July 2001

With today's huge emphasis on CRM (customer relationship management) the contact center, both in-house and outsourced, is receiving heightened attention as more and more businesses recognize the need to implement new technologies, services and strategies to accommodate their customers' wishes and demands for both traditional and multimedia channels of communication. As such, contact center management is on the lookout for information and ideas to facilitate expansion needs in terms of location and skilled human resource availability.

In response, Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine, The Authority on CRM, E-Sales/E-Service and Teleservices Since 1982, is dedicating this new section to reporting on economic development issues of vital interest to the contact center industry. News of recent contact center expansions, incentives offered by various locales, co-location opportunities and labor statistics will be highlighted. We are excited about the addition of this valuable resource for our readers. The editors of Customer Inter@ction Solutions welcome input from economic development agencies and/or their new contact center business residents. This information can be e-mailed to associate editor Randy Kemp at rkemp@tmcnet.com.

Travelocity Books Reservations In Virginia
Wicom Establishes Dutch Subsidiary
SPSS Spawns New Division
Quaero Adds Carolina Office
Customer Solutions, Creativity Infocity Launch Indian Initiative
South Dakota Taps Agilera For ASP Services
ICT Expands Canadian Operations

Wicom Establishes Dutch Subsidiary
Expanding its presence and operations in Europe, Wicom Communications has established a subsidiary, Wicom Communications B.V., in The Netherlands. A regional office in Amsterdam was opened in March this year. Markku Suonmaa was appointed country manager for Ireland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. He will be based in Amsterdam.

SPSS Spawns New Division
SPSS Inc., a maker of analytical software, recently launched its SPSS Enabling Technologies division. The Miami, Florida-based unit will work in partnership with software vendors and solutions providers to provide analytical technologies and services for businesses in the global marketplace. DiscoverIt, the division's analytical and predictive intelligence suite, houses the portfolio of SPSS products, underlying technologies and services. Strategic partners can select the technologies and services ranging from custom-built, end-to-end analytical solutions to component-level algorithms that partners can incorporate into their own tools, products or solutions to be re-sold under their own branding. The division will also provide partners with sales and marketing support, education, technical support and consulting services.

Customer Solutions, Creativity Infocity Launch Indian Initiative
Customer Solutions Group LLC and Creativity Infocity, LTD announced a strategic partnership to provide a total contact center solution in the newly launched Infocity Gujarat complex, located in the twin cities of Amedebad and Gandhinagar in the state of Gujarat, India. Creativity Infocity is a joint venture between Creative IT, a Florida-based subsidiary of Creative Choice that will develop the project, and state-owned Gujarat Informatics, Ltd. The complex will blend residential, social and economic elements into a comprehensive environment expected to set the new standard for community and corporate integration, and will include an international shopping center, five-star hotel resort, entertainment complex, sport facility, residential buildings and, ultimately, over 10,000,000 square feet of space available for commercial use. The partnership expects to deliver outsourcing to U.S. companies that provides complementary services to existing service and IT centers as well as to existing outsourcing firms requiring skilled personnel. The added advantages of the time difference and a skilled labor pool provide growth possibilities for companies at a fraction of the cost required to recruit, train and staff similar positions in the United States. As part of the agreement, Customer Solutions has gained the exclusive right to program, manage, develop and train Infocity personnel on the programs provided to Infocity by U.S. companies, and Customer Solutions will only provide their services in India to the Infocity project.

South Dakota Taps Agilera For ASP Services
Agilera, Inc., a full-service pure-play application service provider, reported the State of South Dakota has selected Agilera to integrate and host its Lawson Software human resources applications, including payroll and Web self-service, for employees and managers. The State selected Lawson applications to move from paper-driven processes to a more automated, streamlined process. This desire to streamline made outsourcing the logical choice. The State selected Agilera as its ASP partner because of the company's expertise with Lawson and its strong relationship with DigiTerra, Inc., the State's implementation provider. South Dakota expects the outsourcing arrangement with Agilera to reduce start-up time for current projects and ease software maintenance and IT support needs. For its part, Agilera chairman and CEO Robert Unger said Agilera was "pleased to shoulder the responsibility of hosting the Lawson applications for the State and looks forward to providing the scalable solutions required to meet the State's evolving needs."

ICT Expands Canadian Operations
ICT Group, Inc., a provider of customer relationship management solutions, has expanded its Canadian CRM sales and service operations with the addition of a new, 150-seat customer contact center in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. The facility is ICT Group's seventh Canadian center (with others located in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) and expands the company's operating capacity in Canada to 1,500 workstations. The center will specialize in providing support for U.S. and Canadian clients primarily in the financial services and insurance industries. Within the year, the center is expected to grow to 300 customer sales and service representatives, quality assurance, training and operations management personnel. ICT Group continues to expand in Canada due to high-quality, cost-effective labor and the consistent performance provided by the Canadian sales and services teams in its employ.
 

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