centers

constitutes of youngsters when compared to European and US experts. Eager

to learn they are more energetic and dedicated than the professionals from

those countries. This gives a distinctive advantage to them for providing

better advantage while working at Call Centers.

How large is the call center industry in India?
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There are 25 CTI(Computer Telephony Integration)-enabled call centers and

300-500 non-CTI call centers in India. British Airways' subsidiary employs

about 750 people and is expected to hire 800 more, while GE has 1000

personnel at its Gugaon facility.

GE in India: an outsourcing success story par excellence

A large part of GE's business in India is in remote processing centers.

Success stories like GE's provide tremendous encouragement to both the

Indian entrepreneur as well as potential business partners from overseas.

GE positions its call centers as "productivity enhancers". According to GE,

companies could be spending two-thirds or more of their time on things that

have to get done but have little to do with what makes their business

successful.

GE Business Productivity Solutions offer companies services and software

that help them grow revenue faster than expenditures by reducing resources

and time devoted to "back office" processes.

GE Capital International is employing over 1,000 people in its Center of

Excellence at Gurgaon near New Delhi in India. The Call Center facility at

Hyderabad is expected to be ready for use by March. These Centers provide

IT-enabled business process outsourcing services to GE and non-GE

customers around the world. GE's business objective is to consolidate back

office processing into India for client organizations and to deliver quality

services at competitive cost.

Business Solutions

GE Capital India Business Solutions focuses on three areas:


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Axa Global 350

Source: Nasscom ITES directory September 2002

Rankings of call centres based on revenues

Ranking of Call Center & BPO players

1 Wipro Spectramind

2 WNS Group

3 Daksh e-services4 ExlService (I) Pvt Ltd

5 HCL Technologies BPO Services

6 Convergys

7 GTL Ltd

8 MsourcE India

9 Hinduja TMT

10 ICICI OneSource

11 Sutherland Technologies

12 Epicenter Technologies

13 Zenta Technologies

14 24/7 Customer

15 Datamatics Technologies

Source: Nasscom

Number of employees Vs revenues sector wise in India


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Government Incentives for Call Centers

The government of India has recently released first set of Terms/Conditions

for Call Center operators in India. The new policy initiatives are broad based

and are aimed at liberalizing the Call Centers operations in India. These

initiatives were announced through the Press Note dated 16 July'1999 issued

by Department of Telecommunications. Amongst its salient features are:

The Call Centers are being permitted on non-exclusive basis against

the requests received from IT Service Providers. These Call Centers

can be international Call Centers or domestic Call Centers. However, no interconnectivity of the international and domestic Call

Centers is permitted. But interconnection of two domestic Call

Centers of the same company is permissible, subject to prior written

approval from DoT.

The International Call Centers will be permitted on IPLC`s

(International Private Leased circuits) only and will cater to calls from

foreign end PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). However,

no PSTN connectivity will be permitted at the Indian end. On Indian

end, even linking to any private or public network is not permitted

even if it is of the same organization.

The domestic Call Centers can have PSTN connectivity at one end or

both end or at multi-points in a more complex configuration, with

only incoming and with outgoing disabled at all places where PSTN

termination is provided.

No other interconnectivity, except as permitted as above, with any

public or private network, shall be permitted to the Call Center setup


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Guidelines from Department of Telecommunications

In India, Call Centre operators have to get a no objection certificate from

Deputy Director General (Customer Relations) at Department of

Communications, Government of India, New Delhi. This NOC is granted

with the aim of granting a special permission to use voice circuits over

international gateways with the dedicated and stated purpose of serving

overseas customers, and accompanied by an undertaking that it will not be

connected to a PSTN within India.

The Government of India has released a set of Terms / Conditions for Call

Centre operators in India. The new policy initiatives are aimed at liberalising

Call Centre operations in India. Some of the salient points of the policy are

as under:

The Call Centres are being permitted on nonexclusive basis against the

requests received from IT Service providers. These call centres can either be

international or domestic in nature.

However, no interconnectivity of the international and domestic call

centres is permitted. But, interconnection of two domestic call centres

of the same company is permissible, subject to prior approval of the

DoT.

