BPO Park

No Such Things As Free Calls.

2008-06-23T18:44:00.000-04:00

We all know about free calls on many different services. But these calls cost someone, which are the companies.

We all know about free calls on many different services. But these calls cost someone, which are the companies.

Some services cost money even if the calls do not touch the PSTN such as Skype. Then there is maintenance of the service network and the data transport of the calls, all this cost money.
No doubt that the services provided are satisfactory, but even though, all of this is to reduce the cost for Skype to give such service, but it still has a cost.

Companies are questioning how much to really give consumers now.

Mobivox and Truphone are among those companies who are well known for their promotional deals and who have been giving us free calls to many different countries around the world, this is up until recently. They both have terminate their free calls

So my point is while we enjoy the free calls, how long does it last for and the bottom line is It’s not free.

Callcenter Script which you shlould not use.

2008-05-13T13:57:00.000-04:00

To script or not to script – that is the burning call-center question. While there are roughly an equal number of proponents and detractors on both sides of the issue, most agree that if you are going to use a script, you need to execute it well or you risk losing customers.

“Everything you watch at the movies and most of TV is totally and absolutely scripted, and it is far from awful. Well some of it is, but that's content and a different subject,” said telesales expert Flyn Penoyer of Penoyer Communications, a sales-management consulting company.

Why Not Use a Script?

If content and scripting are two different components, and your content is good, then what can go wrong with your script? “The biggest error in scripts is actually first the writing, and second the formatting,” said Penoyer. “Skip any tendency to make a speech in the script.”

And if the writing and the formatting are up to snuff and the script considered “perfect,” then it should be used all the time, right? Wrong. “Scripts are helpful in the initial phases when a person joins the company. But in the long-run, the employee should use his/her experience, presence of mind, and business knowledge to handle the issue,” said Sailaja Sivalenka, regional sales manager for Aspire Systems in Chennai, India.

Mistakes to Avoid

As shown above, a script is more of a guide than a dictate. Many call centers make script errors which result in repeating mistakes. Here are 10 tips to avoid common errors call centers encounter when writing scripts:

1. Avoid formatting the script in long paragraphs that promote mechanical reading.

2. Omit irrelevant information.

3. Avoid accepting any limitation or fault on your side immediately.

4. Avoid “blaming” or criticizing the customer from the outset.

5. Don’t talk to the point; you need to proactively build relationships with customers to generate more business.

6. Don’t forget to include a proper follow-up plan. Without follow-through, your customers’ frustrations will quickly escalate to permanent anger.

7. Don’t require a full agent script, because it can diminish the customer rapport.

8. Avoid a long greeting or closing. Customers hear enough about who they're calling in the IVR (interactive voice response), so make greetings short and simple – identify the brand, yourself and get down to business.

9. Don’t require inflated cheerfulness or an overly polite tone. Saying please and thank you is customary, but requiring it after every request annoys many customers.

10. Don’t repeat the same questions. If a question was asked on a previous contact or in the IVR, don't ask it again. That applies to verification, phone numbers or anything that should have been captured in the first contact. Leverage your CRM application, automatic-number ID pop-ups, softphone capabilities and any previous data stored.

Last, but certainly not least, consider timing. “Don't measure on calls per hour or minutes per call — you're just setting yourself up for bad customer service,” said Jacques Pavlenyi, segment executive of communications industries for a major IT vendor. “Instead, measure on key performance metrics that are aligned to your strategy.”

Get VoIP free calls by NimBuzz Mobile.

2008-05-13T13:34:00.000-04:00

The Mobile VOIP market has been silent for long. However this scene is about to change a lot with new startups coming up in Mobile VOIP market and existing VOIP providers extending their service to Mobile VOIP platform will make it difficult for exisiting players to retain market share.

NimBuzz is one of the companies whose core focus is Mobile VOIP, a direct competitor to no.1 Mobile VOIP application developer Fring. The rest of the players like Truphone, Tringme are VOIP providers but Nimbuzz will take compete directly to Fring in the coming days.

Nimbuzz offers a solution for free mobile VoIP calling, conference calling, instant messaging, chat and group chat, and photo and file sending across multiple IM communities, including Skype, MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo!, AIM, Jabber and ICQ, plus 23 social networks. Nimbuzz currently supports over 500 handsets, which is really great. That means Nimbuzz is able to bring Mobile VOIP to the masses. It would be interesting to see how this whole thing will actually work.

