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Egypt is a rising star of contact center offshore destinations.
Comparative analysis has shown that it has good potential to become a location of choice for European companies, as well as an interesting alternative for companies based in the U.S.” (Frost and Sullivan 2007, Whitepaper)

Many experts have analyzed Egypt in the past few years, and they have stated that, according to economic indicators, Egypt’s GDP has been growing over the past five years and its inflation has been kept at stable levels. Egypt’s telecommunications infrastructure is very well developed, and the international long-distance rates have been lowered in an effort to promote the contact center industry.

Egypt is rapidly emerging as a world-class hotspot for the outsourcing and offshoring sectors, and is proving attractive to international investors. With stiff regional and international competition, this burgeoning country on the cusp of Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia is gaining steam.

“Offshore outsourcing has become one of the keys to lowering operating costs, increasing the focus on core competencies and improving customer relationship management. While it provides companies with substantial benefits, there are a number of pitfalls. These can be avoided by diligent location and provider selection process.” (Frost and Sullivan 2007, Whitepaper)
Since the inception of its “technocratic” government in 2004, Egypt has been ranked as the number one global economic reformer in two out of three years as an investor-friendly environment by the World Bank. The new government has set about making changes to attract more foreign direct investment into the country that boasts a favorable cost structure, skilled labor force and an enviable location.

There is much speculation about which region could be the next “In” destination for outsourcing. Many candidates are on the starter blocks: The Philippines, South America, China, North Africa, and Eastern Europe. Each destination boasts a wide spectrum of offers and a variety of advantages: cost, proximity, scalability, quality, language diversity and accessibility. Will any of these regions loosen India’s grip on the global outsourcing market? With a sustained 55 to 65 percent CAGR over the past few years, Egypt is one of the fastest-growing countries that should be evaluated in comparison to other destinations, as part of a larger region: North Africa. Regional companies in North Africa are in a unique position and have great potential to be among the top global players.
Xceed is a fast-growing global provider of high quality business process outsourcing services, offering integrated customer care and associated back-office processing for commercial and governmental clients worldwide.

As one of the largest contact centers in the Southern Mediterranean region, Xceed was established in 2002, originally as an IT arm of the local telecom provider, Telecom Egypt. It has since developed into something much larger, providing services to major multinational leaders in technical support, customer relationship management, market research, customer retention programs and IT consulting.

Xceed Chairman and CEO Dr. Adel Danish is a firm believer in Egypt’s capabilities as an offshoring destination – and why not? He has watched his own company grow from 250 employees to more than 2,000 in a span of five years, experiencing 50 percent growth per year for the past four years and showing no signs of letting up.
“When you look at human resources, the pool of talent in Egypt, you will find 250,000 to 270,000 university graduates available on the market every year,” said Dr. Danish, citing the labor force as a key contributor to growth and scalability. “The talent pool in Egypt, because of its location and ethnic mix, has a spectrum of languages that you will not find anywhere else. We service international call centers in English, Arabic, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Hebrew — this is one of the few places where you will find these languages available from locals.”

The third element, said Dr. Danish, are the incentives provided by the government of Egypt, which are very attractive. Finally, proximity plays a major role in attracting investments. The country is close to Europe, Asia and the Middle East, which allows it to provide call center services to countries around the clock, a favorable time-zone advantage.
For more information about Xceedcc.com.

Considering Media Channel-Specific Hiring
By Tracey E. Schelmetic, Editorial Director, Customer Interaction Solutions

It’s not uncommon to see stories weekly, even daily, about outsourcing to certain spots: India and, to a lesser extent, the Philippines. While it might be premature to say that BPO in these countries has reached saturation point, it’s impossible to argue that costs have gone up, particularly in India. Labor costs, facilities costs and employee attrition have all been reported as rising. While India is still a giant and will continue to see a lot of outsourced business, many companies with call center needs are seeking greener fields.

One of the weak spots of India is its lack of European language support. Another is its location in terms of time zone limitations. These are two areas in which a country like Egypt has a natural advantage over other destinations.
According to Datamonitor, “In terms of its economy, Egypt is by far stronger and more stable than many of its counterparts in the region. It also has a highly educated workforce that speaks several languages.

Call center saturation can become a problem for a number of reasons. First, the “tier-one” providers, given their rapid growth, become more expensive. This encourages tier-two providers to set up shop to siphon off business. While few people are arguing with the quality provided by the tier-one companies, the tier-two quality becomes much less guaranteed. Agent accents are heavier. Training and monitoring are less rigorous. And as we all know, it doesn’t take many bad experiences with call center agents to send customers permanently on the run. When they do, any costs savings you have acheived have not only dissipated, they have taken a chunk of your profits with them.

If you are looking to outsource your call center, think about why you’re doing it. You want to keep costs low, of course, but you need to keep quality high. You may want to offer round-the-clock service. Examine whether you can reap all these benefits of offshore outsourcing, but in a greener pasture such as a country like Egypt. You will be pleasantly surprised.

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