Speaking at the Contact Centres World Africa 2006 conference today, Gavin Paynter of Saab Grintek told delegates that the world trend is towards a converged infrastructure for contact and business process outsourcing centres using IP as the underlying transport mechanism delivering voice and data and WiFi.
This allows agents to receive e-mail on the fly on a portable PDA and make phone calls from the PDA to anywhere on the company's campus. He said that Bluetooth headsets complete the technology landscape.
For organisations that already have an IP network, investment can be minimised by converging voice and data on the existing infrastructure. When establishing a new contact centre or expanding an existing one, a converged network only requires one connection to the desktop and a unified management instead of a disparate voice and data networks with different lines, equipment, management system and support specialists.
A converged network is easier and less expensive to manage with resultant increased work efficiencies, lower training and personnel costs and the opportunity to manage remotely through a single interface.
For international operations and inbound 0800- number traffic especially, IP can generate significant cost savings compared to circuit switched voice services. Where traditional telephony services are priced per minute, VOIP services such as those offered over cable and DSL connections are generally priced on a flat rate. "Transforming a key cost component from a variable to a fixed cost greatly improves cost management and forecasting," Paynter said.
The greatest benefits accrue from virtual contact centres. Cost-effective IP links make it economically possible to locate agents in virtual call centres that include branch offices or home offices. It also affords the opportunity to bring the work to areas where there is large-scale unemployment instead of relocating agents to high cost areas.
"There are many benefits including greater job satisfaction for agents as they can work at home or close to home, and have the ability to distribute calls during peak periods from one area to an area with low traffic volume," he said.
"Saab Grintek is one of South Africa's leading empowerment information and communications technology (ICT) solutions companies. "We have built our reputation on combining international cutting-edge technology partners with a strong local engineering component and many years of experience in the Sub-Saharan African market," he said.
For contact centre technology, Saab Grintek partners with Nortel, one of the largest suppliers of contact centre equipment in the world. During 2005 Nortel was chosen by CRM magazine as a service leader for computer technology integration and was chosen as leader in interactive voice response. The publication recognises the top three leaders in the call centre environment. Nortel was the only company to be a leader in two categories.
For more information on Saab Grintek and Contact Centres, visit www.saabgrintek.com.
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Grintek is a leading empowerment technology group and employs some 1 300 people, most of whom are engineers and technicians. The company is a privately held partnership between Kunene Bros Holdings (29.7%) and Saab AB (70.3%) of Sweden. The group specialises in three main market segments, namely telecommunications and selected niche opportunities within industrial and defence electronics. Saab Grintek is a business unit of Saab.
Saab
Saab is one of the world's leading high-technology companies, with its main operations focusing on defence, aviation and space. The group covers a broad spectrum of competence and capability in systems integration.
Saab Grintek Technologies
Saab Grintek Technologies applies the group's core technologies in the ICT, transport and energy sectors through the development of its own products as well as partnerships and distribution agreements with world-class suppliers.
The division provides tailored and innovative solutions from initial project and business requirement consulting, through to implementation, integration, continuous support and training.
The company focuses on providing high-end communications solutions in the following areas: transmission, voice, data, wireless, convergence services, antennas, RF components, DC power systems, pre-payment electricity meters, electric load management systems and a full range of professional avionics and aeronautical electronics.
The division's solutions have been implemented in over 500 top South African companies and in more than 22 African countries. Over 25 leading international vendors have selected Saab Grintek Technologies as a South African service provider and partner. Saab Grintek Technologies' head office and support centre is located in Centurion, Pretoria, and it has full regional support offices in Cape Town and Windhoek.
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