The Official launch date of Nimbuzz Mobile VOIP is May 13th, thats today. With Mobile VOIP application slowly taking over the whole telecom business from Mobile companies, it would be interesting how this whole thing will work. Sending files and photos using Mobile VOIP for FREE is gonna make life difficult for GSM/CDMA operators across the world. We strongly feel there will be consolidation, takeovers and mergers happening soon in this space.

Just to give you a heads up, Fring is also moving into the same direction. Lets see what next they come out with. http://www.nimbuzz.com/

5 Ways To Improve Workplace Morale

2008-05-11T17:49:00.003-04:00

Increased turnovers, costly decreases in productivity and overall employee dissatisfaction are all ramifications of low morale in the workplace. Moral is a vital component of any organization or business for it to thrive and achieve success.

Here are five ways to improve workplace morale easily and inexpensively that will boost your team's performance and lower levels of tension and stress.

Install a Humor Board
Most every office has several memo boards for important work-related information, some pleasant, some not so pleasant. Install a memo board in a neutral location that is specifically for people to post jokes, cartoons, funny pictures or amusing anecdotes. This way everyone can get a little laugh after arriving for work on a dreary Monday morning.

Adopt Flextime Schedules
If possible, work out a way for employees to have more flexibility in their schedules. You may be surprised at the amount of stress that can be alleviated by this one thing. With daycares and households with two working parents, and possibly only one vehicle, this small move can be monumental to some people. Work out a schedule or system for employees to leave an hour early or come in an hour late on certain days. Alternate days and times so that everyone gets an opportunity to benefit if needed.

Get Away From It All
Hold meetings and conferences at a location away from the office if at all possible. A restaurant or local park would be a welcome alternative to a stuffy boardroom on a clear, spring day. People may be more alert and more receptive to the specifics of the meeting in another less stifling environment.

Share the Wealth
Offer employees incentives to "coach" their co-workers on their lunch or break times. Incentives could come in the form of paid time off, gift certificates to stores or restaurants, movie tickets or even small, simple mementos to show appreciation. This is a morale booster in a few ways; firstly, new or confused employees can glean valuable information from their more experienced colleagues and secondly, it may make the "coach" feel better about their job, themselves and their performance.

Offer Contests and Awards
Special days such as "Ugliest Outfit Day" or "Best Disguise Day" or "Funniest Story Day" can be a way to lighten the mood for a bit and encourage communication between employees. Offer "awards" which can be simple prizes and certificates given to the winners to display.

Boosting employee morale doesn't have to be expensive or involved. Even contagious cheerfulness on a regular basis can mean the difference between a dour workplace and a welcoming, productive one. Ask the employees for their ideas and listen to their thoughts. Work out a viable plan that will motivate them and make them more productive and happier at the same time.

YouTube: Outsourcing to India

2008-05-11T17:37:00.000-04:00

Outsourcing to Indian seems to be the only option for companies to remain competitive.
Watch the video which shows the real agony & pain gone through many big companies to remain in the business.

Top 100 Telecom Industry Blogs | VoIP Now

2008-05-08T10:46:00.000-04:00

"When was the last time you looked for expert advice on a blog about VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) or WiMAX (the successor to WiFi)? Or, perhaps you sought an antique telephone or the latest gizmo that could connect you to your Aunt Sally through the Internet. The telecom industry has changed dramatically over the past few decades, and blogs provide one way to keep up with with transitions from traditional technology to the latest connectivity."
Read More...

Life on Fast Track in Call Center in India.

2007-11-17T12:14:00.000-05:00

Turning the Tables on Telemarketers

2007-11-16T23:11:00.000-05:00

It’s been an annoying day here at the box factory. November 15th must be some sort of telemarketing celebration day. I’ve been handling three or four calls an hour from these bozos all day long. It drives me nuts.

I have little patience for spammers of any sort. Telemarketers are the worst. I have filters that can handle most of the e-mail and blog spam I receive. But there’s no way to filter the telemarketers. I have to answer each and every call, have to listen to a few seconds of the lousy accents before I’m able to determine whether the call is worth taking or not.

