Call Centres : The First Step

So, you have decided to set up an off-shore-outsourced (third party) call centre? Without going into why you have done that, the article will put some record straight for you. It will give you some facts collected after months of research. It is not an advisory article. If you want to set up a call centre, you should still go to a consultant. Here, the aim is to empower you with some relevant information that will help you talk confidently to your vendors, consultants, and clients.

DoT Guidelines for Setting-up Offshore Call Centres

Interconnectivity with other network/DTS link at India is not permitted. The PSTN connectivity is permissible only at the foreign end, not at the Indian end.
Separate earth station is not permitted, since VSNL is providing IPLC link.
FIPB clearance, foreign equity, NRI involvement, e-commerce activity, and legal connectivity, with foreign-end collaborator are to be provided with application.
Schematic Network diagram with full equipment details with specifications, IPLC details, Indian/foreign-end locations to be shown clearly in all respects.
For call centres involved in e-commerce activities, the foreign equity cap is 49 percent and for others, there is no restriction (i.e., foreign equity can be 100 percent).
An international private lease circuit, mutliplexers with compression techniques, predictive dialers, EPABX, operator (agents) positions, etc. are permitted. For all purposes, the call centres at India is treated as extension of PSTN from foreign end.

Step-by-Step

The first step to start any project is to get information. Good information will help you in three following ways:

It will make you more realistic in your expectation from business
It will help you polish your idea.
It will make you confident so that no one can take you for a ride. This is one major fear of any
entrepreneur in India.

Where do you get information? DoT gives certain basic guidelines (see the box below) for setting up call centres. You can also find them on DoT’s web site. Then, you need information on how call centre market operates. What are the questions that should be asked? Though there are no Indian web sites, you can take help of some of the US and European sites. You can get a list of links through any good directory like Yahoo! or search engines like Northernlight. A recommended must visit resource site is Call Centre News Service. Go through the FAQs. Another good site is www.callcentre.net. However, the best information source are people who have either set up offshore call centres or have been part of the set-up team in those call centres. You get a lot of practical tips from them that are relevant in the Indian context, which you do not get from any published source. Vendors and integrators also give you information. But you should take that with a pinch of salt, for obvious reasons. They have a business interest in mind.

By this time, you must have decided on the size of your call centre. Most Indian companies begin with 100-seat call centres. Your location is an important consideration. You must also have decided on your location. In India, Gurgaon is the hot favourite. Chennai, Mumbai, and Ahmedbad are the other places where call centres are coming up. These are the preferred locations for voice call centres. For e-mail/web-based help desks, even Bangalore and Pune are good choices. But you should be close to your base.