Buzz Contact Centre Solutions to provide financial sector in the region with resources to meet Customer Relations Management challenges

Founded in March 2002, Buzz is the first call centre OSP in the Middle East to provide customer relations management solutions with both wide range and depth. Buzz solutions helps organisations better serve their customers, increase profitability, gain a competitive edge and to better focus on their core business.

With round the clock customer contact, help desk, marketing and technical support services, Buzz Contact Centre services and solutions serve a wide range of financial sector services; banking, financial service companies, information technology companies, hospitals, hotels, clubs, real estate companies, entertainment & Cable TV, advertising, government agencies and embassies.

Buzz has proved to be a viable, cost effective and reliable contact centre alternative for many organisations' customer service needs. In a short space of time, the vision, the quality team, and value added options for clients, have made Buzz a benchmark for contact centres in the region and beyond.

"With the liberalisation of the region's market in financial services and other sectors, coupled with the rapid growth of telephone related business services, and the increasing cost of the rapidly evolving technology involved, outsourcing has become a major option for companies," says Abdullah Qasim, head of Buzz and Chief Manager of Information Technology and Operations at the Emirates Bank Group (EBG).

"When considering outsourcing as an alternative to an in-house operation, the prudent manager has to take many things into consideration; The investment in infrastructure, disaster recovery, the lead-time for set-up, training and the problem of structuring and staffing for peak periods or special promotions. These challenges make the use of an outside contact centre a viable option, particularly for small to medium sized companies," he adds.

In the Middle East, the outsourcing and call centre service market is set to boom. It is estimated that less than one percent of companies in the region outsource their call centres and customer relation management.

Part of the EBG, Buzz has extensive experience in contact centre management for the banking and financial sector. "We stared up with only 15 seats, we have now grown to 120 seats and serve both the EBG and a portfolio of the region's most prestigious banks," stated Ibrahim Gailani, call centre manager for Buzz.

"We are targeting a 30 percent growth in revenue this year as we expand our focus to third party business and look to attract more clients from across the Middle East and North Africa." He adds.

Buzz credits its success to internationally certified team and its investment in the latest technology and emphasis on its corporate values. The infrastructure created in Dubai cost US$1.5 million and contains leading-edge technology in the following areas; Call servicing and routing, agent customer relation Management (CRM) and desktop technology, workforce management software, call recording and tracking facility and integrated MIS and reporting.

Buzz offer services in Arabic, English, Hindi and Tagalog.

It is not only hardware and software that drive the success at Buzz. The company has a set of values in dealing with its clients and staff. The corporate culture stresses positive staff motivation by careful recruitment, in-depth training, and a responsive work environment. Client satisfaction is generated by an array of value-added products and flexible programmes.

The growth in retail banking services, particularly the field of credit and debit cards and the expansion of value added banking services such as mobile banking coupled with the growth in the financial service sector in general puts the financial sector among Buzz' prime target market. Cards Middle East 2004, as the region's payment, transactions and customer loyalty exhibition, is an ideal venue for emphasising the benefits of outsourcing call centre requirements.

Dubai is also an ideal location for Buzz Contact Centre. It is strategically located between Ireland and India, and has a multi-lingual residential population. Taking Dubai as a hub allows Buzz to gain a competitive edge against Indian sub-continent based call centres, while continuing to maintain global benchmark standards.