Call Centre awards night sees dramatic finish

According to Dominick Keenaghan, President of event organizers Insights, "The two candidates both sent in outstanding submissions, and the judges could not find a way of separating them. After much discussion (and argument!), the judges decided that the only fair result was to declare a tie, on outcome that we have never before witnessed in the 4 year history of the competition and which turned out to be a pleasant surprise for all parties concerned."

In a varied and fun-filled evening, other clear winners on the night included Sharjah Islamic Bank as the Best Small Call Centre, Emirates IT Group as the Best Medium Call Centre and Dnata Contact Centre retaining its crown from 2008 as the Best Large Call Centre.

Nafisa Taha of Abu Dhabi Distribution Co, a former Call Centre Manager of the Year, also triumphed again in the best Call Centre Manager of the Year (<71 Seats) category whilst the fast growing OSP SpancoGKS, rapidly expanding its operations into different GCC countries. emerged victorious in the Best Call Centre OSP of the Year category.

In the 'new' categories section, rta as Best new call centre and Jordan-based Extensys as Best new OSP call centre both received recognition whilst Aramex Dubai, with Best Recession-busting program, Sybrid with Best Reporting Systems and Infoline as Best Medium OSP call centre all received accolades.

Saudi Arabia in particular put in a strong showing in the Best Areas of Expertise categories with Alinma Bank winning the Best Technology platform and Sauid Commission for Tourism and Antiquities grabbing the Best Internally Developed application category.

Concluded Keenaghan, "Feedback from Awards winners on the evening itself and from the reactions back at their call centres since has been overwhelmingly positive and such phrases as 'the atmosphere in the call centre in now electric' and 'keep up the good work' are flooding in. With twice as many call centres entering the Awards '09 competition this year over last year, we expect the growth trend to continue and as a result make winning an Insights Call Centre Award next year even more competitive and satisfying."

The Middle East Call Centre Awards 09 evening was jointly sponsored by the Dnata Contact Centre and SpancoGKS.