Sears sending 150 call-center jobs overseas

2007-11-16T09:46:00.000-05:00

Sears is outsourcing about 150 jobs from its Tucson call center to locations overseas, including the Philippines.But affected local workers will be able to move to open positions here, the retailer said.
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Seven Reasons Why Outsourcing to India is Good for Your Business

2007-11-13T03:34:00.000-05:00

The tech industry in America is faced with intense competition from foreign vendors, most notably India. Although painful at times to American technology service providers, the rise of offshore competition creates quality options for outsourcing and creates value for your company.

Read More...

Now even calls to Police Stations are set to be answered in Indian Call Centres

2007-11-13T03:23:00.000-05:00

Callers to police stations could soon be talking to someone in India as forces are now allowed to privatise their call centres.

Police across the country are privatising their call centres and backroom staff in a bid to cut costs.

The Government has been forced to relax the rules to allow forces to sign contracts with private companies, including foreign firms, as there is a massive cash shortage.

Life on Fast Track in Call Center in India.

2007-11-09T12:09:00.000-05:00

Just last month, Sachin Kapur, 25, was on cloud nine. In four years, the Gurgaon-based KPO executive has landed three jobs, three promotions and impressive pay hikes. The graduate topper from the Delhi University just got promoted to a team leader. “Thirty people will report to me,” he told his father on phone. He felt proud that he would be the main interface between his company and the US-based client.

A month later, that excitement is fading. He is behind schedule. Silly mistakes by one of his teammates have delayed the project delivery. Two of his experienced team members quit early July. Another vanished without notice. Their casual attitude just drives him crazy. His boss is worried, client a bit upset. His 12-hour workday is stretching to 14. Weekends no longer feel like weekends. He is doling out incentives like free movie tickets or extra dollars for those willing to work extra. “But it is like steering a ship where I am losing control,” says Kapur.

Early success is fashionable and celebrated. CEO at 27; leading 300 at 30 — hyper economic growth, talent shortage and a de-emphasis on experience (in emerging sectors) have resulted in quick promotions for bright young executives. The applause from employers, friends and media is instant.

But beneath that glitz and glamour lay a gloomy story. Early success is taking its toll on both employers and employees. Workplace stress and flare-ups are rising even as employers get lessons in crisis management. “Boomerang cases are high,” says T Hari, HR head, Satyam Computers. He estimates that as high as 30-40% of fast-track promotions may not be working. Fortunately now, a slew of companies are paying more than lip service to handle the youngsters better.

Side-effects of hyper growth

Fast-tracking executives aren’t out of choice - hyper economic growth makes it inevitable. Companies across the board are growing rapidly — Satyam has grown from around $550 million revenue and 22,000 employees in 2004-05 to $1.5 billion revenue and 40,000 staff in 2006-07. “We have to have leadership bandwidth to handle that growth,” he says. Most emerging sectors like telecom, IT, ITeS, hospitality, retail have a very small pool of experienced talent. Giving chance to bright young relatively inexperienced executives is the only way to deal with it.

Downsides are many. A 25-year-old procurement manager at a retail chain, who handles procurement worth Rs 120 crore admits that the enormity of the decision gives him sleepless nights. Hardeep Kaur, 25, executive at a Mumbai-based KPO, knows what it means. In his office, people at 27 could be handling as big as 30-people team. In this hot job market and rising attrition if somebody puts in his paper, the instant reaction is to raise salary and offer promotion.

They grab it but many can’t handle it. “They are impatient - and lack people skills,” says Arvind Agrawal, HR head, RPG Group. Many who have been self-centered all their lives suddenly find it difficult to begin to think of others. Traces of arrogance begin to show up. Some can't handle dissonance and diversity of perspective with maturity. “Intolerant, some try imposing their ways on others,” says Hema Ravichandar, a strategic HR consultant. Cont...

Life on Fast Track in Call Center in India. (Cont )

2007-11-09T12:03:00.000-05:00

All this leads to their sense of restlessness — them getting bored and feeling stagnated fairly quickly in the role.
On the outside, they may appear restless, intolerant and arrogant. But deep inside, unbridled ambition and job responsibilities are taking their toll. “They face failure, embrace frustration,” says Ronesh Puri, CEO, Executive Access. Work hour stretches beyond 14 hours, often reaching home at midnight. For singles, the 24-hour canteen is a big help — but in many ways it makes the treadmill move faster.

