US call centres slammed for poor security

Security and disaster recovery preparedness found lacking in North American call centres

US contact centres have failed to keep up with the rest of the world in security and disaster recovery, newly published data has claimed.

According to the 2006 Merchants Global Contact Centre Report from Dimension Data, US centres were ranked as the slowest in answering inbound calls.

These problems, the study warned, could place enterprises operating call centres in North America at greater risk of service disruption and customer defections than in other parts of the world.

Security and disaster recovery preparedness remain a high priority for most organisations around the world.

But of the 369 global contact centres polled, only 29 per cent of those in the US have tested disaster recovery plans, compared with Asia-Pacific at 45 per cent, Africa/Middle East at 49 per cent, and Europe at 31 per cent.

Security concerns remain highest in emerging contact centre markets. Approximately 50 per cent of contact centres in Africa/Middle East and Asia-Pacific authenticate customers on some or all calls, compared with only 37 per cent in North America and 39 per cent in Europe.

The report also found that inbound calls account for approximately 70 per cent of all interactions. Calls are being answered most promptly in Africa/Middle East (average 19 seconds) with North America recording the slowest time at 32 seconds and Europe/UK sitting at 22 seconds and Asia-Pacific at 28 seconds.

Roger Nunley, managing director of the Customer Care Institute, said: "The early findings from the report provide the industry with clear indicators of the areas where companies have taken heed and thus seen improvement.

"Likewise, the early findings highlight the areas across all industry sectors where there is need for improvement. The final results of the survey will enable the contact centre industry as a whole to continue to address and improve all key metrics."

The study also found that skilled contact centre managers are demanding premium salaries across all markets, and specifically in emerging markets.

Voice was found to remain the predominant method of communication, even in multi-channel contact centres.

The adoption of alternative technologies to resolve customer queries is relatively small in comparison; SMS/text messages account for only 0.5 per cent of interactions and internet inquiries just four per cent.