this thread is dedicated the news and updates of the BPO sector.:cheers:

The evolution of the call centre

http://www.nation.co.ke/image/view/-/654258/highRes/99893/-/maxw/600/-/14hh5mh/-/Simba.jpg Direct Channel Simba Tech’s contact centre in Westlands. Photo / Correspondent
By KABURU MUGAMBIPosted Monday, September 7 2009 at 14:37

Initially they were referred to as call centres, focusing on incoming and outgoing voice calls on behalf of their clients. But call centres have evolved to contact centres which are able to manage customers with both voice calls and data applications and in some cases selling.

According to Direct Channel Simba Tech Kenya, a business process outsourcing (BPO) service provider, a contact centre deals with a combination of inbound or outbound calls.

“Contact centres continue to grow because today’s customers demand user-friendly self-service systems and the means to reach well informed and capable customer service,” says Direct Channel Simba Tech head of operations Rishi Jatania.

The firm’s executive director, Irene Taruru, said that businesses need to earn customer loyalty for continued business, hence the need to provide real time information and demonstrate their business values and convenience to its customers.

With intensive human capital and communications infrastructure as its requirements, she said contact centre business in Kenya has a natural advantage at this point in time.

“The advantages in brief are twofold - a talent pool which is well educated and well spoken and now the fibre optic connectivity,” she said.

Ms Taruru told Smart Company that companies should feel comfortable with outsourcing customer interaction to a third party.

Smart businesses nowadays focus on their core competence and to outsource support activities to companies who specialise in that, she said citing provision of security services. Today no company has askaris on their payroll, she added.

“Instead this activity has been contracted to security companies, who understand the subject better,” Ms Taruru said.

“Outsourcing activities is an idea now quite prevalent throughout the world.”

With the increasing information security concerns, Ms Taruru said for client confidentiality to be effective it must be a way of life of the business.

“That is why this important aspect is emphasised at all levels of all our processes,” she said.

The company currently runs a 36-seat contact centre in Nairobi serving two South Africa-based companies. A second contact centre in Nairobi with 260 seats capacity would be ready for occupancy by the end of the year, Mr Jatania said.

Locally, the company trains contact centre agents for companies that decide to launch and run their own contact centres.

“We have been also approached by utility companies to train their personnel, so that these agents are geared towards serving their customers be it, electricity, water, telecoms or even TV channels,” Ms Taruru said.

Direct Channel Simba Tech runs certified training courses for agents who work for other organisations or people who want to pursue career in this field. The training is comprehensive and addresses all levels of operations from an agent to the chief controller.

She said that the arrival of the fibre optic has somehow levelled the playing field making the local communications infrastructure nearly at par with India and China.

“With both economics and quality set to improve, it will now allow us to market services abroad more efficiently and cost effectively,” Ms Taruru said.

“A natural corollary of all this will be ultimately better employment opportunities for Kenyans in line with the 2030 initiative.”

Direct Channel Simba Tech is a partnership between Direct Channel of South Africa and Simba Tech Kenya. Direct Channel is the largest and one of the most successful privately owned BPO call centres in Sub- Saharan Africa, with over 3000 seats in South Africa.

It handles telecommunication companies, banks, insurance companies and large superstores for their inbound and outbound requirement.

