PROBLEM FACED BY PROBLEM FACED BY CALL CENTERS IN CALL CENTERS IN

PAKISTAN PAKISTAN

A PRESENTATION

BY

WHAT IS ACCO ?• ACCO-ASSOCIATION OF CALL CENTER OPERATORS, IS A

NOT FOR PROFIT BODY, DEDICATED TOWARDS PROMOTION OF CALL CENTERS IN & OUTSIDE PAKISTAN;

• ACCO HAS ITS OFFICES IN ALL MAJOR CITIES OF PAKISTAN, AS WELL AS IN INDIA, UK, USA AND PHILIPPINES;

• ITS MEMBERS ARE OWNERS, OPERATORS, EXECUTIVES AND TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATORS FROM CALL CENTER INDUSTRY;

• LAST YEAR ACCO HAS WORKED CLOSELY TO SUPPORT THREE MAJOR CONFERENCES, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF TWO WORLD CLASS CALL CENTERS IN PAKISTAN;

• IT IS NOW PLANNING FOR A MAJOR IT /INTELLIGENT BUILDING IN KARACHI WITH A LEADING BUSINESS HOUSE;

• IT IS ALSO PLANNING FOR A MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CALL CENTER CONFERENCE IN JUNE 2006.

WHAT IS THIS BUZZ WORD

CALL CENTERS !!

CALL CENTER

• THE PHENOMENON WE ARE DISCUSSING IS ON THE INTERNATIONAL ASPECT OF CALL CENTERS;

• THE PHENOMENON IS USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO TRANSPORT OFFSHORE VOICE COMMUNICATION FROM PLACES OF HIGH OPERATIONAL COST TO THE PLACES OF LOW OPERATIONAL COST;

• BUT WITH OUT COMPROMISING ON QUALITY OF DELIVERABLES.

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• THIS VOICE TRAFFIC MIGHT CONSIST OF TELEMARKETING COMMUNCATIONS, OR CUSTOMER SUPPORT, ETC;

• END RESULT THE PROCESS HELPS TO REDUCE THE OPERATIONAL AND PROCESSING COST OF COMPANIES AT HIGH COST REGIONS;

EXAMPLE

• OUR NEIGHBOUR INDIA, HAS BEEN UTILIZING THIS TECHNOLOGY FOR LAST NUMBER OF YEARS;

• AND IS ABLE TO EARN MORE THAT $ 18 BILLION EVERY YEAR, BY PROVIDING SUCH SERVICES;

• PAKISTAN HAS ALL THE TOOLS REQUIRED TO CATCH UP TOO;

IT IS HERE & NOW !

• A $ 50 BILLION INDUTRY WITH 30% PER ANNUM GROWTH RATE

• LINKED WITH $ 700 BILLION E-COMMERCE TRADE WORLD-WIDE

• PAKISTAN IS NOW AN ALTERNATE TO THE WEST FOR CALL CENTERS

• THAT IS THE THEME, WE WANT TO CATCH ON

WHY INDIA ?

• INDIA HAS EMERGED AS A MAJOR LOCATION FOR IT-ENABLED SERVICES SUCH AS CALL CENTERS, CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTERS,

• RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT SUCH EXPORTS COULD EXCEED $15 BILLION ANNUALLY BEFORE THE END OF THE DECADE.

• LOWER INPUT COSTS, REASONABLY GOOD INFRASTRUCTURE, A TRAINED ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORKFORCE AND A FAVORABLE TIME ZONE DIFFERENTIAL VIS-À-VIS THE US HAVE SPURRED THE GROWTH OF THE CALL CENTER INDUSTRY IN INDIA.

Prominent players in the call center and BPO market in India (2005)

People Employed

• Wipro Spectramind 5000• Daksh eServices 4,000 • WNS 2,500• Exl Service.com 2,300• OfficeTiger 1,000• HCL Technologies BPO.. 1,646• ICICI OneSource 2,175• Hinduja TMT 1,400• MsourcE 3,162• Tracmail 1,000• Progeon 685

OPPORTUNITY FOR PAKISTAN !

• TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS SCENARIO, GOVT OF INDIA IS ALL SET TO IMPOSE A INCOME TAX OF 36% ON ALL CALL CENTERS OWNED BY FOREIGN COMPANIES;

• PLUS, A PROPOSAL IS UNDER CONSIDERATION IN NEW DELHI TO TAX ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED OVER INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE LEASED CONNECTIONS (IPLC) THAT CARRY INDIA'S VOICE AND DATA TRAFFIC.

• ACCORDING TO LATEST GARTNER REPORT, INDIA WILL LOOSE ITS 45% OF ITeS SHARE BY 2007, DUE TO SHORTAGE OF MANPOWER AND LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE;

UPCOMING PROBLEMS IN INDIA

THE POSSIBLE CONSTRAINTS FOR GROWTH OF INDIAN CALL CENTER INDUSTRY INCLUDE:

• IN THE CASE OF VOICE-BASED CALL CENTERS, THE INDIAN ACCENT IS CONSIDERABLY DIFFERENT FROM AN AMERICAN ACCENT;

• INFRASTRUCTURE PROBLEMS: TRANSPORTATION FOR EMPLOYEES, POWER RELIABILITY, PHONE RELIABILITY, ETC.;

• HIGH ATTRITION OF EMPLOYEES -- 35-40 PERCENT ANNUAL EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IS TYPICAL;

SOME FOREIGN OWNED OPERATIONS

Examples of Captive Operations in India

GE Capital............... Customer service American Express......... Customer service Standard Chartered....... Back office admin EarthLink................ Customer service AOL Time Warner.......... Customer service Citibank................. Back office admin HSBC..................... Back office admin AXA...................... Insurance claims adjudication Willis................... Insurance claims adjudication American Annuity Group... Insurance claims adjudication Lufthansa................ Accounting, frequent flier programs World Bank............... Payroll processing McKinsey................. Research

Pakistan offers comparativeadvantages over India:

• Western experience:

• Higher labor availability:

• Good accents:

• Fair comprehension skills:

• Low cost talent pool:• Good Infrastructure :

SOME OF THE CAUSES !

• FOR ANY INTERNATIONAL CALL CENTER OPERATIONS, THE NERVE IS TELECOM LINK;

• AND IN PAKISTAN THE WEAKEST SUPPORT ONE HAS IS THE TELECOM LINK (PTCL);

• THE COST OF UTILITY IS SO HIGH THAT THE MORE YOU USE THE MORE YOU PAY;

• THE PROCESS OF IMPORT IS VERY CUMBERSOME, AND EXPENSIVE;

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• VISA CONSTRAINTS ON INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYEES AND INVESTORS

• SECURITY ISSUES

• A VERY HEAVY BUREAUCRATIC APPROACH TOWARDS THE INDUSTRY

• LACK OF MASS AWARENESS OF THIS INDUSTRY BY GOVT /PRIVATE MEDIA

• NO TRAINING SUBSIDIZATION BY GOVT

• LACK OF IT ENABLED INFRASTRUCTURE

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• NO SUPPORT OR ENCOURAGEMENT FROM PAKISTANI MISSIONS ABROAD;

• NON-COOPERATIVE BEHAVIOR FROM OVERSEAS PAKISTANI BUSINESS HOUSES TOWARDS CALL CENTER / BPO INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN;

• AVAILABILITY OF ABUNDANT BROKERS, TRYING TO MAKE MONEY OUT OF PAKISTANI CALL CENTERS, BY OFFERING FAILED SCHEMES;

• NO CHECK OF SUCH MIDDLEMEN AND THEN COMPANIES ABOARD;

• NO FACILITATION FROM INVESTMENT BANKERS AND BANKS ON FINANCING THE CALL CENTERS

WHAT ARE SUGGESTIONS ?

FOLLOWING THINGS ARE VITAL, FOR CALL CENTER PROGRESS IN PAKISTAN

• GOOD IT ENABLED INFRASTRUCTURE

• GOOD HUMAN RESOURCE

• CREATING A VIBRANT IMAGE OF CALL CENTER CAREER AMONG THE YOUTH;

• ENABLING FINANCIAL INSTITUTES TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF CALL CENTERS

IT ENABLED INFRASTRUCTURE• THIS IS MOST VITAL PART, AS THIS PLACE IS THE NERVE

CENTER FOR ALL ACTIVITIES

• THIS PLACE IS NORMALLY KNOWN AS INTELLIGENT BUILDING OR IT PARK

• THIS PLACE HAS TO BE DECLARED AN EXPORT PROCESSING ZONE

• ANY THING COMING IN SHOULD HAVE 0% DUTY

• THESE BUILDINGS SHOULD BE CREATED WITH PRIVATE PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP;