The International Call Centres will be permitted on IPLCs

(International Private Leased Circuits) only and will cater to calls

from foreign end PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Netweork).

However, no PSTN connectivity will be permitted at the Indian end.


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At Indian end, even linking to any private or public network is not

permitted for IPLC, even if it is of the same organisation.

The domestic call centre can have PSTN connectivity at one end or

both ends or at multipoints in a more complex configuration, with

only incoming and with outgoing disabled at all places, wherever

PSTN termination is provided.

No other interconnectivity, except as permitted above, with any public

or private network, shall be permitted to the call centre set up.

Nasscom welcomes the above initiative announced by DoT. This is expected

to give boost to proliferation of call centres in India. However, there is a

strong need to permit PSTN connectivity at the Indian end, to international

call centres as well as for software companies in India (who provide

software support from India). This is important not only for large

establishments of international call centres ( a great source of export revenue

and employment) but also to encourage software companies to enable their

employees to perform as teleworkers. Nasscom is presently working with

concerned authorities to resolve this issue. It is also desired that domestic

and international Call Centres be permitted interconnectivity. Actually, there

should be no distinction between them.

ECONOMICAL ISSUES

Indian IT industry is on track to achieve its long term aspirations of US$ 50

billion in export revenues by 2008 and remain the pre-eminent destination


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centers, back office processing, etc. India is also the first country to see

significant third party activity.

Philippines and China could pose the strongest competition to India and

challenge India's supremacy in the medium to long term. Only China and the

Philippines, other than India, have a sizeable, low cost talent pool, which

could meet global ITES manpower needs. Governments in both countries are

taking significant steps to improve their attractiveness for the ITES industry.

Other countries like Malaysia, the Caribbean, South Africa, Hong Kong, etc.

have seen some ITES activity. However, the small size of their talent poolsand lack of reference customers severely constrains their ability to emerge as

hubs.

The Indian ITES industry is set to move well beyond contact center, low-

skilled work driven by the early success of the first movers. Capturing the

opportunity will require players to crystallize their business models and

develop tailored value propositions.


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New Delhi, October 9, 2003: NASSCOM (The National Association of

Software and Services Companies), Indias apex body of software and

services sector today released its report titled, The Impact of Global

Sourcing on the US Economy, 2003 2010. The report highlights how the

US economy will see significant benefits from global sourcing.

Mr. Kiran Karnik, President NASSCOM said, The report was

commissioned by NASSCOM to help understand the impact of information

technology and increased globalization on the US economy. A

comprehensive analysis of economic parameters such as GDP, productivity

and income levels was carried out to arrive at the projections.

The report outlines the cost-savings and increased flexibility that global

sourcing will provide to US companies, thereby keeping them competitive in

the global marketplace. Forecasts for the US indicate an annual GDP growth

of 3.20%, which will lead to an increased demand for labor. However, the

US will face a domestic labor shortfall of 5.6 million by 2010 due to an

aging population, which can potentially cost the US economy $ 2 trillion if

appropriate measures are not taken well in time.

Evalueserve Inc., a full-service business research firm, interviewed

worldwide economists and offshoring experts to produce the 80-page report.

Additional information was gathered from statistics and forecasts available

with the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the US Bureau ofLabor Statistics.

"Frankly, the results are compelling," says Marc Vollenweider, CEO,

Evalueserve. "The study clearly shows the necessity of offshore activity to


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SOCIAL ISSUE

Job

Though Call Centers prefer graduates, most of them do show leniency to

undergraduates if they have excellent command over English.

One has to be prepared to work in shifts, mostly in the nights to keep up

with the working hours of the client.

One has to have a great appetite for customer satisfaction as tremendous

attention is focused on customers in this industry. CRM (Customer

Relationship Management) covers the client's entire business: customer

acquirement, customer support, direct marketing and collections.

Pluses

As a fresher one could start his/her career in an International Call Center as a

Call Center Executive and earn highly attractive pay packages ranging from

Rs. 6,500 to Rs. 10,000 per month other than bonuses for outstanding

performances.

