South African Contact Centre Technology Market

Need to Consolidate and Virtualise Contact Centre Resources Boosts the Uptake of IP-based Contact Centre Technology Solutions

The global economic downturn has driven companies to consolidate and virtualise contact centre resources, boosting the demand for Internet protocol (IP)-based contact centre technology solutions. End users are seeking vendors that offer a single solution, to minimise the costs associated with maintaining multiple service-level agreements. Consequently, significant consolidation has taken place within the market. "The global economic crisis has led to the adoption of cost-optimisation strategies," says the analyst of this research. "Therefore, increased momentum towards IP migration is expected, as companies seek to consolidate and virtualise numerous contact centre resources." As part of a cost-optimisation strategy, companies seek to consolidate and virtualise numerous contact centre resources, to allow for centralised reporting and management. This has resulted in an increased demand for IP-based contact centre solutions, which provide for the integration of a number of applications on one server, such as voice, data and video.

However, the general economic decline has left end users with limited funds to invest in innovative technologies. Therefore, companies are seeking to extend the life of existing investments, restraining market growth. "A lack of adequate financing due to the economic slowdown is the main threat to the growth of the contact centre technology market," explains the analyst. "Pricing is often out of the range of local operators as the industry is primarily characterised by small operators."

Vendors should explore the provision of hosted IP contact centre services that allow companies to access advanced technologies on a need basis. The flexibility of this option makes it popular amongst small and medium enterprise clients, as end users pay for services on a monthly basis. "In line with the adoption of an operational expense (OPEX)-based model, an increase in the demand for 'on demand' services such as software-as-a-service and communications-as-a-service is likely," concludes the analyst. "Similar to the hosted model, end users will lease these services and pay on a monthly basis."

Market Sectors

Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:

By customer vertical:

• Business and financial services
• Government
• Retail
• Telecommunications