The call centre industry in the Asia-Pacific region is forecast to register strong growth this year with Thailand and the Philippines leading the way, a study said Monday. India is forecast to grow at 16 percent. The total number of call centre employees in the region is projected to increase to 704,400 in 2007, a 23 percent hike over last year, said the Asian Contact Centre Industry Benchmarking Report covering 747 call and contact centres from 501 organisations. Growth in the industry "has traditionally come from the mature markets such as India," the Business Times quoted Catriona Wallace, president of callcentres.net, as saying. "It is now exciting" to see newer centre industries such as those in Thailand leading the growth rates.

Call centres provide service to customers from interactive voice response, Web self-service, chat, email and the traditional phone. The industry is expected to grow at 33 percent in both Thailand and the Philippines. Singapore and Malaysia follow with an anticipated growth rate of 32 percent. China is forecast to grow at 22 percent. The major expense in operating the centres in Asia is labour that consumes 46 percent of the total budget, the study said. Technology accounts for another 23 percent and telecommunications 19 percent. Growth in the industry is reflected in strong technology purchasing and upgrading plans for Asian contact centres, said the study sponsored by Cisco Systems and callcentres.net. About 54 percent plans to purchase new technology this year and 62 percent plans to upgrade their existing technology, the study added.