Call centre industry confident of escaping the Net

The current scare in Britain that digital communications will allow e-commerce to sweep away the tele-centre industry is unlikely to be repeated in the Republic.

Unlike in Britain, Irish-based call centres tend to service a panEuropean market and many of the providers are major electronics and software enterprises that are already geared to integrate the "human factor" at the core of telecentre operations with wider technical back-up services.

The Irish industry employs about 11,000, compared with 350,000 people in the UK. The UK industry is heavily concentrated on selling goods and services within Britain. Any downturn in the domestic market will have swift repercussions.

In Ireland, about a third of the workforce is from other EU member states and tele-centres are very much geared to the international market. Among the companies operating here are Hertz, UPS and most of the major computer firms, including Compaq.

Dell is already selling $5 million dollars worth of PCs a day through its tele-centre in Bray, which also provides technical back-up. Colm Donlon of the IDA says there are 75 companies operating in Ireland and that the agency has concentrated on attracting companies that provide a wider range of services, including e-commerce.

Besides sales, be it of airline tickets, hotel rooms or computers and technical back-up services, many operations provide administrative supports and "virtual offices" to business customers.

Job skill shortages pose a larger threat in Ireland than closures. A new diploma in tele-services has been introduced and between 400 and 500 people a year, competent in language skills, are being produced.

Because these are not graduates, it is hoped that they can be attracted by a sector not renowned for its pay rates. Basic salaries range from £11,000 to £12,500 a year. However, people with technical skills can earn substantially more and companies such as Dell, IBM and Xerox would tend to have scales starting around £15,000. As a relatively new and expanding sector, tele-centres also provide significant promotional opportunities.

In Britain, there is growing concern that the industry will lose out in the next generation of change, when "Web-enabled" centres such as those emerging in Ireland will become the norm. However, there are no grounds for complacency, Irish telecommunications infrastructure is still deficient and there is nothing we can do that the UK, given time, can't match.