CallingtheCape Highlights Newsletter - March 2006

Dear Stakeholders,

We have a host of exciting events lined up (see Key Dates below) and also some excellent news on the biggest BPO investment in South Africa to-date.

If you have any suggestions or views that you would like to share please forward them to rhomeez@callingthecape.org.za

(i) 2006 CallingtheCape AGM, 29th March

All stakeholders are invited to the Annual Genera Meeting of CalingtheCape. The AGM will be held at 09h00 on Wednesday 29th March 2006. It will be taking place in the Doega Room at the Wesgro offices in Cape Town. Please rsvp to nicky@callingthecape.org.za

Stakeholders who are not able to attend the AGM but nonetheless wish to register as part of their respective silo and participate in the activities of the silos are encouraged to contact their representative directors - as follows:

(ii) Second Team Leader Development Workshop, 9th March 2006, Cape Town

We will be hosting our second Team Leader Development Workshop on 9 March 2006 at Connectivity Cape in Cape Town. These development programmes are being organized because we recognized the need to dedicate time, effort and resources into the development of our team leaders. This quarter's workshop focuses on Performance Management for Team Leaders.

To find out more about our Team Leader Development Workshops please email Nicky Floris at nicky@callingthecape.org.za

(iii) Merchants Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report Launch,
15th March 2006,
The Radisson Hotel, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, 08h00 - 10h30

Dimension Data together with Merchants invite you to a preview of the Merchants Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report 2006. The Report provides organisations with the opportunity to see how their contact centres measure up against global, regional and industry performance standards, understand the latest industry trends and see how different contact centres are responding to today's challenges.

For more information, please contact Debbie Cordeiro at debbie.cordeiro@za.didata.com

(iv) Gameplan 2010 Breakfast,
28th March 2006,
Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town

Via a thoroughly researched, riveting and comprehensive multimedia presentation, South African soccer legend Gary Bailey will reveal exactly how to make the most of the opportunities between now and 2010, and beyond, with reference to contact centre opportunities.

For enquiries email kerry@nlighten.co.za

(v) Contact Centre Management Training organised by The Business Zone,
28th - 29th March 2006,
Rosebank Hotel, Gauteng

The local call centre industry has grown at about 8% per annum over the past four years and employs about 54 000 call centre agents. Call centres in South Africa will double in four years positioning SA to occupy an important position in firms' global operations portfolios. Margie Middleton, an expert in the call centre management industry will facilitate this two-day training with NQF level 4. To receive a copy of the training seminar, please e-mail or contact Liezel Cronje on liezel@businesszone.co.za  or + 27 21 521 4400.

(i) Call Centre Conference hosted by Marcus Evans,
24th - 26th May 2006,
Cullinan Hotel, Cape Town

Call Centre Managers are faced with many challenges in the management and operation of their call centre. They constantly need to address the issue of how to motivate agents in a high-turnover culture, improve technology and more importantly, keep the customer happy all the time. This conference aims to cover all these issues and more, in order to ensure a successful and energised call centre.

(ii) Fuzion delivers innovation to Call Centres

Fuzion is a completely new integrated software solution for your call centre, allowing you to configure products, run campaigns and optimize your sales and customer service processes by allowing you to rapidly customize the software to meet your needs. Locally developed and customised for the South African market, the software gives you the power to run your business with accurate up to date information with optimised business and sales processes. Fuzion will help manage the performance of your agents.

Talk to us about how Fuzion can help your call centre, speak to Masekwe on 021 658 4114 or visit www.fuzion.co.za

(iii) Performance Management For Call Centres

IQPC's highly popular "Performance Management For Call Centres" training course runs again on 28 & 29 June in Johannesburg. Get all the tools and techniques to implement effective processes and systems for optimal team functioning. Learn the latest call centre management techniques from two expert course leaders, including how to develop balanced performance metrics, set KPIs, motivate your staff and improve staff retention. In addition, learn how to successfully implement proven 6 Sigma practices in your call centre, based on a real life example from a leading call centre. Contact Susan Theron on 011 669 5019 or e-mail susan.theron@iqpc.co.za for more information.

The CallingtheCape newsletter is sent out in the first week of every month. It currently reaches 4 024 (as at 01/09/2005) industry practitioners, financial professionals, investors, and representatives of the media across the globe. The readership is around 80% domestic and 20% international - the international readership comprises mostly of industry practitioners and investors considering South Africa as an investment destination. The readership is predominantly at management level (CEOs, MDs, contact centre managers). The database is made up entirely of industry contacts of CallingtheCape. Please e-mail rhomeez@callingthecape.org.za  if you would like to take the opportunity to reach our thousands of subscribers every month by sponsoring our newsletter.

This month's new members are:

You may visit their websites by clicking on the links above.

If you are interested in joining CallingtheCape please contact Rhomeez at rhomeez@callingthecape.org.za

(i) Carphone Warehouse invests R200m in Cape Town

The Phone House call centre investment is set to create 500 new jobs in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

The Phone House (Pty) Ltd, part of UK-based The Carphone Warehouse, is now looking to recruit 500 call centre advisors in Cape Town and Johannesburg. As part of a R200m investment, the company is offering full-time permanent positions that include medical aid and pension benefits, as well as competitive salaries.

The Cape Town centre, managed in-house by The Phone House, will open in April. Located in a Claremont in Stadium on Main, it will provide a full canteen as well as recreational facilities including a bowling alley, a gym and a skateboard park.

Tracey Ellison of Emmanuels, who is managing recruitment in Cape Town, says the company is looking to recruit agents who have good communication skills, a strong customer service ethic, computer literacy and an understanding of the Internet. Previous work experience is not necessary as training and career growth towards management positions will be provided - but, says Ellison a customer service attitude and motivation are key.

In Johannesburg, Merchants have partnered with Quest to assist with the recruitment of call centre advisors for The Phone House.

(ii) CallingtheCape Funding from Provincial Government Increased

Minister of Finance in the Provincial Government of the Western Cape Lynne Brown announced in her budget two weeks ago that CallingtheCape would receive an earmarked allocation for the next three years.

The allocation is for R3.87m in 06/07 and then for R4.0m and R5.0m in the next two years.

The money will be allocated to our investment promotion, skills development and SME support programmes and represents a significant increase on the current year. This funding will enable us to provide a much wider range of training programmes to matriculants in Cape Town, ensuring a continued supply of high calibre entrants to the labour market. The funding allocation reinforces the Provincial Government's emphasis on the BPO industry as its most significant strategic sector with the greatests potential to create jobs and empower young people.

Have a great month.

Rhomeez Hendricks
Communications Officer
Telephone No: +27(0) 21 487 8655 : Switchboard No: +27(0) 21 487 8600
Fax No: +27(0) 21 422 3744 : Mobile No: +27(0) 82 927 8021
Email address: rhomeez@callingthecape.org.za  Website: www.callingthecape.org.za


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