BT leaps on inbound
Four new products to help VARs target call centre market
BT Indirect Channels (BTIC) is hoping to bolster its presence in the call centre market by launching its first international inbound calling products for resellers.
The firm told CRN that the new products are a response to a trebling of the inbound calling market in the UK over the past decade. The products are similar to the domestic free and shared-cost (0800 and 0845) products BT made available to the channel in February.
BT is launching four new products, two of which provide inbound calling within the UK, and two are for dialling from abroad.
"International inbound calling is worth £40m a year," claimed Chris Jagusz, general manager of products at BTIC.
"We are expecting at least £500,000 worth of business on these products over the next 12 months. We think they will appeal to resellers which have strong contracts with customer services businesses.
"A customer with an international business can gather calls in one country and terminate them all over the world."
Mark Evans, a director at ME Consultancy, said the products looked interesting.
"Inbound calling is not something we have been focusing on; our main area at the moment is (BT product) Business Plan," he said.
"But there's a market for small call centres to outsource specialist skills to other organisations. We're interested because as the call centre gets smaller, the hardware becomes less important."