Wi-Fi, when it came to India, was a rage that took the entire ecosystem by
storm, and still has its invisible tentacles firmly rooted in the industry.
However, with BWA offering us WiMax-something far better than Wi–Fi, in terms of
greater bandwidth, speed and a signal that travels 30 miles, the IT and telecom
industry is all abuzz with the new opportunities it has to offer, which were
never before possible in India.
For enterprises, WiMax means helping them to conduct their IT systems and,
therefore overall business much more efficiently and cost-effectively. For BPOs
and contact centers, WiMax-the latest technology in India, will also throw up a
host of opportunities.
WiMax for Efficiency
Some of the major challenges for contact centers today are first-call
resolution, attrition, geographical connectivity, linking domestic and global
call centers and changing from a contact center to a context center, and a shift
from a physical call center to a virtual call center-all of which hamper
efficiency of a contact center. Let us explore each of these problems
individually and link them with the solutions possible with WiMax.
While first-call resolution is an issue that can make or break revenues for a
call center, as seven out of ten people do not call back a second time, if the
issue is not resolved in the first attempt, BPOs are in dire need of a solution
to this recurring problem.Also with immense focus on bringing rural areas on par
with urban populace and ushering an IT revolution from the roots of the country,
BPOs need to spread out to yet untouched rural areas, that are geographically
and infrastructurally handicapped, so as to provide localized assistance to
customers in those areas as well, going to the doorstep of the customer, so to
speak.
The world swiftly following an oyster concept, with MNCs investing heavily in
India and Indian companies setting up branches abroad, it has become a necessity
to link the domestic or local call center with that of its global counterpart,
and have a central system managing overall productivity. Another issue, which
has arisen from a number of call center surveys recently is failure to tap exact
needs of the customer and add value-so that instead of receiving information
verbatim, the consumer actually gets relevant and value information that will
best suit his personal need-a concept that entails shifting from a contact
center to a context center.
Finally, with costs of running a contact center increasingly on the rise, the
idea of virtualization of a BPO, following in the footsteps of data centers and
other IT functionalities, seems an interesting concept, where a lot of
information can be stored in a public or private cloud and disseminated to all
areas, without too much human interaction needed- thereby increasing the
popularity of Internet call centers.
WiMax has solutions to all these problems. According to Jayesh Easwaramony,
director, ICT practice, APAC, Frost & Sullivan, “With more bandwidth at your
disposal, one can focus on a company hotspot. This means that through WiMax, a
company can link all its call center branches with a private network, and with
greater bandwidth and speed can not only train employees via the net, but also
respond to consumer queries in the first attempt itself, via Internet call
centers. With quick and cheaper training available on the Internet, BPOs can
outsource their operations to home-makers and self-employed people themselves,
even in rural areas, which will eliminate the need for setting up of so many
call centres. Finally, with operations being virtualized through WiMax, domestic
and global branches of a call center can have a centralized server, which
connects all employees in different parts of the world and at the same time
assists in quick exchange of information and ideas between different nations.
Work from Home
While working from home has caught up in the West, and is also considered a
green technology, as transportation costs and infrastructure costs are
eliminated, with WiMax, BPO agents from India can now join their Western
counterparts. In addition, working from home, with a WiMax network being
provided by the company, can help to train housewives, students and retired
people by video streaming, and thus create more job opportunities, which is
critical in a country like India. According to Lin Chin Keng, director of Field
Systems Engineering, F5, “WiMax in a BPO would work better in a work-from-home
concept, with ADSL, as it would ensure better performance at lower cost. WiMax
also helps if you are on the move, so it would streamline work from home
functions that can be carried out from anywhere.”
Addtionally, video training with experts from around the world being able to
connect with employees in rural areas, can not only help in servicing of local
needs in a local language by the people themselves, but video training can also
aid in better catering to illiterate consumers, thus revolutionizing the meaning
of a BPO from just being a contact center to cater to fixed queries, to becoming
a context center catering to individual requirements in a local language and at
a local level. WiMax can help to ease the peak-hour call traffic between 11 pm
and 3 am, with the home becoming an extension of the office, with every call of
a call center executive being routed through the office network, ensuring
security as well as efficiency.
However, scalability and cost-effectiveness, as well as security of data is a
major concern for WiMax network in BPOs. Remarks Jason Haworth, worldwide
practice lead for Telco Service Providers, F5, “Clearwire in the US tried out
the WiMax option for BPO, with speeds of 1.5 Mbps per second, but it did not
really catch up there. For a fixed location call center, WiMax may not be
necessary and may even be expensive, but installing a WiMax tower at home, which
can have multiple uses, including call center functionalities makes good
business sense, especially with the high speeds offered.”
Little Steps in India
The government recently spoke about awarding a broadband project to BSNL
worth Rs 18, 000 crore, that would help increase the reach of broadband
connectivity to the farther most reaches of the country, and also help in public
health, e-governance and m-banking, among other segments which are quickly
catching up in India. While BPOs are increasingly investing in these new sectors
and tying up with operators to increase reach, WiMax funding from the government
would be a big boost to them as well.
As far as operators are concerned, there has been a buzz for some time about
the likes of Tata tying up with NTT DOCOMO for setting up a WiMax network in
BPOs, and BSNL and MTNL both having 20 Mhz of spectrum, tying up with Russian
ISP Yota, which may in future be used for WiMax in BPOs.
According to Manoj Paul, COO, enterprise services, Bharti Airtel, “The right
partners will lead to more outsourcing, and work from home should really be
marketed, especially with higher speeds for home being offered, which will lead
to greater cost efficiency. Further, operators providing a one-stop, end-to-end
solution, backed by a single BPO partner can also help eliminate vendors and
thus save on costs.”
With WiMax coming in, which promises greater speeds for work-from-home
concept, the BPO sector can really witness an explosion in growth.
A Firm Foot forward
Says Sanjay Gupta, director, High Touch Enterprise, Avaya, “With WiMax,
Internet penetration in not only urban areas, but also tier-2 and tier-3 cities
will increase. De-centralised call centers, powered with WiMax, will aid towards
virtual call centers, using VPN, leading to better penetration, with more POPs
for companies, as they will be able to host more agents on this platform through
IP connections on WiMax. Video telephony, for use in video kiosks in banks,
malls, and other strategic locations, where customers can talk to agents on
video, will also be possible though WiMax, helping to reach the consumer where
he is. Thus WiMax promises widespread connectivity, and with increase in
broadband penetration, government liberalization will also increase.”
In summary, customer service will be better facilitated with WiMax, as well
as multi-channel and social media, which will see more penetration, at lesser
cost. There will be an increasing shift from contact centers to context centers,
with multi-channel contact centers being the future in-built with filters to
provide only relevant information according to customer needs. With India having
the largest number of outbound sales call centers in the world, bringing in the
newest and fastest technology available, is clearly the next step in making the
Indian BPO industry one of the most dynamic in the world.
Beryl M
berylm@cybermedia.co.in
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