ContinuitySA opens 900-seat contact centre facility in Midrand

ContinuitySA has launched a new 7 400 square metre contact centre facility in Midrand that has the capacity to host up to 900 contact centre seats. The new facility is the second ContinuitySA has launched in the last two years, both designed to capitalise on the growing contact centre and business process outsourcing (BPO) markets in South Africa.

Anthony Askew, business development manager at ContinuitySA, says the company decided to enter the contact centre infrastructure provisioning market just over two years ago to take advantage of the growing number of local companies launching contact centres, as well as international companies opening shop in South Africa.

"Our first 350-seat contact centre facility was booked out in 18 months by only three customers," says Askew. "And the demand for facilities remains high. We therefore obtained another building and are about to put an additional 900 seats on the market."

ContinuitySA does not run the operations of a contact centre or outsource call centre services, but provides the infrastructure and services customers require. Depending on the requirements of the client, ContinuitySA will have all the infrastructure they require, from desks, chairs and pause areas, to servers and desktop PCs as soon as the operators move in. All the customer needs to provide are the operators, management and the associated soft skills.

The new building, called Continuity Junction, is situated on Old Pretoria Road, close to all forms of transport, from road to rail and bus lanes, to ensure operators will have easy access to the facility. There are also shopping centres nearby with medical and dental practitioners to further ease the practical day-to-day burdens of the operators.

"As South Africa's leader in providing business continuity services, ContinuitySA will also ensure all clients automatically have access to backup power, dual Telkom lines and technical services to keep them running during common electrical and telecommunications outages," adds Askew. "We can also add in connectivity options from other providers, such as Vox Telecom, Neotel, IS or Verizon if required. Should clients require the standard business continuity support, ContinuitySA is able to provide all they need, including a failover disaster recovery site in Randburg or Midrand for a worst-case scenario."

The new facility is aimed at companies of any size needing to expand or set up a new contact centre quickly. ContinuitySA can set up a custom-designed facility in short order for permanent, expansion or project use, depending on the client's requirements. The facility will be open for business in June 2008.