Days of large contact centers with huge setups are ending by the minute as customers are lining up for Internet Protocol (IP) hosted contact centers. Large players like Cisco, Avaya, Nortel, and 3Com are investing heavily in virtual contact centers based on Voice over IP technology (VoIP). IP hosted technology is beneficial for a call center to reduce maintenance cost, improve call traffic efficiency and minimize integration losses.

The majority of call centers set up in India to serve global clients are premise-based. An IP hosted contact center is a more lucrative business proposition than a premise-based call center as they outsource networking functionality from a network provider.

IP hosting deployed by a service provider directs the call traffic. V Chandrasekaran, co-founder and Vice President of Technology and Infrastructure, Secova eServices, an HR outsourcing firm in India, lists some key benefits of using IP for call routing. Secova uses AT&T for its IP service. Currently, when any call is made to Secova, it is first routed to IP host and then to the office. If a caller needs to talk in Spanish and if that skill is not available in Secova, he can easily reroute the call to a person outside Secova and assist the customer in Spanish. Thus, it is simple to manage traffic without a time delay. It also provides mobility for operators to serve calls independently. A person can now sit at home while serving the customer.

IP hosted call centers can now lease a line from service providers to become connected.

There are no upfront costs of setting up network architecture in office, or hiring people for network maintenance. Thus, it reduces manpower required at the call center and is cost effective. According to Chadrashekhar, “IP host technology makes very good business sense. We have saved approximately 30 percent on the investment cost”.