Contact Centre Industry News

Interactive Intelligence positioned in leaders quadrant of Contact Center Infrastructure, Worldwide Report
2010-03-10 Magic Quadrant for Contact Center Infrastructure, Worldwide report evaluates vendors based on ability to execute and completeness of vision

Emergency services hit by debts
2010-03-09 Ekurhuleni’s Emergency services went back to the dark ages this week due to the non-payment of a service provider.

Call centres set up to assist with service delivery, payment problems
2010-03-08 Call centre solutions company Advance Call has developed and operates two call centres for government to improve service delivery and assist in the payment of small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs).

Swicon360 introduces BPO services in support of SAP® ERP HCM application
2010-03-05 Swicon360 (Pty) Ltd., an established business technology partner and solution provider within the international human capital management (HCM), HR and payroll markets, has launched business process outsourcing (BPO) services in support of the SAP® ERP Human Capital Management (SAP ERP HCM) application.

Keep them happy
2010-03-04 The contact centre needs to be at the forefront of a customer retention strategy.

Another blow for BPO?
2010-03-03 The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector – one of government's targeted growth areas – faces another obstacle as power prices are expected to double by 2012, which could make it a casualty of anticipated cost-cutting measures.

New Editor for Contact Industry Hub
2010-03-03 Roland Witham has been appointed editor of Contact Industry Hub and will in future be responsible for driving the strategy and editorial of the website.

The phone is key to customer service
2010-03-02 Following recent YouGov research which revealed that one in five people have been so frustrated by a call centre experience, that they have later admitted shame with the way they have spoken to an agent, Ian Turner shares his thoughts…

Blue Label slows in SA
2010-03-01 Blue Label Telecoms' international operations boomed in the six months ended 30 November 2009.

Dialogue SA in liquidation
2010-03-01 A call centre dream has come tumbling down as Dialogue SA is put into liquidation, six months short of the holding group's three-year listing anniversary.

GijimaAst boasts R623m war chest
2010-02-26 Listed outsourcing company GijimaAst will spend cash in the bank “wisely” on developing its intellectual property.

Ascentys to launch new outsourced workforce management solution
2010-02-26 Ascentys announced today that it will launch an outsourced workforce management solution during March 2010.

Four call centre staff suspended over obscene Telecom New Zealand txts
2010-02-25 Telecom has tracked the origin of abusive txt messages sent from one of its call centres to five different customers.

The evolution of the contact centre
2010-02-24 Twenty years ago, inbound call centres consisted of groups of people with telephones and in some cases even headsets, ready to answer customer calls which were delivered to agents in a hunt-group fashion.

Call centres offer 'decent' jobs
2010-02-23 Good progress has been made in the call centre, or business process outsourcing sector, as it employs several thousands of people and offers them relatively “decent” employment, says trade and industry minister Rob Davies.

Become a successful call centre training provider
2010-02-23 Regardless of the size of your company or what line of work you are in, training is the cornerstone of any successful business. By developing your workforce, you don’t only help grow the individual, but the company as a whole.

BPeSA Western Cape set to embrace global upturn
2010-02-22 The stepping down of Sipho Zungu as CEO of BPeSA Western Cape will not affect the organisation’s ability to drive growth for the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, says Fagri Semaar, its acting CEO.

Changes for JZ hotline
2010-02-19 Following problems experienced in the first six months of operation, the Presidency says it will move its hotline to the Performance Monitoring and Evaluation ministry, in an attempt to improve its track record.

Women advance into IT, sector better off say HR experts
2010-02-18 As companies continue to review their management strategies in light of global economic pressure and the rise of opportunities in expanding marketplaces, the profile of skills that are shaping Information and Communication Technology is rapidly changing.

Phonatics new Cape Town offices
2010-02-17 Phonatics is proud to say it has opened its Western Cape offices at the Colosseum building, situated in Century City in Cape Town.

SAS in Leaders quadrant for business intelligence platforms
2010-02-16 SAS has been placed in the Leaders quadrant of the Gartner Inc. Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms, ranking it among vendors Gartner says are “reasonably strong in breadth and depth of their business intelligence (BI) platform capabilities, and can deliver enterprise wide implementations that support a broad BI strategy.”

BPeSA Western Cape CEO steps down
2010-02-15 Sipho Zungu will step down as CEO of BPeSA Western Cape at the end of February. Zungu has been with BPeSA Western Cape for two and a half years and has been central to the growth and development of the industry in the province.

'Bore-out', the new burn-out – Accsys warns corporate SA to take heed
2010-02-12 Human Resource managers now have a fresh concern in a disturbing new trend affecting output and productivity. The traditional problem of ‘burn-out’ has made way for ‘bore-out’, which describes a scenario in which an employee’s zest for work is extinguished by the mundane rather than an unmanageable workload.

Call centres risk losing customers as complaints go unrecognised
2010-02-11 A recent survey has highlighted that 70 per cent of complaints made to call centres are ‘not being heard.’ In addition, over 96 per cent of respondents said that they would consider switching to a competitor as a result.

Jodene Rihm joins Ascentys as Divisional Executive Customer Contact Solutions
2010-02-11 Jodene Rihm has joined the Ascentys team as the Divisional Executive for the Customer Contact Division. Her extensive operational knowledge and insight in the local and international markets makes her a valuable senior member of the Ascentys team.