European travel crisis push up BPO call volumes

Tuesday, 20 April 2010, 22:17 IST
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Mumbai: Offshore Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies serving the aviation industry have been busy by calls over the last few days, as the volcanic ash cloud grounded and disrupted many flights in and out of Europe. Offshore BPOs like Aegiis and InterGlobe Technologies were asking their employees for extra work, to deal with the sudden surge in call traffic. "We are inundated by work. The call volumes are up three times the normal level, and so is the back office processing work," said Vipul Doshi, CEO of InterGlobe Technologies. The company, which serves international airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, South African Airlines, and KLM, said it has distributed the call traffic between its centres in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Manila. The company was working overtime to inform passengers about the change or cancellation of flights, reports Moumita Bakshi Chatterjee of Business Line. Since the crisis began, Aegis, the BPO wing of Essar group, has registered 20 percent increase in volumes. "Volumes have surged in our travel business largely because of the numerous ticket cancellations and inquiries made by customers, who were jittery after news of the volcano and its impact on air travel came out," said Aparup Sengupta, Managing Director and CEO, Aegis. WNS, another BPO serving the aviation industry, also coping with large volumes of call traffic as a result of the travel crisis in Europe. "The volcanic eruption has impacted the travel industry across the globe. Given the customer service challenges that airlines face in such situations, it is leading to an increase in call volumes," said, Ambareesh Mahajan, Business Unit Head, Travel and Leisure, WNS. Apparently, increase in volumes does no good for BPOs. "Economically, it may not be very rewarding because companies have to arrange the stay, travel and other facilities for the staff, who have had to work overtime," said an industry source to Business Line.