Outsourced Contact Centers Continue to Promise Business Benefits and Market Growth

Customer care outsourcing is increasingly emerging as a viable option for companies, both large and small, to realize substantial cost savings as well as provide a better overall customer experience. Outsourcing offers an extremely cost-effective alternative to operating large and expensive in-house contact centers.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, North American Outsourced Contact Center Services Market, reveals that this market earned revenues of $19.5 billion in 2005 and is likely to reach $20.1 billion in 2012.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants an overview of the latest analysis of the North American Outsourced Contact Center Services Market, then send an e-mail to Mireya Castilla, Corporate Communications, at mireya.castilla@frost.com with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by e-mail.

“The current economic growth in the United States is spurring companies to focus on client acquisition and retention programs through telesales and proactive customer care,” notes Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Michael DeSalles. “Employing the expertise of outsourcing providers allows these companies to grow while reducing capital expenditures. This means that firms can re-invest savings in other critical areas of the business.”

Top tier outsourcers are able to offer fully integrated customer service/sales bundles, thus enabling companies to eliminate the need to maintain and manage contact center staff for this purpose. Many of these providers have the advantage of years of domain experience and offer highly attractive pricing programs. Combined with around-the-clock global reach, outsourcers can offer superior customer care and service solutions that many companies find difficult to resist.

However, incurring cost savings is not the sole criterion for companies considering the outsourcing route. There are several other client requirements that outsourcing vendors have to meet, including an enhanced customer experience, strong data security, and strict regulatory compliance. This has led many companies with considerable call center investments to adopt a “wait- and-watch” attitude.

The decision by some companies to delay the move to outsourcing, may be due, in part, to the tremendous negative publicity in the media. In some sectors, there are mounting fears that this trend causes Americans to lose jobs.

Moreover, companies are often very reluctant to hand over control of their contact center operations to an offshore facility located far away from their home office in the United States. As a result, outsourcers are attempting to increase the comfort level by providing superior technology, integrated services, and a clearly defined value proposition.

“Successful vendors in this space have overcome this resistance by positioning themselves as solution partners as well as offering clients the optimal mix of people, technology, geography, and flexible pricing options,” says DeSalles. “Providers must become solution partners that can counsel clients on the best ‘rightshore fit’ to determine agent sourcing, self-service options, and the most favorable site location.”

Vendors that are seeking to expand their client base need to implement all possible steps to ensure risk mitigation for clients, especially to attract and retain companies that are late adopters. Ultimately, a robust, integrated platform holds the key to delivering a global, multi-lingual, multi-site scalable solution that can ensure security along with business continuity.

North American Outsourced Contact Center Services Market, part of the Contact Center Services Subscription, provides an overview of this subset of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. It includes a complete analysis of key market challenges, drivers, restraints, and trends that are impacting market penetration as well as growth. In this research service, Frost & Sullivan’s expert analysis thoroughly outlines market size, market share of major providers, and pricing strategies. Interviews are available to the press.

Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company’s industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services, and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics, and demographics.