Call centres see better future of business in BD

The country’s call centres see better future of the business as more banks and financial institutions are seeking their services for cheaper and faster delivery of their products. “We are getting queries from leading foreign banks and financial institutions to give outsourcing services. This is a good signal for our sector,” Ahmadul Hoq, president of Bangladesh Call Centre Forum said.
He said the financial institutions now need debt collection services, which the local call centres can provide efficiently. “My company is now in touch with two financial institutions to have a contract to provide debt collection services,” he said.
Sources at the call centres said debt collection services constitutes sending of electronic mails to the customers, especially those who have failed to repay loans.
They said workforce at Bangladesh’s around 350 call centres can easily do the job charging lower rates.
Dr Sikder M Zakir, Managing Director of Telemedicine Reference Centre Limited, who pioneered in providing Health and Medicine related customers services through mobile phones, said they see bright prospect of the business considering the cost cut drive by the world’s leading financial institutions in the global economic meltdown.
“We have confidence to do the business as this is the right time to earn trust of the leading multinational companies,” he added.
Call centres are used by mail-order catalog organisations, telemarketing companies, computer product help desks, and any large organisation that uses the telephone to sell or service products and services.
A call centre is a centralised office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone and operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from local and international customers.
Major businesses in developing nations use call centres to interact with their customers. Utility companies, banking institutions, non-governmental organisations, shopping malls, telecom companies are major users of call centres.
“There is no limit to award call centre licences. We will issue more licences to eligible applicants,” said Major General Manzurul Alam (Retd), Chairman of BTRC. BTRC forecast that globally call centre business will reach $ 650 billion by 2010 from existing $ 400 billion.

Source: The Bangladesh Today