Published on 08/09/2009


By Macharia Kamau
The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector might finally get its footing right after years of false starts.
Kenya BPO and Contact Centre Society is optimistic after Kenya’s connection to international fibre optic networks, the industry is on the verge of a major take-off and poised to jostle for a substantial share of the $220 billion outsourcing industry.
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/images/tuesday/fj080909_04.jpgCall centres are gearing for more business from overseas firms after the country’s connection to global fibre optic networks. Photo: File
Ms Gilda Odera, chairperson of the BPO society, said investors have shown interest in setting up call centres in the country, while foreign firms are now keen on outsourcing functions to Kenya.
"Investors are now showing interest in setting up large contact centres and we have also seen an increase in the number of companies enquiring about outsourcing to the country."
An American company is looking at the possibility of setting up a 1,000-seat capacity call centre in the country, which will be the largest in the country.
Foreign investors
The plans are, however, at primary stages but Odera is upbeat about the future of the sector, saying foreign investors had been deterred from investing because of the high Internet connectivity costs and slow speeds.
"Poor Internet connection had turned away investors, stalling the industry’s growth. The situation has been addressed after the country was connected to the undersea fibre optic cable," she said.
Another local BPO, Quick Data, plans to set up an 800 seat contact centre.
The move by the two companies to invest in Kenya will be a departure from the current situation, where there are centres with as little as 50 seats.
This means large organisations were willing to outsource their functions would only need one centre. There are only a few other centres that have large capacity, among them Kencall, which has about 600 seats.
This is a contrast to countries like India and Philippines where large organisations outsource some of their functions to single centre.
The sector, among those earmarked to drive the economy to attaining the Vision 2030, has had it rough since inception about five years ago, with a number of them closing shop or suspending operations owing to lack of business.
"The going has not been easy for the sector some because of their inadequacies as well as infrastructural challenges," said Mr Paul Kukubo, chief executive Kenya ICT Board.
He said termed the rough patch as a learning phase and expects the industry to start picking pace now.
Specialised training
And in anticipation of increased business, the industry plans to start specialised training for BPO personnel.
Last week, the BPO Certification Institute (BCI) – an international standards body —launched a professional certification programme targeted at people working as call centre agents and students eyeing the industry.
The company, headquartered in India, will partner with the African BPO Academy (ABA) to offer certification in the region.
The two organisations will partner with local learning institutions and to train and certify at least 5,000 people in the next one year.

BPO company nominated for top Europe prize

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/image/view/-/642588/highRes/95734/-/maxw/600/-/fx20q8z/-/kencall.jpg Kencall has been nominated for a prestigious award, providing a welcome boost to the local BPO sector. /Liz Muthoni




Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company, Kencall, has been nominated for the non-European Call Centre of the Year Award giving a boost to the country’s global image in this nascent sector.

The firm clinched the award last year, beating participants from India and South Africa. Having local providers recognised and awarded offers the country an opportunity to them as flagship BPO centres when marketing the country.

Nascent industry
Although still at a nascent stage in Kenya, the sector promises job creation opportunities and the nomination comes at a time when the local BPO industry has been undergoing significant challenges ranging from limited access to high Internet bandwidth for use in their operations to weak marketing of their product and service offerings across the globe.

The CCF European Call Centre Awards recognise industry best practice in 20 different categories ranging from Best Use of Technology and Best Multimedia Strategy to the European Call Centre of the Year and CCF Industry Champion awards. Last year’s winners included organisations such as beCogent, British Gas, Capita, Homeserve and Lloyds TSB.

“Winning the award has completely boosted our self confidence, given us that extra bounce in our step and raised the roof on just how high we believe we can soar. It’s simply great. We are ready to go” said Kencall CEO Nick Nesbitt.

Other than boosting the country’s image and profile, the awards ceremony provides ample opportunity for networking as it brings business leaders from all over the world.

It is a forum that enables global business leaders meet the players in different fields and locations to gain an understanding of the nature and quality their operations. This year’s awards ceremony will be held on September 22, 2009 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole in the UK.

The nominations are made by a CCF European Call Centre Awards judges’ panel.

KenCall has a prestigious and rapidly growing client base within East Africa and a proven track record of success which it is now leveraging as a platform to compete globally and further penetrate the UK outsourcing market.

this thread is dedicated the news and updates of the BPO sector.:cheers:


These are some of India's BPO'S in Chennai U|C or Completed
http://www.infratech.co.in/images/it9.jpg
http://www.infratech.co.in/images/it13.jpg
http://www.infratech.co.in/images/it14.jpg

This is surely one of the few growth areas that is promising despite the ongoing recession. "Kenya go for it and give India a run for its money".

^^thanks for the info and your contribution:cheers: