The Hindu Business Line : `Indian contact centre biz set to grow at 16 pc'

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Bangalore Jan. 23 The contact centre industry in India is set to grow by over 40,000 seats this year at 16 per cent, says the 2006 Asian Contact Centre Industry Benchmarking Report announced by callcentres.net, a Sydney-based call and contact centre research and publishing company, here on Tuesday.

The report is based on a research on contact centre industries in India, the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

According to the report, the Philippines and Thailand are leading the growth rate (both projected to grow at 33 per cent per annum), while Singapore and Malaysia are growing at 32 per cent each. China's growth rate is projected at 22 per cent.

Releasing the report, Dr Catriona Wallace, President, callcentres.net, said, "Keep an eye on China; they are a powerful source, but not yet ready to take on India."

Commenting that the Asian contact centre industry is in a period of strong growth, she said that the outsourcing sector is driving growth in innovation and technology adoption in the region.

Strong technology purchasing and upgradation plans also mark the growth in the industry. The report suggests that 54 per cent of these centres plan to purchase new contact centre technology this year, while 62 per cent plan to upgrade.

Leading contact centre technologies to be purchased this year by Indian centres include workforce management, electronic records management systems, IP telephony and call recording systems.

India-specific

Giving specific details on Indian contact centres, report says that 74 per cent of the centres service domestically, while the US and the UK markets constitute 22 per cent and 18 per cent of their operation.

Seventy three per cent of the Indian contact centres handle outsourcing operations, 8 per cent for business services and media, 7 per cent for banking, finance and insurance, 4 per cent for the IT sector, 3 per cent for telecommunications/utilities and retail/wholesale each, and one per cent each for manufacturing, hospitality/tourism and management, and government, education and healthcare sectors.

One of the challenges that the industry faces is managing human resources. In India, the mean attrition rate of full-time agents is 38 per cent and part-time agents 32 per cent.

The report says that the major expense in operating contact centres in Asia is labour at 46 per cent of the budget, while technology and telecommunications constitute 23 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.

Annual salary

The report states that the mean annual salary for agents is the highest in Singapore at $13,667, while in China it is $2,558, India $3,334, Malaysia $5,442, and Thailand $3,656.

The research was conducted using a combination of telephone and online interviews with 501 contact centre managers representing 747 contact centres across all industry segments in these countries.

In India, 107 contact centres were surveyed. The study examines contact centre strategy, operations, HR management, technology, customer service, channel management, outsourcing, key performance indicators and management challenges.