How the companies suffer

It is not just the employees. It tells on the company as well. Youngsters bring lot of energy and optimism at work, says Brotin Banerjee, deputy CEO, Tata Housing, who earlier handled young executives at retail coffee chain Barista. They want to be high-fliers always. When things don't go their way, they are depressed. They blame the organisation, colleagues — everyone else but themselves. “How to deal with low times is very critical. They don’t know — they need help,” he says.

Worse, due to lack of leadership pipeline, often companies end up with weak leaders, who are insecure. Ill equipped, they end up firefighting crisis all the time - becoming very narrow focused and short-term. “They are good to maintain status quo. But as strategic leaders looking beyond a transactional role both within and without,” many just don’t make the cut, says Mohinish Sinha, MD, idiscoveri.

One of the biggest mistakes companies make is that they promote on the basis of past performance, says Sinha. A great salesman can't always make a great sales manager. “Simply because skills needed are different,” says Hari. At the entry level you have just one stakeholder — the customer. But a team leader has to manage two stakeholders — customer and the team. And as you move up stakeholders rise. Many bright youngsters are not able to deal with it.

Dealing with whiz-kids

Despite pitfalls, tapping youngsters for leadership roles isn't going to fade in this hyper growth economy. With experience and some hindsight, corporate India is learning how to do it better. Sanjay Jog, HR head of Pantaloon India, says creating a bench helps. “It allows you to invest and watch before you deploy them,” he says.

Many of his new retail stores would be manned by managers who were hired and groomed over the last three years. “We have the pipeline ready,” he says. Sometimes it just involves accepting a boomerang case and moving on. Something that doesn't come easily. Jog recalls a case when a high-flier, 25, had done wonders at one of the smaller stores.

He was promoted to handle a big store with 150 people (five times). The manager completely collapsed. He just could not handle. “We simply underestimated the complexities of a big store,” he says. It was a sensitive issue, but the company tried letting him know that it was ok that he could not handle. Of course, the young manager felt bad. But instead of rubbing it in, he was sent for a leadership development programme.

Second, experiential learning, live projects help test their mettle in real life situations. In fact at Travel Port India, a Delhi-based BPO firm, young executives are put in senior roles (overseen by a senior) before they are formally assigned the role. “We started this two years ago and it has helped us,” says Bhupinder Singh, the CEO.

It works like probation, helping the executive deal with the role without the pressure of formally being in charge. At Pantaloon, young executives are given live projects to survey and assess competition and then chalk out strategy. The best ones get implemented. “It gives them experience in a controlled environment,” says Jog.

Mentoring and coaching — both formal and informal — is becoming popular. Heidrick & Struggles, an executive search firm, is looking to bring its coaching business to India.

HR consultants and seasoned executives like Anil Sachdev and Harish Bijoor are finding new roles as CEO coaches. Bijoor coaches six CEOs, one of them is a 27-year-old Wharton alumnus. “Technical knowledge can be acquired. But they need handholding in dealing with people,” Bijoor says. At lower levels, companies are exploring other ways. At Accenture India, every employee has a mentor other than his boss. “It helps them deal with issues and seek guidance from seniors at a more informal basis,” says Rahul Varma, senior VP, HR.

Approach to failures is changing. Aggressive companies, impatient for growth are learning to be patient and tolerant about failures. Companies like Pantaloon, Satyam, RPG say that they tell their employees that its ok to make mistakes, to fail — but provided they learn from it.

Agrawal at RPG Group has introduced a new concept of a “performance lab”. Around 20 mid-level managers, who the company thinks for some reasons have not been able to perform to their potential, are coached and groomed. “We help them introspect — what’s wrong. It helps us bring sensitivity to the workplace,” he says. He wishes he could scale it up to at least 10 such labs.

For a generation that has seen only highs and few lows, mostly success and little failures, perhaps it is time companies encouraged them to fail and deal with it. It may help them do business well. Even better, it may help the Gen Y lead a more fulfilling life.

