Overloaded Businesses Calling on Call Center Service Providers for Help

Business Wire, Nov 23, 1999

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 23, 1999--

In today's fast-paced, tech-savvy world where businesses must focus on core competencies to remain competitive, capital expenditures for in-house call centers are decreasing as call center service outsourcing is expanding.

The ever-increasing volume of customer service, order and business to business inquiries are outpacing infrastructure capacity and requiring businesses to seek call center and networking service assistance.

According to Frost & Sullivan's (www.frost.com) strategic research, "U.S. Call Center Service Markets," increased business inquiry and service correspondence bode extremely well for call center service providers. In 1998 combined revenues for the call center service industry totaled $19.9 billion, and the market is expected to experience substantial revenue gains into the next millennium.

However, not all providers are poised for market share growth. "The capital expenditures required to upgrade and replace outdated equipment will make it difficult for smaller companies to compete," states Frost & Sullivan Analyst Kim Antonaccio. Call center systems can become obsolete in as little as three months, and systems replacement can be cost-prohibitive for small cap companies.

"The latest technological development in call center services relates to the integration of call centers with the Internet," observes Antonaccio. Some service providers already enable customers to connect with live call center agents by simply clicking a "call me" icon on the company's Web site. The introduction of Internet and computer telephony integration should also spur development of advanced features such as unified messaging and multimedia conferencing.

"U.S. Call Center Service Markets" encompasses outsourcing and networking call center service markets and discusses internet telephony and related technologies.

Frost & Sullivan presents 1999 Market Engineering Awards to companies that have worked hard to make a positive contribution to the telecom services industry. The Competitive Strategy Award is presented to Covergys. The Service Line Strategy Award is given to Sprint. The Marketing Strategy Award is presented to Sitel.

Frost & Sullivan has identified the following companies as participants in the U.S. Call Center Service Markets: 800 Direct; Advanced Data-Comm; Advanced Telecom Services; Aegis Communications Group; Americall Corporation; American Call Centers; American TelNet (ATN), Inc.; Amerdial, Inc.; Ameritech Corporation; APAC Customer Services, Inc; AT&T Corporation; Bell Atlantic Corporation; BellSouth Corporation; Call Interactive; Communication Service Centers; Compus Teleservices; The Connection; Consolidated Market Response, Inc.; Convergys Corporation; Dakotah Direct, Inc.; Direct Marketing Solutions, Inc.; DMS Direct Marketing Services; Executive Call Centers, Inc.; The Faneuil Group; FutureCall Telemarketing West, Inc.; Gage Marketing Group, Inc.; Gannet Telemarketing, Inc.; GLS Teleservices; GTE Corporation; ICT Group, Inc.; Inter-Media Marketing, Inc.; King TeleServices; LCS Industries, Inc.; Market USA; MCI WorldCom; NTS Marketing, Inc.; Precision Response Corporation; Pro Direct Response Corporation; The Product Line, Inc.; ProMark One Marketing Services, Inc.; Reese Brothers, Inc.; RMH Teleservices, Inc.; Ron Weber and Associates, Inc.; The S.A.C. Companies; SBC Communications, Inc.; SITEL Corporation; Sprint Corporation; SPS Payment Systems, Inc.; TCIM Services; Telemark, Inc.; The Telemarketing Company; Telenational Marketing, Inc.; TeleQuest Teleservices, Inc.; Telerx; TeleService Resources; TeleSpectrum Worldwide, Inc.; Trase Miller Teleservices, Inc.; Unibase Direct, Inc.; UNITEL Corporation; U.S.A. 800, Inc.; US WEST, Inc. and West Teleservices Corporation.

Frost & Sullivan is an international marketing consulting and training company that monitors the telecommunications industry for market trends, market measurements and strategies. This ongoing research is used to complement a series of research publications such as World ACD System Markets, and is used to support participants with customized consulting needs. Free executive summaries are available to the press.

U.S. Call Center Service Markets

Report: 2706-63 Publication Date: 1999 Price: $3,450