MECC 08 to prepare organisations for 'Call Centre 2.0'

With the current clamor for much improved customer service to facilitate the region's growth expectations, MECC '08, running from March 25-26 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, is looking more relevant and crucial to corporate development than ever.

According to INSIGHTS' President, Dominick Keenaghan:

'The main theme for MECC '08 is what we have termed 'Call Centre 2.0', and this is the reality that call centres have entered a new customer and technology-driven era in terms of functionality, applicability and relevance to overall corporate performance. These developments inevitably create new management and process challenges, and how these issues are handled with respect to supporting and furthering the organization's mission are key topics for regional decision makers tasked with delivering competition-beating and profitable customer interaction strategies.'

The MECC '08 Conference on March 25-26 has been customized to expedite knowledge and experience transfer on the key trends shaping call centres going forward. Some of these are FOUNDATIONAL such as the need to continuously invest in people and an emphasis on effectiveness before efficiency. (After all, there is no point at getting good at being bad, a common trait amongst many practitioners in the region who fail to assimilate key call centre concepts.) So, even though the explosion in communications capabilities and call centre technology developments is creating many unique challenges, it is also driving new and compelling opportunities. In the communications category, it's no longer about the ability to create connections but more about how the connections are used as witnessed by the rise of online communities, multimodal communications, multiple information sources and so on. The environment we all operate in is literally being re-defined before our very eyes!

On the call centre technology front, formerly separate voice and date systems, are being converged. Not only are developments such as multimedia processing and virtual call centres becoming cost-effective options for many organizations to now consider, but integrated reporting and real-time performance management capabilities allow for 'on the fly' changes to call centre resources to match varying customer conditions. So, for example, the ability to know which products customers are most interested in during any particular time segment allows a manager to allocate specialist agent positions accordingly, thus maximizing that particular opportunity.

In summary, MECC '08, with its gathering of world-class experts, the cream of the region's call centre professionals, the world's leading vendors of call centre products and services and supported by the Middle East Call Centre Forum, is set to deliver an informative and business-enhancing conference; one that will continue it's proven tradition of boosting regional market development momentum.