Via Times

Customers Looking Beyond India for Outsourcing

2007-11-07T15:21:00.000-05:00

Troubled by high staff attrition in India, which often disrupts work on projects, customers in the U.S. are increasingly looking for alternative countries for their outsourcing projects, industry analysts say.

The move by customers comes as Indian outsourcers are aggressively cutting costs. Some of the cost-cutting could impact quality of service, giving customers another incentive to take outsourcing projects elsewhere.

How Daksh got its Success.

2007-11-05T01:24:00.000-05:00

Daksh was a startup floated by a group of enterprising individuals who sought opportunities in providing niche customer support to global dotcoms and e-businesses through emails and chats.

That was seven years ago in January 2000 when Daksh was founded with only seven employees. In the years that followed, it business model became more comprehensive as it expanded not only its services but also its base of clients and markets. The company was low on capital, which was bridged up by three rounds of successful funding from venture capitalists. By early 2004, Daksh was not only a symbol of one of the better-managed VC funded companies but also one of the largest employers among all business process outsourcing, or BPO, companies with over 6,000 employees.

Like all VC funded firms, Daksh too was preparing for an IPO to allow its venture capitalist to cash out. It was during this time that the world’s largest IT and business solution company IBM came calling. The result was the country’s biggest BPO acquisition reported to be valued at over Rs 700 crore. The acquired company became IBM-Daksh, which is acknowledged as one of the most successful service acquisitions for IBM Global.

It is said that marriages are made in heaven. In the case of Daksh it can be said that the company was conceived at a marriage party. That was in 1999 when a chance meeting of two young men Sanjeev Aggarwal, Former CEO, IBM Daksh, and Pawan Vaish, CEO, IBM Daksh, at a wedding party in Jaipur resulted in something very momentous. The two men realised that they both shared the same aspirations and entrepreneurial zeal. They also felt that they could work together.

The inspiration for the new business model came from a business report that stated that 67% of offline transactions are being abandoned due to inadequate customer support. The duo realised that they could create an organization that would provide email-based customer support to these global websites and e-commerce companies. Since the operations would be based out of India with low cost wage structures, there would be cost savings to the tune of about 40-50% for any client outsourcing work to India.

As soon as the idea took shape, two more partners joined them. The team soon looked for a suitable name for the start up. The dotcom craze had devoured almost all English sounding names and the choice soon fell on the native name Daksh, which is a unique identity on the web space cluttered with English names.

Daksh is a Sanskrit command in military training and it means attention, alertness, and utter vigilance to act immediately with supreme urgency. As per ancient Indian scriptures, Daksh is also one of the names of Lord Vishnu who upholds the universe.

Drawing from the new branding exercise, the management felt that the new company would strive to uphold the universe of customers. But those were the heydays of the dotcom. Funding was never a challenge for people with ideas. Daksh got its first big client, a fortune 500 e-retailer, in amazon.com.

Sanjeev Aggarwal, Former CEO, IBM Daksh, said, “Amazon had never even outsourced within US. Even within the US, they were doing all customer service inside. For them to outsource was one big step and for them to offshore was an even bigger step. In June, we won the contract and in December 2000 we were able to surpass all performance metrics that we had signed up, and after that we were on a roll.”

“India’s telecom infrastructure was not as resilient. Since we were doing e-mail based customer interactions, we had some tolerance in the channel of communications. If it was voice, which is more a real-time interaction, then we feel that at that point in time we would have had some serious challenges.”

Daksh put in place some simple practices for its core team by taking into account its limited resources and reach to target companies, which get revenues from online sales, to service the customers with the help of email and internet-based chats. Voice-based servicing would come in later. To conserve resources, promoters like Vaish would fly economy class, stay at a friend’s place during US trips and dine at the cheapest eateries.

To provide proper training cum learning opportunities to employees in operations, so that they became enthusiastic members of the community, to create a culture wherein employees as well as customers give feedbacks which results in foolproof processes, to target only those e-commerce companies which could pay decent double-digit dollar money for billing per person per hour.

Daksh was perfecting a plain vanilla operation. This would soon prove to be a foundation platform on which a much larger and complex organization would be mounted. Within a year of operations and with over 650 employees, Daksh became profitable on revenues. It was now time for serious investors to take a look in.

