Hi,

My partner and myself, with vast experience in operations of call centres both sides of the Atlantic, would like to open a call centre in Mumbai.

We ahve jsut started thinking along those lines and since we do not have much experience in some areas of call centres but would like to plan this out very carefully, we would appreciate if someone could guide us to some project work or some data accompanying such a setup. Cost factors, technology solutions, etc. would be a major focus area on which we requrie help since we have operations, clients, recruitment covered.

We are planning for, to start off with, a 200 seater with possible expansion layouts.

Please Help......Need some guidance deperately...since we are looking seriously at this, while at the same time want to do it in a structured, planned manner...

Wow,

Don't want to sound negative or unsupportive but...

What you're asking is precisely how a lot of consultants make their money; you are unlikely to find the level of detail you will need generously donated on a forum like this.

However you say that you and your partner have "vast experience in operations of call centres" and that you "do not have much experience in some areas", a suggestion might be to either break down further the areas you aren't as familiar with, or team up with someone who complements your own skilsets.

You may find a browse through past threads raises at least some of the questions!

Good luck

Zoe

Firstly, I'll go along with Zoe's "wow". It sounds exciting!

As a consultant who specialises in technology, I'm going to latch onto that for a second.

Before you can start planning for things such as technology, I think it's important that you have a good idea how you'd like to market your facility. Let the business drive the technology, not the other way around.

If you want a multi-channel/media solution you may want some clever technology, but you may be more interested in just voice and you could limit your capital investment. Do you want IVR services to be a part of your offering, and therefore something you want onsite, or you could supply this through a network "partner"?

Work out where you want to place yourself, then go to the consultant market. A good business/technology consultant should be able to go through these types of questions with you and help you form a strategic plan.

Oh, and make sure you use a decent carrier to get the calls to and from your centre, I can't stand it when I speak to an offshore site and there's obviously 10 calls going down the same 64k line.

Most of all, Good luck!

Darryl Beckford
www.darrylbeckford.co.uk

Dear Gautam Singh,

First and Foremost - My Best Wishes for the Success for your New Project ...

I have been part of this great forum, and an avid reader of other's comments for a long time. Sometimes I do contribute my thoughts though. I publish an e-newsletter from INDIA (specially for small/medium Centers), a small contribution to the industry which has given me so much. It goes free of cost to about 600 call center and BPO unit owners across INDIA. I can make some suggestions which might be helpful to you ...

Selection of Vendors:
You must be careful of all kind of solution providers. Talk to many people/ companies before narrowing down on any particular provider. Check their existing installations, and check them at "full load" ... it is at full load that systems fail! And browse the internet till you drop ... you will be surprised as to what you can find if you look hard enough. Your posting on this site is a good step forward.

Prospecting Business:
Most new Center owners get cowed down by a client giving them his/her business. Dont get shortchanged just because you are getting business. Most failed centers have gone down not because they did not have busines but because they did not have profitable business. So be careful. Work out your costs, and build up a profitable margin on it. Let me share a secret with you: there are more clients looking for good call centers than othwise :-)

And when you hire people, be sure to go with the best. The investment in a good team will pay off almost immediately. Let me sign off by saying that "Dont look behind in regret or forward with fear ... look arounnd in awareness".

God Bless ... and my best wishes again ...

regards,
Deepak Kapoor
www.activas.org