Call centre industry thrives thanks to COVID-19

This move towards digital and phone-based customer support has contributed to the call centre industry's recovery, and an increase in the number of its employees.

Social distancing measures put in place due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have resulted in many companies and banks relying on call centre services, which have thrived due to the pandemic.
This move towards digital and phone-based customer support has contributed to the call centre industry's recovery, and an increase in the number of its employees.
An official source at Telecom Egypt (TE) said the company is already working on applying all precautionary measures. This is to ensure the safety of workers at private call centres and customer service centres without interrupting the work system.
TE has activated a home-based policy for a large number of customer service agents, whilst providing them computers so that they can work remotely. The source added that the company has granted all mothers, pregnant women, as well as employees who suffer from blood or immunological diseases, paid leave for a period of 14 days, which can be renewed.
The source said that these measures have contributed to a 75% reduction in the number of workers at office, ensuring a safe distance between service providers whilst at work. Additionally, all work sites and offices are regularly disinfected, and all necessary supplies for prevention are provided to employees.
The source stressed the vital role of call centres in such circumstances, adding that this will significantly increase the demand for customer service centres. This has, in turn, prompted the company to take all necessary procedures to ensure the safety of service providers without interrupting the services they provide.
The source highlighted the increased demand on call centre services in the past few months, which has encouraged TE to increase the number of employees.
Ahmed Refky, CEO of Raya Contact Center, said his company has increased the number of employees within the banking sector by almost 10% to meet customers' needs.
The company has also provided digital solutions to provide proactive and contextual interactions, whilst easing the customer experience through all communication channels to reduce the number of incoming calls.
Refky said that call centre services have been expanded, especially in the banking sector, to face the ongoing global health crisis. Raya Call Center Services deal with 38% of banks operating in Egypt, with the volume of transactions and calls assigned to call centres has increased by almost 50%.
Refky added that digital solutions have been activated for customers as support during the current crisis. Moreover, the process of working from home for employees comes in line with Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decisions to ensure the confidentiality of the data of customers.