Table of Contents
Where Next For Contact Centers?
Executive summary 10
Market outlook 10
Market opportunities 10
Hosted contact centers 11
New technology developments in contact centers 12
Outsourcing contact centers 13
Improving the sales pitch 14
Chapter 1 Introduction 18
What is this report about? 18
Who is this report for? 19
Definitions 19
Agent positions 19
Contact center 19
Inbound hardware 20
Inbound software 20
Outbound 20
Workforce Optimization Technologies (WOTs) 20
Agent analytics (AA) 20
eLearning 20
Quality monitoring (QM) 21
Workforce management (WFM) 21
Chapter 2 Market outlook 24
Summary 24
Market dynamics 24
Creating the customer-centric enterprise 25
Utilizing SIP and presence to enable contact center virtualization 26
Communicating in the IP world 27
Managing diverse regional markets for contact center technology 28
Taking advantage of growth in emerging contact center markets 29
Selling solutions to the contact center market 30
Less mature verticals are increasing their contact center spending 30
Taking the long view 31
The short term 31
The medium term 32
The end game 32
Chapter 3 Market opportunities 34
Summary 34
The geographical opportunities 35
Western Europe 37
Slow growth is a combination of factors 38
Selling to Western Europe 39
Central and Eastern Europe 41
Market drivers 41
The CEE market opportunity 43
Pitfalls 45
Selling to Central and Eastern Europe 47
The vertical opportunities 48
Selling contact center solutions to financial services 52
Selling contact centers 53
Outbound services in the regulation era 54
True multi-channel capabilities are an absolute necessity 54
Compliance cannot be compromised 55
Key tactics to maximize a go-to-market strategy 55
Selling contact center solutions to the public sector 56
The efficiency driver 57
Implementing the right technologies will drive effectiveness and
deliver efficiency 57
Multi-channel contacts may deliver efficiency, but can marginalize
some constituents 58
Helping the budget-conscious 58
Encouraging a two-way flow of communication will improve
community-government relations 59
Selling contact centers to the public sector 59
Profiling the authority is crucial in targeting appropriately 60
Vendor attributes 60
Certain vendor characteristics may hinder decisions 61
Pricing and purchasing strategies need to be modified 61
Networking and hosted contact centers provide an alternative for
purchasing contact centers 61
Chapter 4 Hosted contact centers 64
Summary 64
Introduction 65
To host or not to host? 66
Benefits of the hosted contact center 68
Overall cost reduction 68
Access to the latest technology 69
Barriers to the initial uptake of hosted contact centers 69
Security and reliability 70
Control 70
Risk 71
Existing alternative arrangements 71
Selling hosted contact centers 71
Reason number 1: Distributed contact centers become a reality with
hosted technologies 71
Reason number 2: Accessibility to WOTs in a hosted environment
can make better use of operational and customer data 72
Reason number 3: SIP – is it really a successor to CTI? 72
Reason number 4: Mobile workforces are altering the dynamic of the
contact center 72
Chapter 5 New technology developments in
contact centers 76
Summary 76
Video contact centers 77
Who is likely to purchase video contact centers? 78
Barriers to uptake 79
Is it all in the mind? 79
Gadgets for every occasion 79
Hidden call costs for the consumer 80
Costs for the end user contact center provider 80
Virtual contact centers 81
The customer-centric enterprise 81
Remote working 82
IP telephony 85
Growth forecasts for IP contact centers 86
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) 87
Small and Greenfield contact centers 87
Hosted IP contact centers 87
Implications for vendors 88
Supporting virtual contact centers 89
Barriers to virtualized contact centers 90
Selling virtualized contact centers 91
Work in partnership with global systems integrators (SIs) 91
Educating the market and delivering flexible solutions is the key
focus 91
Chapter 6 Outsourcing contact centers 96
Summary 96
Introduction 97
Changes in demand among traditional and emerging vertical markets 97
Opportunities in established vertical sectors 98
Telco 99
Pricing and quality issues will dominate telco outsourcing
investment decisions 99
Segment telco prospects into distinct markets 100
Financial services 101
Financial services outsourcing wins will be based on data protection
