Strong Fundamentals to Drive Growth in 2010, Need for Alignment with Enterprise Goals

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- During the first half of 2008, the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) inbound contact routing systems markets were growing at about 6.0 per cent. However, the economic downturn slackened the pace of market momentum. In the United States, several major investment banks and insurance companies declared bankruptcy, triggering the financial meltdown, which snowballed into the global credit crisis. By the fourth quarter of 2008, the ripple effects of the credit crunch were felt in Europe. In an effort to preserve cash, most enterprises froze all non-critical spending, including purchases of inbound contact routing systems.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO)

Most enterprises continue to view their customer service organizations and contact centers as cost centers. This view results in the reluctance to buy new systems or even invest in technology refreshes for anything related to customer service, unless necessary.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.contactcenters.frost.com), EMEA Inbound Contact Routing Systems Markets, finds that the market earned revenues of over 478.3 million EUR ($697.2 million USD) in 2008 and estimates this to reach 711.4 million EUR ($1.0 billion USD) in 2015.

If you are interested in more information about this study, please send an e-mail to Jake Wengroff, Corporate Communications, at jake.wengroff@frost.com, with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and country.

"Despite these factors, the continuing migration to support Internet protocol (IP) transport, customer loyalty, and strengthened competitive advantages from strong customer support drove sales of new and expanded inbound contact routing systems throughout the year," says Frost & Sullivan Principal Analyst Joe Outlaw. "The largest EMEA consumers of inbound contact routing systems in 2008 continued to be the financial services, outsourcer, and telecommunications industries."

End-user budget constraints will rein in sales of inbound contact center routing systems, and tight credit will further complicate the problem. In such a scenario, doing more with less is practically the theme song for contact centers and is never truer than when the economy is staggering and budgets are slashed. However, leading enterprises are aware that with growing commoditization and global competition, it is critical to continue delivering excellent customer support and to prepare for the inevitable economic upswing. It is also becoming clear that technology can be a key enabler for effective and efficient customer contact.

For these reasons, many enterprises are looking to deploy these technologies to derive the most out of their contact center systems, which support their customers. Trends indicate that even after the economic recovery, inbound contact routing vendors will have to confront the challenge of building and supporting their partner channels, which are vital for small- and mid-size businesses. As limited budgets require prioritization, vendors would be wise to help customers organize their projects efficiently.

"There are no generic return-on-investment proof points; every company and situation is different," says Outlaw. "Vendors are encouraged to develop frameworks and methodologies for working with prospects and customers to build business cases for application upgrades and to support IP transport."

Well-documented business case studies and customer references are also keys to showcase the benefits of these solutions. Inbound contact routing systems vendors must focus on building ease-of-use into their applications. This can be a long-term competitive differentiator, but it calls for strong commitment to simplify all aspects of the applications and to only add new functionality which has been designed and tested for this purpose. More importantly, contact centers need to not only be aligned with enterprises' goals, but also must become the hub for excellence in their unified communications strategies.

EMEA Inbound Contact Routing Systems Markets is part of the Contact Centers Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: North America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific Contact Centers. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.frost.com.

EMEA Inbound Contact Routing Systems Markets

N620

    Contact:
    Jake Wengroff
    Corporate Communications - North America
    P: 210.247.3806
    F: 210.348.1003
    E: jake.wengroff@frost.com

http://www.frost.com

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

Back to top

RELATED LINKS
http://www.frost.com