Starting as a Call Center Executive, the next rung in the hierarchy ladder is

the position of the Team Leader. The Team Leader will handle a group and

will be responsible for the team's performance. A Team Leader earns

anything between Rs.15,000 to Rs.25,000 and reports to the Asst. Manager-

Call Center. The Asst. Manager handles a group of Team Leaders and takes

home a salary of Rs.30,000 to Rs.40,000 a month. The Asst. Manager in turn

reports to the Call Center Manager. The Call Center Manager will be

responsible for all the operations in the Call Center and the pay cheque will

be anything between Rs.50,000 to Rs.60,000 per month.


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There is also the facility of pickup and drop from your doorstep at the

expense of the company. With an estimated industrial growth rate of 100 -

300 percent there is tremendous opportunity for one to climb the career

ladder in this field. As more and more fresh talent foray into Call Centers,

the inflow pushes the existing workforce up the order.

Minuses

The element of monotony involved in the work, initial stagnation and

restricted job options are often highlighted as the negative aspects of call

center jobs.

Constantly working in the nights could also take a toll on ones health often

resulting from inadequate sleep and untimely eating habits.

Positives outnumber negatives

While looking at the positives and negatives, one could observe that the

positive aspects of call center jobs outnumber the negatives. In these days of

recession, layoffs and downsizing, how can one just say 'no' to a career in an

industry, which is ready to welcome enterprising freshers wholeheartedly?

Yes, monotony could be an issue, but on close observation one would realize

that every job involves monotony and it is the way one approaches the job

that makes it lively. The integral nature of any job cannot be changed much

and one would have to work around it.

In an attempt to help people enjoy work, call centers today take extra efforts

to make the workplace lively and interesting with parties, get-togethers,

competitions and so on. Extra care is also extended to those working in night


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shifts to make sure that they do not fall victims to diseases emanating from

lack of proper sleep and untimely eating habits

Although India's call center industry is thriving, its employees are not

impressed.

The nascent business is witnessing high rates of employee attrition, making

industry leaders sit up and take note.

TheNational Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM)

recently formed a special task force to address that issue, along with how to

ensure availability of skilled talent in the long term.

"The current average rate of attrition faced by the industry is between 30

percent to 35 percent," Ashu Calapa, vice president of Icici OneSource, said

recently at an industry meeting in Bangalore. "If you compare attrition rates

for a voice and non-voice process, then attrition rates are significantly lower

in a non-voice process."

Indian call centers currently employ about 160,000 professionals, who

assume pseudo names and answer calls from U.S. customers. They have to

learn foreign accents, work at night to cater to U.S. time zones, and adjust to

an altered social and family life.

These factors, unique to the call center work environment, were cited in a

recent study as reasons for the high churn of employees and their perception

toward their work. These employees also face the risk associated with

working in a new industry.
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"All this, in totality, seems to be impacting professionals in the way in which

they lead lives and the long-term prospects of continuing careers in call

centers," said Manesh Mathew, director of PeopleEquity Consulting, a

human resources firm based in Bangalore. "The inherent nature of the job is

such that it is monotonous and lacks challenge."

India's call center industry, often locally referred to as information

technology-enabled services and business process outsourcing, accounts for

a quarter of all software and service exports from the country, according to

NASSCOM. The market grew 59 percent to $2.3 billion between 2002 and

2003. Total employment in the industry is expected to reach 600,000 by

2007, according to IDC India.

PeopleEquity and NFO India, a part of the U.S.-based consultancy NFO

WorldGroup, conducted a study on call center employees, interviewing

1,000 workers at 19 leading call centers including GE, Citibank, Transworks

and Convergys. These units are mostly located in Bangalore, Chennai,

Mumbai and Gurgaon near New Delhi.

The survey results indicated that although employees are aware of the

unique demands of the job, they are not prepared to handle the "work-life

balance." They believe their employers are not doing enough to reduce stress

at work.

Furthermore, employees don't look at their jobs as a long-term career option

and have low expectations of professional growth within the industry, the

study showed. Most of the workers are well qualified or even overqualified.

For instance, the survey found that 9 percent of employees hold M.B.A.
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degrees. Units in Chennai employ the highest number of engineers and

workers with a master's in computer applications.

The study noted that although employees don't complain about their salaries,

they have a lurking feeling that they are not "being paid as per industry

standards."