and cost 101
Recognize the diversity of the financial services sector 101
Emphasize data protection capabilities 102
Offer flexible location strategies 103
Leverage self-service options 103
Manufacturing 104
Technology manufacturers need outsourcing partners that are cost
and culture sensitive 104
Ensure services are price-sensitive 104
Emphasize staff quality 104
Understand the differences among technology clients 105
Retail 105
Retail channel diversification means new investment opportunities 105
Emphasize cost savings 106
Attack emerging retail channels 106
Geographic markets 107
North American mature markets – growth in US financial services 107
EMEA mature markets – opportunities in financial services and
manufacturing 107
APAC mature markets – new growth in manufacturing and retail 108
CALA mature markets – possibilities in manufacturing, financial
services and retail 108
New and challenging business models 109
Travel and hospitality sector 109
Healthcare 112
Public sector 114
Utlities 116
North American emerging markets – potential in healthcare and
government 117
EMEA emerging markets – consistent levels of investment 117
APAC emerging markets – growth across the region 118
CALA emerging markets – revenue potential in healthcare and
travel and tourism 118
Offshoring – is India still the offshore destination of choice? 119
Competitive issues facing Indian contact centers 122
Attrition 122
Pricing 122
Sophistication levels 123
Recruitment 123
Incentives 123
Ongoing offshoring backlash 123
Corruption 124
Lack of middle management 124
Urban locations 124
Selling India as an offshore destination 125
Chapter 7 Improving the sales pitch 128
Summary 128
Developing a pricing strategy 129
Regional variations have an impact on the price 130
Discounting schemes can be complex but help push sales 131
Maintenance 132
Cost center vs value center 133
CAPEX vs OPEX 134
CAPEX helps to plan for the long term 134
OPEX has the advantage of flexibility 135
Market pricing hosted services correctly is key 136
Usage-based pricing for contact centers 136
Concurrent verses log-in pricing 137
Bundled minutes and contact center services 137
CRM and contact centers 137
Value added services 138
Professional services and business consulting - sweet spots 138
Managed services offer flexibility to the end user 139
Vendors need to find the right balance when selling consulting services 140
Sources of finance for the end user 141
Index 143
List of Figures
Figure 3.1: Contact centers and agent positions in EMEA 2006 – 2009 35
Figure 3.2: Contact centers and agent positions in North America 2006 – 2009 36
Figure 3.3: Contact centers and agent positions in CALA 2006 – 2009 36
Figure 3.4: Contact centers and agent positions in APAC 2006 – 2009 37
Figure 3.5: Agent positions in EMEA by vertical market 2004 – 2009 48
Figure 3.6: Agent positions in North America by vertical market 2004 – 2009 49
Figure 3.7: Agent positions in CALA by vertical market 2004 – 2009 50
Figure 3.8: Agent positions in APAC by vertical market 2004 – 2009 51
Figure 3.9: Contact centers are top priority for US state and local government authorities 56
Figure 4.10: What are the three main drivers to purchasing a hosted solution? 68
Figure 4.11: What are the three main barriers to purchasing a hosted solution? 70
Figure 5.12: Customer service silos 81
Figure 5.13: Remote workers as a percentage of total APs globally, 2005-2010 83
Figure 5.14: Remote workers components, 2005-2010 84
Figure 5.15: Total IP APs and IP APs as a % of total 86
Figure 6.16: Breakout of mature outsourcing verticals, 2006 - 2012 99
Figure 6.17: Total Indian agent positions, 2004 – 2009 120
Figure 6.18: Proportion of Indian offshore APs serving various national markets, 2004 121
Figure 7.19: Enterprises consider a number of criteria as important when selecting a vendor 129
List of Tables
Table 3.1: Global contact center technology spend 2006-2009 35
Table 3.2: Western European Agent Positions (APs), 2006-2009 38
Table 3.3: Financial Services contact center technology spending 52
Table 4.4: Global hosted APs, 2006 – 2010 65
Table 4.5: Global hosted contact center spend 2006 – 2010 66
Table 5.6: Regional share of remote workers, 2005-2010 84
Table 6.7: Total market size: mature vertical outsourcing markets, 2006 - 2012 98
Table 7.8: Typical contact center costs in developed markets 133
Table 7.9: Alternative sources of financing 141