CAPE TOWN The R20m investment by a British company Dialogue UK in a call centre in Cape Town is the first tangible sign of SA edging ahead of countries like India in the race to build a viable call centre industry.
Call centres have been a growing trend in countries like the US and UK and other parts of Europe.
These will feature at the top of Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin's agenda when he visits the US this month to attract further investment in this sector.
SA became even more attractive as a place to host such businesses in February when a second undersea fibre optic telephone link with Europe, along the east coast of Africa, was established.
This is complemented by another fibre optic link along the west coast, which will make links to SA more reliable.
Up to now, India has benefited from the outsourcing of call service industry business from the UK and the US.
This is set to change as SA provides a better opportunity because of the world-class service levels of call centre staff in the country.
These are high rates of fluency in English, relatively low levels of staff turnover and the similarities between the cultures of the UK and Europe, said Jason Drew, chairman of Dialogue.
Dialogue's initial R20m investment is expected to rise to R70m in the next three years. The Cape Town call centre employs 110 people and the staff complement is expected to grow to 600 by early next year, reaching 1500 by 2005.
"The local operation, trading as Dialogue Communications, already services several multi-nationals operating in SA. These include Shell, Pfizer and British American Tobacco, in addition to a number of nationwide newspaper and other publishing groups."
Since its acquisition of the local call centre late in March, Dialogue UK has added a number of major UK names to the client list. These include Truebell, a large mail order business, and Lexchatsafe, a company operating in the US and UK markets, monitoring children's use of the internet.
Drew said the call centre industry worldwide was predicted to generate an income of $ 59bn this year alone to match the growing demand for customer contact solutions in such fields as financial services, travel, home shopping, healthcare, cellular telephony, and other public services provided by central and local government.
SA's share was estimated at R532m, but with the capacity to soar once its full potential was recognised and more foreign companies established call centres offshore.
Drew said an international report on the industry across a range of countries showed SA's skilled call centre workforce worked harder than its international counterparts.
SA staff worked 243 days a year at 42 hours a week, compared with international average of 220 days a year at 36 hours a week.
May 07 2003 06:54:56:000AM Chris van Gass Business Day 1st Edition
Publisher: Business Day
Source: Chris van Gass
Call centre industry finds SA's pulse.
Posted On Wednesday, 07 May 2003 02:00 Published by eProperty News
CAPE TOWN The R20m investment by a British company Dialogue UK in a call centre in Cape Town is the first tangible sign of SA edging ahead of countries like India in the race to build a viable call centre industry.
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