Suren Singh Rasaily, a senior vice president at NIIT, said at a NASSCOM

meeting last month: "We are encouraging companies to adopt responsible

behavior in order to ensure that the industry does not become a victim of its

own actions."

Health hazards for call center professionals

There is a whole bandwagon of multinational corps establishing in India

especially forCall-Center operations. From GE Capitals arrival in 1997 till

date, numerous corporate firms have started their Call-centers in India.

These include Microsoft, DELL, Oracle to name just a few. While there is a

whole conglomerate of MNC evolving in India the professionals working in

such call-centers are coping with hazardous health problems to comply with

US working hours.

The growth rate of forcall-center in India can be directly proportional to

the loosing health ofcall-centerprofessionals. This sounds very absurd but

the US working hours clashes with Indian sleeping time. Approximately 11

hours time difference means to accommodate US operations such as

personal calling, the professionals have to work at night. This is creating

severe health problems as severe as miscarriage, menstrual problems etc.

Besides headache, orthopedic trouble, digestive disorders are very common
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among such people. Call-centers in Indiaare making some great sacrifices

to post an impressive economical growth.

TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUE

Unparalleled Challenges in the New Call Center Industry

Today call centers employ 1.6% of the European work force and 3% of the

work force in North America, making the industry a larger employer than

the automobile industry on two continents. Five trillion dollars has been

invested in call centers worldwide. The industry accounts for nearly a trillion

dollars in sales annually. Between 1994 and 1999 the percentage of Fortune

500 companies with call centers more than doubled, from just over 40% to

83%. There are currently over 150,000 call centers worldwide, located on

every continent but Antarctica, and the number is growing by 17% per

annum.

Between now and 2004 the call center industry will be required to meet

distinct challenges. The first will be to transform the call center into a multi-

media center.

The phenomenal rate of public take-up of the World Wide Web, ComputerTelephony Integration (CTI ) and the convergence of the Publicly Switched

Telephone Network (PSTN) and the Internet are presenting call centers with

challenges and opportunities unlike any the industry has faced in the past.
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create a ripe market for value-added services that handle the queuing and

routing of IP traffic in the network for the call center industry.

Convergence

By 2004 the entire global PSTN, right down to the phone line into peoples

homes, will function in an environment where bandwidth is no more an

issue than electricity is today.

The advent of inexpensive, widely available broadband access to the Internet

is underway. Over the forecast period cable, ISDN and ADSL technologies

will become common in all major urban centers in the industrialized world

and a large portion of smaller cities. A number of Telcos are positioning

themselves for participation in this new convergent market through the

acquisition of cable companies and television production companies.

This Report reviews how call centers, due to their dependence on the

integration of telephones and computers, are a prime focus of both network

and IT convergence. The migration of call processing capabilities into the

core of the telecom network is being aggressively pursued by every

networking and telecommunications company we have reviewed.

Data Protection

It will potentially become much more difficult to engage in cross selling.

Data protection and privacy regulations being implemented in the European

Union will have a major impact on call centers, particularly outbound sales

operations, because they will restrict the ability of call center operators to

use information collected for one purpose and using it for another.


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These regulations will put severe restraints on transferring such information

to third-party countries, including the United States, particularly when they

do not have the same level of data privacy laws, although different countries

would apply them with different levels of severity.

This Report probes whether these restraints will affect the evolving North

American call center business model when it is applied in the European

market

Important New Insights:

This Report uncovers the key issues that are most prevalent in new global

wireless markets and provides an intelligent analyses of the solutions both

proposed and implemented. For example,

Companies must enter new markets at an early stage to maximize

their profits in new markets with limited competition and high

wireless subscriber growth.

A modest wireline infrastructure and substantial consumer base does

not necessarily translate into great consumer demand for wireless

services if the country is mired in systemic corruption, sporadic

network construction, and widespread poverty.

Strong economic growth is not the only determinative factor for

successful market entry and growth opportunities. The readiness of a

population to accept existing and newer technologies must also be

considered.