• UTILITIES AND BANDWIDTH SHOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE ON USAGE BASIS;

• REDUNDANCY SHOULD BE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL;

HUMAN RESOURCE

• IMPORTING OF TRAINED CALL CENTER EXPERTS PAKISTANIS/FOREIGN NATIONALS, BY GOVERNMENT SECTOR FOR THE INDUSTRY

• INTRODUCTION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING MODULES WITH EMPHASIS ON ENGLISH SPOKEN & COMPREHENSION IN BUSINESS SCHOOLS/HIGH SCHOOLS BY HEC

• PROVIDING ON THE JOB TRAINING BY GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIZED INITIATIVES AT DIFFERENT COMPANIES

(INTERNEE CONCEPT)

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• SUBSIDY UPTO 75% ON CALL CENTER TRAINING INSTITUTES, THAT ARE PROVIDING FOREIGN TRAINED FACULTY TO STUDENTS;

• GOVT SPONSORED AFFILIATIONS WITH INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED CALL CENTER TRAINING INSTITUTES;

• MASS MEDIA AWARENESS OF THE CAREER PATH IN CALL CENTER INDUSTRY;

• SERIES OF SEMINARS AND ROAD SHOWS BY PRIVATE –PUBLIC PARTNERSHIPS AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS ON THE CALL CENTER PHENOMENON;

MASS AWARENESS IN YOUTH ?

• GOVT SHOULD PLAY ITS PART, BY APPROACHING PAKISTAN BROADCASTER ASSOCIATION ALONG WITH ACCO, TO PROMOTE THE CONCEPT OF ITES IMPORTANCE TOWARDS NATIONAL GROWTH AND CREATING JOBS;

• GOVT AND PRIVATE TV CHANNELS SHOULD PROVIDE SPECIAL SLOTS FOR THE INDUSTRY, AND DISCUSSION ON CALL CENTERS AND BPO CONCEPT SHOULD BE MADE;

• INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES SHOULD BE HELD IN PRIVATE-PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP, COST OF CONFERENCE SHOULD BE SUBSIDIZED BY GOVERNMENT;

• GOVT SHOULD INVITE SPEAKERS OF INTERNATIONAL REPUTE AS STATE GUESTS AND PROVIDE THEM PLATFORM TO SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES AND OFFER SUPPORT

-CONT-• KARACHI BEING A MAJOR INCUBATION CENTER FOR YOUTH

AS WELL AS FINANCIAL HUB FOR PAKISTAN CAN PLAY A ROLE MODEL IN THIS;

• AT ACCO WE INVITE IT DEPARTMENT AND CITY GOVERNMENT TO ENABLE INITIATIVES IN SPONSORING INITIATIVES OF ACCO AND OTHER PLAYERS;

• IT DEPARTMENT SHOULD PROVIDE INCENTIVES TO INVESTORS WHO WANT TO CREATE INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

• CONDUCT WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS WITH “ACCO” AND “PASHA” AT CHAMBER, FEDERATION AND ASSOCIATIONS OF TRADE AND BUSINESSMEN COMMUNITY, OR HIGHLIGHTING IMPORTANCE OF CALL CENTER BUSINESS;

RESULT

• ONCE THESE STEPS ARE TAKEN, AND EXISTING CALL CENTERS ARE SUPPORTED;

• THEN THERE IS BOUND TO BE A WAVE OF NEW INVESTORS & NEW EMPLOYEES COMING IN;

• THE MORE CALL CENTER OPERATIONAL SEATS IN PAKISTAN THE MORE THE BUSINESS COMING IN.

• ON BEHALF OF ACCO , WE UNDERTAKE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT;

LAST WORD• THERE IS SO MUCH BUSINESS AVAILABLE FOR PAKISTAN

INTERNATIONALLY, THAT EVEN IF 100 CALL CENTERS EACH OF 100 SEATS ARE WORKING IN PAKISTAN, STILL THERE WILL BE MORE BUSINESS COMING IN;

BUT KEY WORD IS

• WE WILL HAVE TO ADOPT THE RIGHT PRACTICES, RIGHT PROCEDURES AND PROVIDE RIGHT INCENTIVES;

• MAKE OVERSEAS PAKISTANI, LOCAL INVESTMENT HOUSES, & PTCL REALIZE AND LEARN THE TRUE POTENTIAL OF THIS INDUSTRY;

• THEN THE WORLD IS ALL YOURS.

http://www.callcenter.net.pk/