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for Call Centers (I)

Among the scant literature produced in Spain on an important sector for the economy both in number of staff employed as turnover, I found a study produced by the team of Dr. Mireira Velarde, Human Factor Group, Organizations and Markets (FHOM) of the University Rovira i Virgili. The study, which has only an executive summary contains interesting facts to know a little more about the sector in Spain.

For example and for general characteristics of the sector we have:

• terms of size of English call centers, we have that the average band positions of a call center is among the 51 English and 200 positions. Are generally higher centers of companies working on contract for large companies such as Atento or Unitone to name just two. Call centers in-house (providing services to companies in their own facilities belonging to its own organizational structure) are generally below the 50 positions mostly.
  
• mostly be attending to private and public in general, followed by companies and individuals focus on high margin (high value). A small proportion of services are provided to internal customers (other departments of the company, such as technical support or Distributors Service Centres). Most call centers are not trained in only one industry, but perform these tasks combined.
  
• Two thirds of the English call centers serving the domestic market. Just over 15% attend international markets and serve about 18% market regional or local nature. Those who attend the international environment are small, in-house, owned by large corporations and are in metropolitan centers such as Madrid and Barcelona mainly.
• In economic terms we find that the study which was attended by more than one hundred contact centers, estimated that sales in recent years had increased rates very important, which explains the boom that was experienced in the first half-century with the expansion of this sector in the country.
  
• A surprising to the authors of the study and for me as a reader, is that call centers say they search for quality differentiation, which contrasts strikingly with studies on perceived quality by customers and obsession reducing costs both from within companies and companies contracting these call centers.
  

To not make the article too long, I will present the study in several entries. However, and in my humble opinion, I think as a general characteristic of the sector could include the factor of offshoring or outsourcing, now that major companies such as Atento, Digitex and Advances to name but three, are starting an extended deployment in other countries and sometimes tending to close centers in Spain. And frankly, despite what they say they do not think that is his obsession with quality that moves them.