Why are these lists suddenly getting a lot of crap mail? just curious...
On Sun, Jul 16, 2000 at 07:33:40PM +0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Please forward this e-mail to the person responsible for overseeing > customer service, technical support or your call center. Please > consider FirstRing, Inc. as you explore ways to maintain your high > standards of customer service in the face of rapidly increasing > growth. > > > > FirstRing has established a call center in India to provide general > customer care and technical Help Desk solutions for companies in North > America. FirstRing's India call center agents have the capacity to > handle voice communication to and from North America, process e-mails, > engage in interactive chat, process faxes and mail, and provide data > entry services. Because of the large pool of technical talent > available in India, we can deliver very high quality technical support > as well. In fact, our Vice President for Call Center Operations in > India managed a 500 person technical support center for Dell Computer > Corporation before relocating to India to head our operations there. > > > > By using state of the art technology and access to a highly educated > English speaking work force in Bangalore, India, FirstRing is able to > deliver higher quality service at SIGNIFICANTLY lower costs. Savings > of up to 40-50% over internal call centers or major domestic > outsourcers can be achieved. Moreover,employee turnover rates are a > fraction of what call centers in the U.S. experience, leading to > better retention and consequently, enhanced service quality levels. > Here is a recent article from Voice and Data Communications Magazine > which discusses the growing use of Indian work force to service North > America.It mentions HealthScribe, the medical transcription company we > started prior to establishing FirstRing, and discusses the expected > growth of call centers in India. > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Sat Want S. Khalsa > Vice President > FirstRing, Inc. > Suite 200 > 22570 Markey Court > Sterling, VA 20166 > > > > 703-480-8000 main > 703-480-8013 direct > 703-480-8113 fax > [1]www.firstring.com > > > > + > > > > REMOTE PROCESSING: Enter India > ---------------------------------------- > > > > A host of new business and employment opportunities await as India > becomes the hotbed for offshore remote processing.With distance being > almost dead and geography all set to become a history, India is poised > to develop into the largest offshore remote processing centre in the > world. The global trend among companies is towards outsourcing > non-core areas.This has spawned a whole range of outsourcing of remote > processing services to India. Services include medical and legal > transcription, data processing, HR, remote customer interaction (call > centre), data digitization and GIS, back-office operation, revenue > accounting, insurance processing, and animation. This has opened a > huge employment opportunity in India besides the valuable foreign > exchange that will accrue to the national exchequer. > > > > Why India? > > > > The unbundling of the largely labour-intensive activities is driven by > cost advantages, making India the hottest outsourcing destination > world-wide. Setting an offshore remote processing centre in India and > executing the project involve a cost savings of about 40 percent. > India has the additional advantage of being the second largest > English-speaking IT manpower in the world.The improved satellite-based > telecommunication network, which has enabled almost instantaneous > high-speed transfer of voice and data, has been one of the > contributory factors. In most of the centres, the operations are being > run on a round-the-clock basis. The time zone difference is also in > India's favour. Above all, the removal of trade barriers has added the > needed impetus to the offshore outsourcing services. > > > > What Future Holds for India? > > > > According to a recent Nasscom-McKinsey report, over the next eight > years, India could corner about 12 percent of the projected $142 > billion global market for IT-enabled services. The study projects that > India could be making as much as $9 billion from these services by > 2004 and by 2008, it could be earning $17 billion a year. Addressing > the recently concluded IT Asia conference in Delhi, Prof. Dertouzos of > Massachusetts Institute of Technology said that the total manpower > that can deliver quality back-office work or information services in > India is around 50 million. He has taken into consideration the > emerging new services in the field of education, native medicine, and > counseling. > > > > The Players > > > > Some players were quick to realize the potential and took a plunge at > the right time. These include Innodata Corporation, GE Capital > Services, Healthscribe, Techbooks, and Bechtel. The late entrants > include some Indian players as well-Usha (ITIL) and LNJ Bhilwara > group, apart from MTC International, iDLX, NY-Dox, and Air Infotech. > As these remote processing services were new to India, getting > experienced manpower was not easy. Initially, most companies started > off by providing the training themselves. As more and more companies > started setting up their operations the need for trained manpower was > felt. This has resulted in the mushrooming of training centres > catering to the specific requirements. > > > > Medical Transcription > > > > Medical transcription services were one of the firsts to take root in > India. Unlike in India, physicians in the US, Canada, and other > European countries, are required by the law to maintain a > computerized records of patient information. Physicians dictate the > patient information, which is converted into a voice file and is > transmitted to offshore centres via satellite links. It is transcribed > and the document is conveyed back to the hospital. In the US alone, > the medical transcription industry is worth about $6 billion and is > growing at the rate of 20 percent annually. As there is a shortage of > medical transcriptionists (professionals who listen and transcribe the > document), companies are setting up their facilities in different > parts of India. The pioneer in this segment is Healthscribe India, a > 100 percent subsidiary of US-based Healthscribe Inc., which set up its > facility at Bangalore in 1992. Currently, it employs about 1,000 > people. Ohio-based Heartland Information Service (HIS) is another > important player in this field. >From one centre, the company, in > association with Indian partners has expanded to five centres across > the subcontinent employing about 3,000 people. Says Jacques > Bourgeoise, vice president, HIS, "We are determined to make Indian > subcontinent the largest transcription centre in the world." The > company has also set up a centre in Kathmandu. MTC(India) expects an > additional revenue of $10 million in the next five years from its data > division. It also plans to offer other services like turnkey IT > solutions and business processes re-engineering. > > > > Call Centre > > > > Currently the most happening segment, which has taken India by storm, > is call centre. Call centre is a customer interaction service center > where the