IT-enabled services (ITES) are also known as web-enabled services or remote services. It covers almost all operations that exploit information technology to improve the efficiency and productivity of an organization. “These services provide a wide range of career options including call center opportunities, medical transcription, medical billing and coding, back office operations, income claims processing, legal databases, content development, payroll, logistics management, GIS (Geographic Information System), human resources services, web services, etc.”.
The call center industry in India is in the global spotlight today due to its very high growth rate. The industry has attracted the attention of major trading companies with the promise of delivery at a heavily subsidized price largely due to cheap labor and a large pool of talented English-speaking graduates. There have also been some controversies over the quality of the workforce, lack of domestic customer support culture, and weak infrastructure. There were also internal oppositions in the US and the UK based on fear of job losses. However, the industry saw through the resistance and is now more poised for growth than ever before.
According to a recent study by Dataquest, the following information came to light:
– The BPO export sector in India was a Rs 37,800 crore industry in 2006-07
– Domestic call center revenue reached Rs 8500 crore in FY 2008.
– The survey made a detailed study of both captive and third-party call centers.
– the growth of the national industry of call centers to accelerate to 65%, compared to 42% the previous year.
– The national call center industry employed more than 280,000 agents in December 2007.
– the break from the previous figure was 130,000 agents employed in captive call centers; and 150,000 employees in the outsourced industry.
– The top 10 outsourced players employed 71,645 people.