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Wireless companies wanting to enter newly emerging markets must

be sensitive to domestic conditions that are vital for surviving in a

market where social norms are critical to business success. The

national business climate in each region is influenced by political,

social and economic norms that are unique to the region.

New entrants must either take advantage of limited licensing

opportunities or acquire an interest in an existing network. Late entry

into an already existing market limits the opportunities to acquire

market share.

This business intelligence Report provides invaluable insights into how to

exploit the opportunities and counter the threats likely to be created in this

lucrative marketplace over the next five years.

Key Findings:

Consumer demand in emerging markets outstrips the ability of

antiquated wireline infrastructures to meet these demands. This

accelerates governments' commitment to increase the availability of

national telecommunications systems through wireless solutions.

The early entrants into the Colombian, Peruvian, and Chilean markets

have all developed strong market positions and benefited fromincreasing subscriber bases. The Spanish company, Telefonica de

Espana, entered the Chilean market in 1989, guaranteeing them a

dominant market position in a market that now has an estimated 1

million cellular subscribers.


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technology needs, vendor selection, and the possibility of increasing the

efficiency of a technology project by rethinking the organisation beforehand.

The technological systems choices while setting up call centres include:

a. Entry options ranging from traditional voice, e-mail, internet forms,

web triggered calls, fax and video

b. Desktop tools including knowledge based systems (AI), electronic

documentation, new contact management applications and CTI and

screen based telephony;

c. Resource locations ranging from home agents to centralised or

decentralised centres;

d. Service options ranging from self-help or assisted services via

Internet, voice response units, fax back systems, and electronic

technical support forums. Introducing the right technology will benefit

every component of a call centre including training, staffing, scripting,

customer relations, tracking and reporting etc.


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SWOT analysis on Indian ITES sector

Strengths

o Highly skilled, English-speaking workforce.

o Cheaper workforce than their Western counterparts. According

to Nasscom, The wage difference is as high as 70-80 percent

when compared to their Western counterparts.

o Lower attrition rates than in the West.

o Dedicated workforce aiming at making a long-term career in

the field.

o Round-the-clock advantage for Western companies due to the

huge time difference.

o Lower response time with efficient and effective service.

Weaknesses

o Recent months have seen a rise in the level of attrition rates

among ITES workers who are quitting their jobs to pursue

higher studies. Of late workers have shown a tendency not to

pursue ITES as a full-time career.

o The cost of telecom and network infrastructure is much higher

in India than in the US.

Opportunities

o To work closely with associations like Nasscom to portray

India as the most favoured ITES destination in the world.


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o Workers in British Telecom have protested against outsourcing

of work to Indian BPO companies.

o Other ITES destinations such as China, Philippines and South

Africa could have an edge on the cost factor.

For today's high-tech call center, people, technology and process are truly

integrated. The loss of any of the key elements - whether accidental or

deliberate - can put call centers at risk.

Risks to People

Successful call centers base their success on how well their staffs perform. If

call center staff members are unable or unwilling to perform their assigned

tasks, the call center is at risk.

Risks to Technology

Call center systems such as ACDs and IVR are at risk from fires, floods, loss

of power, system failure, component failure, loss of data (with no backups),

vandalism, and human error. Voice network services are at risk from cable

cuts, power failures, security breaches, and service interruptions. Data

communications equipment at risk includes routers, hubs, switches, and

power supplies. Data network services, such as switched or private circuits,

or Internet-based services, face the same risks as voice networks. Business

applications require hardware, such as mainframes, mid-range systems, and

servers, plus business applications, utilities, and web-based programs.

Threats to hardware are the same as for telecom equipment, while human

error, viruses, security breaches and theft of information threaten software.
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Risks to Process

Without documented procedures on how to operate, call centers cannot

function smoothly. The overall business process, e.g., Customer

Relationship Management, is comprised of numerous sub-processes and

functions, each of which link together in various combinations.

If we examine call center operations, we can see that loss of any of the key

elements - whether accidental or deliberate - can put call centers at risk.

Guidelines for setting up a Call Center

International -- which handles customers of clients who are based outside India.

Interconnectivity with other network/DTS Links at India is not

permitted. The PSTN connectivity is permissible only at the Foreign

end and not at the Indian end.

