Recession 'not denting VoIP take-up'

Conducted by network provider Dimension Data, the annual survey of more than 550 centres across 36 different countries found that a significant proportion are focusing on providing value-added services to their customers by using new technology.

Although some of those surveyed were cutting back on things such as Customer Relationship Management systems, the report indicated a surge of interest in VoIP solutions.

Africa was said to be leading the way with hosted telephony as 75 per cent of call centres in the continent now use VoIP, compared to a more modest 60 per cent in the UK.

The firm's director Howard Spink described the current situation as being "on the cusp of a contact centre evolution".

"Within three to four years, we expect that most contact centres will become a key source of value creation for businesses", he added.

Further optimism for the sector came from Richard Snow, research director at Ventana Research, who argued in a piece for Call Centre Helper that while VoIP-use in centres has increased over the last five years, further growth is likely.