BPESA

MEMBER NEWS

South Africa's Best BPO Argument Isn't Cost Anymore. It's What AI Can't Do.

There's a version of the AI customer service story that's been told confidently for the past two years. Deflect volume. Reduce headcount. Let the bot handle it. The data is starting to push back.

Gartner's 2024 research shows only 14% of customer service issues are fully resolved in self-service. A separate Gartner poll found that 51% of customers trust human agents most for issue resolution - and only 7% trust AI. By 2027, Gartner predicts that 50% of organisations that planned to

The South African Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector is booming, with the country's unique blend of talent, time zone alignment, and cost-effectiveness attracting major international investment.

But as this growth accelerates, a not-so-quiet revolution is taking place, shifting the focus from simply securing space with a sea of desks to creating an ecosystem that fosters well-being and productivity. Forward-thinking BPOs are no longer choosing cramped, anonymous offices; they're

The potential is alluring but getting there is more of a crawl than a sprint. There are reasons for that.

 

On a scale from creepy to cool, personalisation - and its newer offspring, hyper-personalisation - might just be heading in the right direction. Compared with five years ago, it’s now more accepted and perhaps also more expected, as more of us experience it and understand how we can benefit from it.

But that is happening surprisingly slowly. Anecdotally, the feeling seems to be

The retail sector continues to navigate tremendous change, with high consumer expectations, constant margin pressure and the need for operational efficiency. In this challenging environment, retailers are increasingly turning to strategic outsourcing partnerships to maintain competitive advantage while managing costs.

As a specialist CX outsourcing partner to leading homeware retail groups across the US, Canada, Europe, and South Africa, iContact BPO has observed how the right outsourcing

“Incorporating AI-driven noise reduction has yielded significant improvements in key contact center quality metrics, including reduced average call handling time, increased agent and customer satisfaction, improved first-call resolution rates, and lower call abandonment due to noise-related complaints,” says David Hood, Chief Operating Officer at iContact BPO. “When paired with continuous agent training and development, the result is a truly enhanced customer service experience.”

The 

Hundreds of new jobs are to be created in and around Paarl following the opening of a new office and contact centre by one of the country’s leading offshore Global Business Services (GBS) companies.

Sigma Connected, which offers ‘white label’ contact centre services to UK clients across a variety of sectors including energy and financial services, has opened the new facility in the Drakenstein Municipality as it looks to create 250 new jobs in phase one, rising to 1,000 roles in the coming

Deaftouch is excited to announce the launch of the first-of-its-kind sign language customer support call center operating on a deaf-to-deaf model. This groundbreaking initiative promises to transform accessibility, skills development, and sustainable employment for the Deaf community in South Africa.

A New Era of Accessibility

By utilizing a deaf-to-deaf model, Deaftouch ensures that customer support is both accessible and effective for Deaf individuals. This innovative approach empowers Deaf

SA leads in CX outsourcing, with USA its fastest growing source market for global business services from South Africa

Opinion by Clinton Cohen, CEO of http://www.icontactbpo.com/. 

 

As South Africa continues to rank in the world’s top 3 offshore CX delivery locations, the country’s status as a leading destination for global business services (GBS) or “Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)” is consistently reaffirmed. Right now, SA’s BPO sector is one of the country’s

Outsourcing is surrounded by misconceptions. Dispelling these is crucial for businesses to make informed decisions about outsourcing and to fully leverage its many potential benefits.

Clinton Cohen, CEO of iContact BPO debunks 10 of the most common outsourcing myths, demonstrating what stands between businesses staying in an operational rut and winning a serious competitive edge.

 

Myth #1: Outsourcing is the same as Offshoring is the same as BPO

The terms ‘outsourcing’

Over the past few years, and especially with the rise of remote working, laptops have become the go-to choice for busy South Africans on the move, from students juggling classes to professionals sealing deals in noisy coffee shops.

And it’s not hard to see why they are so popular, as laptops are lightweight, portable powerhouses, which can easily do everything a conventional PC can.

