We are already seeing an increase in customer interaction via data options such as SMS, web chat, email and social media channels like Twitter and Facebook at the expense of voice interactions in contact centres. While many captive or in-house call centres cannot justify reengineering their technology because it has not achieved its predicted ROI, outsourcers are starting to show considerable interest in the new technologies to start ahead of the curve and manage their businesses more effectively by addressing one of the major costs to their business – Telephony.

LTE, short for Long Term Evolution, is considered by many to be the obvious successor to the current generation of 3G technology, which will enable it to provide significantly faster data rates for both uploading and downloading.

LTE would enable all calls to be carried over the Internet, and they would be billed as data rather than voice minutes.

REVENUE from mobile phone calls could be wiped out by the next wave of technology because network capacity would justify free phone calls, a telecommunications analyst says.

The cash cow of a Telco’s traditional income is fixed lines and mobile voice revenue which will be lost when more calls were being made over wireless Internet.

The first LTE network will be opened in Japan later this year, according to Ovum’s industry analyst, Nicole McCormick: ”In a 4G world, data pricing is perhaps going to be more crucial than today because voice is going to be practically given away for free,” she said. ”And that is why all eyes in Asia are on [Japanese carrier] NTT Docomo to see how it pitches data pricing come December.”

Regulators were still defining which technology would be classified as 4G, but long-term evolution (LTE) networks were being tested by all Australian carriers.

PharmCentre, a US based medical and healthcare call centre, announced that it is increasing its presence in South Asia region with the addition of offices in India. PharmCentre supports pharmaceutical, biotechnology, device, and healthcare industries. PharmCentre is a division of MakroCare and has focused on the Life Sciences industry for over 13 years.

PharmCentre provides product hotlines, medical information, AE/SAE Triage, PV Call center, product complaints, patient recruitment, patient retention, site management in clinical trials, EDC support and other BPO support services.

This presence along with other locations in USA and Philippines offer 24×7 coverage of it’s services to global customers. With its motto of “One Call makes a difference,” PharmCentre believes that call management plays a vital role in retaining customers, protecting brands and reaching to patients effectively. Their teams consist of highly qualified pharmacy, nursing and life sciences graduates with customer-centric approach skills.

Written by Matt Hambor, Consultant for Costa Rica BPO Near shore Global

In a world where the word “outsourcing” generally brings to mind Asian destinations like India and the Philippines, more and more companies in North America are realising the benefits of endeavouring to keep their outsourcing business a little closer to home.

Prior to the global economic crisis, Costa Rica enjoyed stable economic growth. The economy contracted 1.6% in 2009. While the traditional agricultural exports of bananas, coffee, sugar, and beef are still the backbone of commodity export trade, a variety of industrial and specialised agricultural products have broadened export trade in recent years. High value added goods and services, including microchips, have further bolstered exports. Tourism continues to bring in foreign exchange, as Costa Rica’s impressive biodiversity makes it a key destination for ecotourism. Foreign investors remain attracted by the country’s political stability and relatively high education levels, as well as the fiscal incentives offered in the free-trade zones; and Costa Rica has attracted one of the highest levels of foreign direct investment per capita in Latin America. Spanish is the official language however English is widely spoken and understood.

The Republic of Costa Rica boasts one of Central America’s most stable governments with a longstanding democracy and solid infrastructure.  It has also successfully avoided the violent uprisings that have plagued much of Latin America throughout recent history.  With a 95% literacy rate and a young, highly educated population, Costa Rica is quickly proving promising as an up-and-coming key source for companies seeking sustainable and commonly bilingual business support.  It is not widely known that 40 % of the US population speaks Spanish and American corporations are quickly realising the benefits of outsourcing to centres with employees fluent in both English and Spanish.

Commonly referred to as ‘near-shore’ outsourcing, the practice of outsourcing closer to home is gaining popularity as companies in the United States and Canada realise the benefits of Costa Rica’s shared time zones and a closer geographic location. Because of this, businesses are able to reach their BPO centre contacts during regular business hours and avoid both the financial and time costs of traveling to Asia.

By the same token, the close proximity gives BPO centres in Costa Rica another competitive edge over BPO centres located overseas, allowing them to maintain closer relationships with their nearby clients.

A vocal supporter of free trade, Costa Rica offers many attractive and enticing tax benefits to companies that invest in the growth of the local economy.  Low operating costs in Costa Rica help clients achieve success at costs 30-40% lower than main land USA.  Because the local government is eager to transform its primary economic dependence on agriculture by attracting international businesses focused on engineering and technology, Costa Rica is quickly proving a credible business investment and BPO powerhouse for companies in North America and around the globe.

Matt Nambor can be contacted directly at nearshoreglobal@gmail.com