Separate Earth-Station is not permitted since VSNL is providing

International Private Leased Circuit [IPLC] link.

FIPB Clearance, Foreign equity, NRI involvement, e-commerce

activity & legal Connectivity, with Foreign end collaborator are to be

provided with an application.
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complete end termination details and addresses, along with the

connectivity to any private or public network at each of the proposed

locations.

Document required for submitting the application:

The application can be submitted on the letter-head of the applicantcompany. Following documents are required along with the application:-

International Call Center

1. Demand Draft of Rs 1000/- drawn in the name of "Pay & AccountsOfficer (HQ), DoT", toward the processing fees.

2. Address of the locations of the Indian end and foreign end where theIPLC would terminate.

3. Bandwidth of the IPLC.

4. Number of seats in the Call center.

5. Memorandum of Article of Association of the Company

6. Schematic diagram of the Call center layout with equipment details

7. Name of the foreign clients ( in case the company has not tied up withany foreign client this can be given before the start of the service)

Domestic Call Center

1. Demand Draft of Rs 1000/- drawn in the name of "Pay & AccountsOfficer (HQ), DoT", toward the processing fees.

2. Address of all locations connected with leased lines or where incomingonly PSTN lines are terminating.

3. Bandwidth of the leased lines.

4. Number of seats in the Call center.

5. Memorandum of Article of Association of the Company

6. Schematic diagram of the Call center layout with equipment details

7. Name of the clients ( in case the company has not tied up with any clientthis can be given before the start of the service)


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Indian Domestic call center pegged @ Rs1,000 cr

The domestic call center outsourcing business is estimated to be in the range

of Rs 1,000 crore by 2005. Sandip Sen the founder and CEO Customer First

Services said, This does not take into consideration any sudden burst in

sectors like retail or HR and administration outsourcing."

The outsourcing market for voice based customer support for the estimated

30 million subscribers is pegged at Rs 200 crore by 2005. Add other sectors

like BFSI, FMCG, consumer electronics, automobiles, information

technology, manufacturing, etc would easily elevate the business of the

domestic call center outsourcing to more than Rs 1,000 crore.

Apart from telecom and banking sector, the travel industry is emerging as

the biggest contributor for the domestic call center industry. With the

airlines beginning to outsource call center work, word is out that the railway

is also considering outsourcing their telephone and online reservation.

With India being looked as a desirable destination for technical support by

most of the IT companies, it is only apt that the country is home for

technical support of the domestic demand as well. Customer First supports

Epson, BPL and Wipro Infotech and is poised to grab more from the IT

industry.

PageLink, Spanco, Orion are some of the call centers vying for the domestic

pie along with Customer First. Besides, HLL, Reliance and Tata

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Customer First is the largest domestic player with a revenue of Rs 7.1 crore

for 2002-03. It plans to add 450 new professionals to its 700-strong

workforce by the end of this fiscal

Transition Process


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The call center industry is booming - growing at 20% - 30% per year! As

companies increasingly recognize that call centers are a strategic asset,

staffing agent positions with qualified employees becomes a major

challenge. And in an industry that bewails turnover of 50% -100% per year,

call center managers are looking for innovative ways to retain valued

employees. Remote Agent programs have proven to be very successful at

retaining talented agents in hundreds of leading corporations. Companies

such as American Express, Hewlett Packard, Circuit City, Travel One,

Deloitte & Touche, Netscape, Compaq, World Travel Partners, Aegon

Insurance, SunTrust Banks and many others are benefiting from equipping

their remote agents with MCK EXTenders. MCK EXTenders enable

employees to work from their homes or satellite call centers with seamless

access to the call center's PBX and ACD system. An agent working remotely

has all of the tools - both voice and data connectivity -- to the call center's

operations. Calls are routed to remote agents and managers can monitor the

agent exactly as if the agent were in the call center.


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PBX Gateway 1

Description:

PBX Gateway in 8 or 12 ports

This PBX Gateway can be configured to run on IP transport or traditional circuit-switched

and frame relay networks. Remote employees are able to use the same full-featured digital

sets and access corporate PBX functions, like voicemail, call accounting systems, unified

messaging and ACD sytems.