Citigroup picked up a substantial stake in Daksh in its second round of funding in April 2001. The funding was needed to drive the firms next round of expansion. Daksh was now ready to complement its emails and chat-based processes with voice-based customer support and high-end solutions.

The equity funding from Citigroup came at a time when dotcoms were going bust. But fortunately for Daksh its clients were big and strong enough to endure the dotcom meltdown. In the time of the crisis, the services provided by Daksh became all the more critical and valuable for its Fortune 500 clients. By early 2004, Daksh had acquired capabilities big enough to be quoted by IBM, the world’s most acquisitive company in the technology business. Daksh was bought over by Big Blue in April 2004.

In India, the dotcom movement was being replaced by a new BPO revolution. A large number of global majors were setting up captive operations. Domestic IT services major Wipro set the ball rolling with the acquisition of Spectramind in 2002 for Rs 470 crore. By now, Daksh had emerged as one of the country’s leading e-customer relationship management organizations and its revenues too had jumped from USD 2 million to USD 18 million in 2001-02, and up to USD 29 million in 2002-03. It was looking to double it to about USD 60 million by 2003-04.

Being the largest standalone third-party service provider Daksh received the full backing of investors. In the third phase of funding, it received significant equity infusion from General Atlantic Partners and Citigroup. The investment partners brought not only funding, but also potential clients for the company.

Devinjit Singh, Head, Mergers & Acquisitions India, said, “Along with capital, private equity also adds value in the form of management, governance, and linkages with their global portfolio companies. A lot of them have specific sector expertise and have resident entrepreneurs who are actually sector specialists. So, they look to add values to a company not just by providing capital but by actually supporting its management by adding to its business through providing global linkages and helping in the overall governance of the company.”

By now, Daksh had a global footprint. It was catering to its clients European operations with services in German and French. Its Manila unit offered an entire suite of technical support and back office transaction processing. It was 6,000-employee company and handled a range of services like insurance, back office, claims adjudication, technical support and call center services.

The company was approached by over half a dozen potential acquirers but the management was determined in its belief that the company was not built to be sold as it was built to go public.

Sanjeev Aggarwal, Former CEO, IBM Daksh, said, “When Big Blue comes calling, you do not ignore. What we saw at that time was that customer projects were becoming bigger and more complex and many customers were looking for transformational solutions. This means, I not only have to do processing but also need to bring in a package of consulting services to decide how to improve the process, apply technology to remove some processing, and then operate those processes. More and more, it seemed to us that the world is looking for more integrated solutions and we had only one piece of that which was operating the processes. We thought by partnering with IBM we would be able to bring about a transformation.”

IBM-Daksh has grown phenomenally since the acquisition. The company has grown to 17 centers and seven locations in India from three-center operations in Mumbai, Gurgaon, and the Philippines. The growth is being driven as much for IBM’s global footprint and powerful sales machinery as by the location advantage of India.

India’s BPO and IT enabled services exports are projected to be about USD 11 billion in 2007-08, up from USD 8.4 billion in 2006-07. This itself was a major leap from exports of USD 6.3 billion in 2005-06.

The domestic market is just USD 1.2 billion. But IBM’s bagging of Bharti’s outsourcing deal is just an indication of the Indian market’s locked potential. But thanks to the emergence of the BPO industry, general graduates can look forward to jobs at very early stages of their career.

Last year, the industry employed about 4.15 lakh people. This number grew to 5.53 lakh this year. The major impact of the acquisition is seen in the exchange of processes and ideas between the parent company and IBM-Daksh.

For instance, IBM has taken in Daksh’s heritage practice of Voice of Customer to different parts of its global universe. Here the company undertakes the polling of its clients every six months to see how they perceive services and based on their feedback, IBM Daksh brings about transformational changes.

Similarly, some employee recognition and engagement practices have been replicated in other IBM centers. But what IBM brings to the BPO customers post acquisition is in integrated solutions, drawing from its global strengths of consulting technology and research. One thing striking about IBM Daksh is that even after acquisition, the original promoters continued to be at the helm as professional CEOs.

