Centering on contact

The study also explains that South Africa, in particular, is fast becoming an important contact centre destination for UK clients.

This growth, the report finds, is largely due to the advancement of IP technologies. Since the legalisation of Voice over IP (VOIP), South Africa has been able to compete with the likes of India, a world leader in contact centre outsourcing, because of the dramatic cost-reduction that VOIP offers in the telecoms space. This is in line with President Thabo Mbeki`s State of the Nation Address, in which he said: "Telkom will apply a special low rate for international bandwidth to ten development call centres, each employing 1 000 persons, as part of the effort to expand the BPO sector."

These centres will be established in areas identified by government. The special rate will be directly comparable to those for the same service and capacity per month offered in any of the comparable countries."

CLOSING THE INTERNATIONAL GAP

"The gap between South Africa and India is closing," says James Guthrie, MD of the Total Call Centre Technology (TCT) Group.

Although India is ahead of us, since they got there first, South Africa has many advantages because it would seem we adapt to international cultures better, our accents are easier to understand by UK and US standards, English is widely spoken, we are hard workers, and time zones between South Africa and the UK are very similar, he explains.

"At a socio-economic level, IP telephony gives countries like ours the ability to become more globally competitive and to create much-needed employment," he says.

He sees SA becoming a "huge" player in the market in the next five to ten years.

Andrew Askew, business development manager for ContinuitySA agrees, saying South Africans are attractive because of their "can do" attitude and strong work ethic.

In contrast, Jacques du Toit, director of Orion Telecom, says the market has only just started to grow and much of that growth will be determined by attitudes. He says, "We have the technology capabilities, but South Africans are generally lazy. If we want to compete with the likes of India, we have to be prepared to work as hard. Contact centre margins are low, so if our costs run beyond a reasonable point, it will not be feasible for overseas customers to come to us."

CHEAPER OR MORE EXPENSIVE?

Askew says that SA has always been a testing ground for IP technology. He says VOIP is easy to develop and the early adoption rates have been great. "VOIP is a tenth of the price compared to normal voice calls," he says.

"Between South Africa and the rest of the world, the potential cost-savings are high as a result of the lower Rand. Both incoming and outgoing calls would be significantly cheaper," agrees Guthrie.

Du Toit, director of Orion Telecom does not agree, stating: "Cost is the biggest pitfall. Of the two types of IP-based infrastructures, open source and proprietary, open source is obviously much cheaper. But corporates generally avoid open source technology, so price remains an inhibiting factor."