New findings from market research specialist Datamonitor project continued strong growth in outsourced call centres in Europe. The industry, currently worth about $7bn, will more than double by 2003, they say.

In terms of call centre business focus, financial services has been knocked into second place by a rapidly expanding telecoms industry. This reflects both continued de-regulation and rapid growth in mobile phones. Both trends are leading to increased marketplace competition.

Datamonitor expects de-regulation in the utilities markets to lead to additional growth in outsourced centres.

Of the functions that call centres handle, inbound customer service is now the largest at about 40% of total activity. Technical helpdesks are also growing and now account for about 15% of activity.

These figures represent a significant shift, says Datamomitor, away from the old pattern of outbound sales calls. They indicate a maturing market in which the call centre is increasingly recognised as the route into a company - thus providing the opportunity to establish stronger customer relationships, if the quality of service is on target.

Elliott Chase