“The big part about IBM culture is that they would empower you a lot. Once they are convinced that you can execute, they let you operate almost like an independent company. I never felt that from being an entrepreneur working for oneself, now I was working for somebody else. It showed in the results, we grew from 6,000 people to 20,000 people in two years,” Aggarwal said.

This continuity is also seen in people management at IBM Daksh. The organization’s duty towards its employees is like a middle-class family, which gives its children value systems and education. This simple philosophy allows the employees to avail not only a training to uplift their work-related skills but also acquire learning to enhance their overall personality and plan for career growth.

D P Singh, VP Strategic HR, IBM Daksh, said, “One of the biggest dimensions or measures for learning is, does the employee feel that he has grown in the organization, that is number one. Second, can you meet your leadership requirements internally by having trained your people. In most of these areas we have a very positive experience. We have something called a global campus, which is an e-learning opportunity available to people with some excellent programmes. There are very unique competencies that we have in the area of imparting learning.”

IBM Daksh has grown big, but it knows that to sustain growth momentum, it will have to continue to expand its global as well as domestic footprints. Already strategies like setting up centers in new places like Kolkata, Pune, and Vizag have cut attrition rate significantly and cracked open new recruitment avenues for the company. A larger recruitment universe also means that the company is able to find the right talent fit for a variety of areas such as servicing like financing and accounts business, insurance and technology verticals, and high-end services as well as knowledge process outsourcing including work like providing high-end support to chief financial officers.

The acquisition of Daksh bolstered not only IBM’s global delivery capabilities but also brought the global major to the heart of the world’s fastest growing BPO market.

After three years of integration, IBM Daksh had emerged as a peoples powerhouse growing more than threefold to over 20,000 employees in a competitive landscape, where the name of the game was offering integrated solutions to clients at the best price. The acquisition of Daksh has empowered IBM to meet the challenge of value competitors like Infosys and Wipro. IBM is making huge investments to increase its presence in the Indian market in the sphere of consulting, technology, and research. In all this, its business transformation arm is proving to be a most effective delivery vehicle. Daksh could not have asked for a better suitor.

Excerpts from CNBC-TV18’s exclusive interview with Pawan Vaish:

Q: What inspired IBM to choose Daksh?

A: IBM was looking for capability in the business processes space because over the years IBM has morphed itself from being a hardware company to being an IT services company. Today, there is emphasis on software and business processes. Actually, it has been a very interesting story. I would certainly say that within IBM, the Daksh acquisition is touted as one of the most successful services acquisitions. It has brought enormous capability to IBM, which along with IBM’s technology, consulting, and research capability we put forth a value proposition to clients which was very compelling.

Q: Would you say cultural integration is not complete between Daksh and IBM?

A: Culture is a very important element of any integration. One of the reasons why this acquisition succeeded is because right from the start the value system and culture of the two organizations really matched. Daksh had a very strong executive support within the IBM company and IBM did not force fit itself on Daksh. IBM broke all the rules of integration in the Daksh administration. They said whatever made sense we will integrate but whatever we think is the best of the breed in Daksh we will leave it alone. In some cases, we will take those best practices and absorb them within IBM. We integrated the financial systems, compliance and control, and some elements of HR processes which in IBM were very mature. There were certain operational and HR processes that Daksh brought to the table that IBM felt were best of the breed and they took them to their other centers.

This mixing has been fantastic and there will be an ongoing transfusion of talent and best practices. We have had talent move from Daksh to China, Philippines, Japan, Australia, and the US. This is phenomenal.

Q: What are the emerging opportunities for IBM-Daksh now?

A: We have a global view. This is not only about India. We believe that a global footprint is essential to be a successful company. We have a global footprint. So, wherever we get the right skills, environment, and risk profile that is where our business will go. Globally, continuing to expand is something which is important to us.

Our F&A business continues to grow very aggressively and that is another area of growth. We are doing a lot of business in high-end BPO which is commonly called KPO. In our F&A world, we are doing high-end support to CFOs. We do a lot of high-end work in the insurance and technology verticals. I think moving up the complexity chain is something that is another exciting area.

The third area is all about putting together solutions where we bring in technology, research, and business process all together, and then put a solution to our customers so they can be ahead of their competition. That is something which is unique about IBM because just in research it spends USD 6 billion every year. So, we are able to tap those elements.