But brand new laptops can take a serious toll on your budget

June is a month of significant milestones, not just for South Africa but for the youth across the nation. It marks the anniversary of historical protests that paved the way for today's opportunities. This Youth Month, BPESA members have showcased their incredible dedication to upskilling, reskilling, and future skilling the youth, leading to remarkable progress in several career journeys. Here are some inspiring testimonials from our youth cohorts:

 

Waseem Koopman from EXL: Rising

June is a month of significant milestones, not just for South Africa but for the youth across the nation. It marks the anniversary of historical protests that paved the way for today's opportunities. This Youth Month, BPESA members have showcased their incredible dedication to upskilling, reskilling, and future skilling the youth, leading to remarkable progress in several career journeys. Here are some inspiring testimonials from our youth cohorts:

 

Waseem Koopman from EXL: Rising

London, United Kingdom - Elerian Conversational AI Limited (Elerian), a leading provider of conversational AI solutions for call centres, today announced the appointment of Ruben Moggee as its new Director of Business Development. In this newly created role, Ruben will be responsible for leading Elerian’s sales and partnership efforts, driving growth across new markets and industry verticals.

Ruben is a seasoned chief executive renowned for his adeptness in orchestrating business turnarounds

Teleperformance, a global leader in digital business services, today announced the opening of its second South African city location in Gqeberha (formerly known as Port Elizabeth), the cultural, economic and financial hub of the Eastern Cape.

The new centre at Fairview Office Park, will provide customer support across multiple contact channels for leading UK financial services and retail clients. Teleperformance expects to create 500 new jobs in the city in 2024.

Teleperformance opened its

ContinuitySA has officially rebranded to Resilient Innovations – marking a new chapter in the well-respected organisation’s business continuity management (BCM) journey.

This exit and rebrand to Resilient Innovations became official in December 2023, marking a significant milestone following ContinuitySA’s acquisition by Dimension Data back in 2014 and the subsequent integration process completed in 2021.

With the exit out of

Want to know how a major US wireless service provider significantly improved customer retention rates using interaction analytics from OnviSource?

With more than 4,000 agents spanning seven sites around the world, they have recognized significant reductions in cancellations based on intelligence from automated interaction analytics spanning more than 250 million minutes of conversation each year. This provider also increased survey rates

Outworx opens new premises in Gqeberha and CEO predicts more operators will be attracted to city

 

NEW INVESTMENT: Outworx chief executive  Robin Hoekstra has high hope for the business process outsourcing  sector in the Eastern Cape

 

With a global surge in interest for call centre services in SA, Outworx chief executive Robin Hoekstra believes the Eastern Cape is the new frontier for business process outsourcing (BPO) and has opened up shop

Opinion by Clinton Cohen, CEO of iContact BPO

In the customer service realm, ‘GigCX’ has been touted as a go-to solution for businesses looking to stay competitive by upscaling and diversifying their customer experience skills to meet fluctuating market and seasonal demands.  Many are also seeing it as an alternative to making permanent appointments in a volatile and uncertain economy.

In fact, according to the South Africa National GBS Quantification &

Sigma Connected and TDX Group form strategic partnership to support ethical debt collections

 

Debt management specialist TDX Group, an Equifax company, has partnered with business outsourcing provider Sigma Connected, drawing on their respective debt insights and collection expertise for an all-in-one recovery solution package for clients.


The strategic link-up will see Sigma Connected and TDX Group working closely on white label customer service support for organisations spanning the telecommunications, utilities, energy, retail and government sectors. The partnership

Last month, the South African government demonstrated its commitment to propelling the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector by announcing it had allocated a budget of R569 million in this financial year.

In support of the ongoing effort by government to help build the burgeoning BPO industry, eThekwini Municipality has already successfully rolled out an impactful work readiness programme together with BPESA.

Six promising young agents from industry-leader Rewardsco completed the

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.

Ok Decline