agent answers customer queries from all over the world. > India is set to compete with Ireland and Brazil, where a majority of > these call centres is located. As there is no need of a physical > interface between the customer and the agent these centres can be set > up anywhere in the world. GE Capital Services was the first to realize > the huge potential and set up the most-talked about centre in India > today. The Gurgaon centre also manages payroll accounting for many of > GE's units besides processing mortgage loans and insurance claims. It > employs around 1,000 persons and has also opened a centre in > Hyderabad. iDLX, also based in Gurgaon, has about 200 people and plans > to expand it to 1,000 by the end of the year. The latest entrants are > Air Infotech and Netlink who have a tie up with Cincom. The managing > director of Air Infotech, Rakesh Gupta, says, "We have 300-seat > capacity and plan to expand to 1,200 by the end of year which will > make our centre the largest in the south east asian region." Jaydev > Raja, erstwhile chief of Coca-Cola and Iridium India, is back in the > news with his company, Commence Concept. Com. He has tied up with DCT > Systems of the US for a call centre project in India. > > > > Data Processing > > > > Data processing is also making its presence felt in India. This > involves the electronic conversion of source documents (newspapers, > magazines, journals, etc). This is done through physical data entry or > through computer assisted data capture using Optical Character > Recognition (OCR) or Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) > technique. After conversion and quality analysis, data is transmitted > back to the client's computer overseas. NASDAQ-listed and US-based > Innodata Corp. with a turnover of $30 million is a pioneer in this > field. It provides Internet and online data conversion and content > management services. It also has an internal software development > cell, which caters to corporate needs. The Noida centre employs around > 1,200 people. According to Ranjit Basu, general manager (human > resources) Innodata Corp., "Ours is the largest facility in India and > we are planning to employ about 4,000 people in the coming months." > Techbooks and Apex Information Services are the other major players in > this field. > > > > GIS > > > > India has also become a centre for data digitization and Geographic > Information Systems (GIS) services which is a computer-based > technology that captures, stores, analyzes, and displays information > about places on earth's surface. Hyderabad-based Indian Resources > Information and Management Technologies (IN-RIMT) generates > information on natural resources and provide management solutions > using advanced technologies such as Remote Sensing GIS. It has tie > ups with several overseas agencies including Geospace > Satellitenbilddaten GmbH of Germany, Jodian System & Software, Inc. of > US. According to P Subba Rao, managing director, "We provide total > solution to our clients. In this process we extensively use remote > sensing and GIS as important tools to deal with spatial data sets. > Thus, our solutions encompass areas such as natural resources > management, infrastructure development, and environmental > engineering." IN-RIMT, with a turnover of Rs 600 lakh, plans to build > up clients in Africa and South East Asia. Delhi-based Ridings > Consulting Engineers headed by Sain-Ditta Baveja, does ground survey > and digital mapping capabilities through adoption of latest digital > cartographic techniques. His clientele includes British Government, > Infoways (US) besides several Indian agencies. The company did a > business of about Rs 90 lakh last year. > > > > The Other Side of the Story > > > > The going was not so smooth for many companies in the beginning as the > kind of jobs that were offered was new to India and job seekers were > reluctant to embark on a career that had no precedence in India. > Recruitment thus became a difficult task for most of employers and > finally when they did manage to recruit, training became a major > bottleneck. Some of the companies had to close their shop after > massive investments on recruitment and training. Los Angeles-based > Informatix Inc., which was one of the first players in medical > transcription and had set up its swank facility at Noida Export > Processing Zone, had to close down after spending crores of rupees for > three years. BLS Infotech's similar project ran into rough weather > before actually taking off. MTC India, which had planned for 300-seat > transcription centre has managed to recruit only 30 persons in the > last couple of months. ITIL managed to hire about 100 persons. The > "rumour" that there is huge money involved in remote processing has > led to the mushrooming companies-big and small. Medical transcription > is the most glaring example. From about three to four players in > 1992, the number today is somewhere between 200 to 300, most of them > being concentrated in southern India. Only time can tell, how many > will survive over the long haul India becoming a major offshore centre > for corporate around the world for its remote processing or backoffice > work, has a social angle to it which cannot be ignored. The > remuneration given to the personnel manning these transcription > centres, call centres, and data processing and other units is far from > satisfactory when compared to their counterparts in the other parts of > the world. They are paid a starting salary of as low as Rs 3000 to Rs > 5000 depending upon the nature of work. The data entry personnel are > lowest paid of the entire lot. Call centre agents and trained medical > transcriptionists are paid in the vicinity of Rs 7,000 to 8,000. (In > the US, these personnel get paid somewhere between $15,000 to 20,000 a > month). Ranjit Basu of Innodata, however, feels that the fact that > people are carrying on in the profession for the last three years is > an indication that they are professionally satisfied. The salary, he > feels, is in keeping with the work that these professionals are doing. > Virginia-based Apex Information Services, had to close down its Delhi > centre, employing about 200 people due to labour problems. However, if > these companies who are cashing in on the new opportunity provided by > India have a long-term strategy, they will have to create assured > career paths and continuing education for the employees. According to > the Nasscom-McKinsey report"If India aims to become an IT-enabled > services hub and compete with Ireland, Singapore, etc., it has to > bridge skill gaps and further improve infrastructure". This the report > says require action on two important frontsenhancing location > attractiveness by improving infrastructure and increasing people > strength by building the skills. > > > > - Sudesh Prasad > > > > + > > > > Please visit our website at [2]www.firstring.com and either e-mail > [EMAIL PROTECTED] or call me with any questions > > > > To be removed from this list, please send an e-mail to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > References > > 1. http://www.firstring.com/ > 2. http://www.firstring.com/ > 3. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > 4. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