Supports MCK Extender 6000 and 4000.

PBX Gateway 2

Description:

PBX Gateway with 24 ports

This PBX Gateway can be configured to run on IP transport or traditional circuit-switched

and frame relay networks. Remote employees are able to use the same full-featured digital

sets and access corporate PBX functions, such as voicemail, call accounting systems,

unified messaging and ACD sytems.

Supports all MCK Extenders.

MCK 6000 Extender

Description:

Multiple Users Extender

The MCK EXTender 6000 for Branch Offices is a multi-user customer premiseequipment capable of extending voice services and applications to branch offices or call

centers over circuit- and packet-based networks. The MCK EXTender 6000 is easy to

install and maintain, with centralized and remote management tools for flexible

administration.

The MCK EXTender 6000 for Branch offices/Call Centers enables you to provide full


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corporate PBX capabilities over an existing data network, making voice and data

convergence a reality.

MCK 1000 Analog

Description:

Single-User Extender

Workers can now fully access corporate tools from any location. Information workers have

come to expect full data access. Now you can expand that access to include full voice and

data support in one box. Remote workers use the same deskset they use in the office, with

transparent access to all the PBX/KTS funcitions.

The MCK EXtender 1000+ provides off-site employees full access to their PBX/KTS overanalog dial-up or leased line connection. Simply connect to MCK EXtender 1000's to each

other for single-user scenario or connect multiple EXtender 1000's to the PBX Extenders

located at the corporate site.

Supports ACD software packages and call accounting, allowing statistics to be

monitored on remote workers, simplifying phone expenses.

MCK 3000 ISDN

Description:


Workers can now fully access corporate tools from any location. Information workers have

come to expect full data access- and now you can expand that access to include full voice

and data support in one box.

The MCK EXtender 3000 comes in two models; Model T and Model E. Model T uses the

second B channel to emulate a terminal adapter allowing users to connect via a PPP dial-up

connection. Model E uses the second B channel for data transmission through a 10Base-T

Ethernet connection.

Supports ACD software packages and call accounting, allowing statistics to be

monitored on remote workers, simplifying phone expenses.


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.

MCK 4000 IP

Description:


Teleworking has become a strategic advantage for many companies, allowing them to

recruit and retain skilled employees, save money on real estate and increase employee

productivity. But to be truly productive, remote workers need access to the same set of

tools at their home that they have in their office; high speed data connectivity and a

feature-rich telephone system.

The MCK Extender 4000 utilizes a teleworker's existing IP network connection through a

router or DSL modem, other remote access device or a company's private network to the

corporate voice and data systems.

MCK Extender 7000

Description:

Multi-User Extender for branch offices and call centers.

With the MCK Extender 7000, you have instant acces to the corporate PBX/KTS system.

Although the system may be located across the state, country or world, you make and

receive call as if both the PBX/KTS and the local telephone company (aka Local Exchange

Carrier or LEC) were at arms length.

The MCK Extender 7000 also enables any phone connected to the central PBX/KTS to usethe branch office's local lines resulting in significant telecommunication cost saving for the

organization.

This solution is ideal for companies with geographically dispersed branch offices with 13

workers or more, situated outside of the PBX/KTS local calling area and that typically

have a moderate to high level of comunciation both locally and with the corporate


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Ocean Connect ropes Scottish instructor for better services

Until yesterday I only knew that India offers talented, academically

vibrant teachers to UK. UK imports a huge pool of capable teachers

from India. But guess what the news here! A team of teachers (though

retired) from Scotland has been flown to India. The purpose? The

group of teachers will hone the skills of the professionals working in

the call-centers in India (read Ocean Connect). The teachers will be

conducting the tests and professionals educations in order to handle

UK customer calls. The major job will be to develop accent as well

making them aware of the cultural set up of England. With the rise inthe Call-centers in India service provider companies are making

extra efforts for sustenance and corporate emergence.

Since the accent in the call-centers requires dramatic changes for

offshore clients there was a sense of urgency amongst call-center to

deliver something for upliftment. Moreover there are several other

problems on air forCall Centers in India. The major concern is the

attrition rate by which the employees quit their jobs. Majority of

Documents

Indian Call Center