Hi,
It is good to know that BPO/Call center work is picking up in Pakistan. Islamabad offers a nice telco infrastructure for running a reliable international call center. There are 4 operational/semi operational call centers and back offices in Islamabad already. In terms of technologies CosmoCom, Concerto, EchoPass, Some smaller centers on Cisco and TAW have found there way in local market. IPLC is the way to go if you want to do it effectively, however some new carriers are offering good reliable bandwith. Word of advice “Stay away from SingTel’s bandwith”. Singtel has attractive rates and has a long-term contract with PTCL, but the latency and DOS problems will kill your operations.
HR and effective amercanization of accent will remain to be an issue almost every where. But with training it is neutralized. Costs per seat can’t be ball parked to 5-6 Lacs ; as i saw in one of the earlier posts. It is really a question of company’s positioning. If you are targetting direct clients and/or fortune 500 companies the costs will be significantly higher because of all the redundancies in infrastructure.
Business development is also to be dealt wih very carefully; No doubt there is loads of business out there but beware of:
1.Brokers and pay-as-you-go scheemes
2.scams !! this industry is prone to this…specially lottery fraud
3. FTC regulations
4. Compliance with international law
If anyone needs more info I will be glad to help and offer my suggestions.
Best Regards to every one and I hope this infant industry in Paksitan picks up.
Take care and have a great day.