IBM-Daksh is a sterling success of a VC funded company. They grew from just seven employees to be counted among the country’s leading ones. It is success of such companies that keeps VCs to stay invested in startups.

Turning the Tables on Telemarketers.

2007-10-10T23:03:00.000-04:00

In general, I have one (and only one) technique for dealing with these people: I hang up on them. They’re not worth my time. Yes, I know that I ought to ask them to remove my name from their calling list. I try that with the worst offenders, but you know what? Nothing ever changes. I still get calls from Paper Printing and Converting nearly every day despite having asked to be removed from their list a dozen times.

Some people are unwilling to hang up on telemarketers because they believe it’s rude. My sister-in-law, for example, tries to be very polite. She sits through a lot of tedious sales pitches. I have other friends who simply set the phone down and walk away. This isn’t a bad idea, but it means I have to return to hang up the phone after a couple of minutes. No — for me, hanging up on the telemarketer is the most efficient course of action.

Telemarketers work off “scripts”. Especially resourceful people turn the tables on telemarketers by using counterscripts. There are a variety of counterscripts available on the internet. My favorite comes from Junkbusters:

Every time you get a call you consider junk, just ask the questions in this script. If they answer no, you may be able to sue them. Be sure to put your phone number on the National Do-Not-Call registry by visiting http://donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222.

“Are you calling to sell something?” (or “is this a telemarketing call?”)
“Could you tell me your full name please?”
“And a phone number, area code first?”
“What’s the name of the organization you’re calling for?”
“Does that organization keep a list of numbers it’s been asked not to call?”
“I would like my number(s) put on that list. Can you take care of that now?”
“And does the company you work for also make telemarketing calls for any other organizations?” (If they answer no, skip the next question.)
(If yes) “Can you make sure your company won’t call me for any other organization?”

Visit Junkbusters for more information on this counterscript (and on other ways to “bust the junk messages out of your life”).

Just now I got a call from a telemarketer who read from a script with a lot of big words, and who sounded vaguely like he might have an actual concern with our business. I listened for 20 seconds before hanging up in disgust.

A minute later, the same telemarketer called back. “May I speak with the owner?” he asked.

“I am an owner,” I said. “And you just called. I told you I wasn’t interested.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, “and you hung up on me.”

“I know I did,” I said, laughing. And I hung up on him again.

via link

Free Country Calling Codes.

2007-10-03T12:12:00.000-04:00

"Search for International Free Country Codes used for long distance calling. Our Search box allow you to find all international country calling codes available and the specific phone area code. Phone Country Calling Codes directory is constantly updated. International area code lookup will be fast and convenient. Our Online Searcher will instantly show you all telephone prefixes needed to call from one area code to another in seconds and FREE! ."
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Click2Voice offers free calls to many countries.

2007-10-01T18:48:00.001-04:00

Click2Voice offers free calls to many countries

Just when you thought Talkplus party is over, we gave you some more free calls offers and now something really good to make free calls to many destinations worldwide. Click2Voice a pretty small...

Learn how to make FREE calls worldwide.
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Prepaid Calling Card for INDIA.

2007-09-27T12:47:00.000-04:00

Microsoft Advertisement.

2007-09-23T03:42:00.000-04:00

2007-09-23T03:38:00.000-04:00

High-Demand Careers You've Never Heard Of

2007-09-23T03:21:00.001-04:00

If you cannot view the images in this e-mail, click here.

September 21, 2007

Youth In India Are Most Optimistic

2007-09-23T00:34:00.001-04:00

Youth In India Are Most Optimistic

Kairos Future Group survey finds young people in India have the brightest outlook on life, finding ample opportunity for personal advancement and fulfillment.

Click the link below to read the full story:
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www.bpopark.com

Bank of America (BoA) India jobs in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi

2007-09-22T10:51:00.000-04:00

Bank of America (BoA) India jobs in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi: "(BoA) over the last few years have set up outsourcing centers in India. First Bank of America India BPO center was set up in Hyderabad which was dedicated to the bank's corporate and consumer accounts. After that it sets up a new center in Mumbai, Andheri. The Continuum Solutions, parent concern's subsidiary takes care of both the centers."
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Penny Talk just for 2 cents

2007-09-22T00:06:00.000-04:00