Australasian call centers - Outsourcing Trends

"...more and more U.S. call centres and marketers are discovering they can get better value and very favorable campaign results by contracting out local and international call campaigns to Best U.S. standard Aussie call centres."

"With an estimated 5,000 Telemarketing, Teleservices agencies and Call Center providers in the United States and over 800 in Australia, the search for a partner can be time consuming and frustrating". (Telemarket newsletter, 1999)

"In 1999, the outsourced inbound U.S. call center industry was worth over $10 billion and is expected to be worth around $20 billion by 2003." (Call Center Journal, 1999)

"On average, companies are realizing a 9% cost savings and a 15% increase in capacity and quality through outsourcing."
(The Outsourcing Institute, 1998)

" On average, companies who have completely outsourced their call center functions have realized a greater 10 year average return to investors, a higher average 10 year annual growth rate, and a larger percentage change in earnings per share." (DGY Associates, 1997)

"Within the past decade more than 85% of North American companies have outsourced at least one or more business functions" (International Data Corporation,1996)

"Outsourcing is nothing less than a full-fledged mega-trend both here in the U.S. and around the world." (Fortune Magazine. 1995)

"The global outsourcing market will exceed $121 billion by the year 2000." (International Data Corporation, 1998)

OUTSOURCING

Business Process Outsourcing is the fastest growing strategic solution for maximizing opportunities, reducing costs/overheads and minimizing risks in America today.
Outsourcing is a key strategy for enhancing call centre performance/efficiency and maintaining or obtaining a competitive edge.

What is Outsourcing?

simply acquiring a product or service rather than producing it yourself
the main purpose of outsourcing is to assign a task to another party who can perform it more efficiently and cost effectively than you
a business tool and an accepted means of increasing shareholder value by moving resources and capital from non value adding activites to core areas providing greater return on investment
the major benefits to the outsourcer are:
a) greater flexibility - the ability to maximize
     your manpower, money and time resources,
b) the opportunity to conserve and target your
     resources at what you do best, and
c) realizing significant savings by converting
    fixed employee costs to flexible, variable costs
    and avoiding large capital expenditures required
    to implement and maintain call centre technologies

Partnership or Alliance?

A partnership is an association with another party who has similiar interests. Partnerships have typically short-term contracts with the end-user/outsourcer having the right to change the service provider. Both parties usually share common objectives, risks and rewards.

In an alliance two parties with separate interests agree, by way of contract, to cooperate for a common purpose. Unlike partnerships, alliances are suitable for long-term relationships that are meant to withstand any change in business conditions or objectives. The goal of alliance partners is the alignment of their varying interests for the common good.