A New Standard: A Call Center Expert Explains the Importance of Certified Training and Accreditation in the Outsourcing Industry
According to Hatem El-Seify, an expert in the outsourcing industry, it’s essential for companies to have accredited certifications from reputable organizations to grow their business, and the outsourcing sector is no exception.
These international accreditations help contact centers attract new customers, particularly international ones.
Therefore, it’s crucial for Egyptian contact centers to acquire these credentials.
El-Seify noted that the high cost of certifications is one of the key challenges to the industry’s growth and the development of local companies. During an interview with “Ta3heed” newsletter.
he explained that an accredited ISO certification for the call center industry offers a competitive solution to this challenge, particularly because of its international value and affordable cost.
Here is the full interview:
How did the call center and outsourcing industry begin in Egypt?
The industry started in Egypt during the period of company privatization, following the entry of private telecommunications companies like “Mobinil,” now “Orange,” and then Vodafone.
When Vodafone came to Egypt, it brought a structured call center system to the market—an industry that originated in America.
Vodafone established a robust contact and customer service center to support its service launch in Egypt and address any potential issues.
This marked the beginning of the call center system in Egypt, as Vodafone relied on its international experts to train young Egyptians to provide this service.
This was between 1998 and 1999. The concept of call centers began to slowly emerge in Egypt, with telecommunications companies as the initial entry point for the industry.
This coincided with the significant development of Egypt’s technological infrastructure through organized strategies by the Ministry of Communications, with the emergence of sub-departments like “ITIDA” dedicated to the call center sector.
In 2002, the first two companies in Egypt that provided outsourcing services—”Raya” and “Xceed”—appeared. Many other companies, such as “Echo” (the Egyptian Company for Call Center Management), followed later.
From the start, Xceed focused on directing its services to the “offshore” market, serving clients outside of Egypt.
On the other hand, Raya began by providing its services to the local market, starting with telecommunications companies and expanding to other industries.
Xceed’s shift to focusing on “offshore” services was led by Dr. Adel Danesh, who is considered the true founder of this industry in Egypt. Under his leadership, Xceed became an icon in the outsourcing industry in Egypt and globally.
After that, outsourcing services became a central industry, attracting investments and being adopted by companies. In parallel, Vodafone expanded significantly in this industry in Egypt, to the extent that it built a model for booking visas for European and US embassies.
Later, it formed its own outsourcing arm called VIS, or Vodafone International Services, with its headquarters in Egypt.
All these factors laid the first cornerstone for the industry in the Egyptian market.
The industry has been growing and taking shape in Egypt ever since, especially after the Central Bank of Egypt allowed banks to provide banking information through their call centers.
In 2003, the Ministry of Industry and Trade began setting up a contact center for exporters to help track their shipments until they reached the final recipient, as part of the development operations for the Export and Import Control Authority.
What was the method for preparing and training employees to work in this new industry at that time?
During that period, the method for training and qualifying employees was based on internal training within the service-providing company itself.
Consequently, preparing employees depended on the efforts of each company.
What change happened after that?
Afterward, the COPC (Customer Operations Performance Center) standard emerged.
It was a distinguishing specification built primarily for the call center industry, linked to a business and training model based on many principles.
This created a new type of organized training to qualify contact centers and their employees as certified professionals, according to the COPC model.
The training was based on the principles of call center operations management and was not suitable for all employees.
It was specialized training that required a minimum level of experience and was not applicable to all job levels. In addition, the high cost limited it to companies that could afford to provide the training to their employees.
There were also advanced centers in America that trained employees on specific skills based on their job level, such as managers and team leaders, but this was very expensive.
El-Seify: “The National Institute for Quality provided ISO-based certifications for contact centers at a competitive price.”
What is the difference between a course and a certified credential?
A course is a process of training and qualification for the recipient, while an accreditation or certified credential is fundamentally based on the trainee receiving qualification and training from a reputable institution or organization with credibility.
At that time, there was no credible and influential body in the Arab world that granted certified credentials to professionals in this industry, except for some foreign organizations, which were also very expensive, reaching a minimum of around $3,000.
What developments have occurred regarding certified credentials for outsourcing services?
About eight years ago, ISO took notice and developed a specific standard for the call center industry: ISO 18295-1 and 18295-2.
This standard outlines the main principles of the industry, such as preparations, equipment, hiring, training, accountability methods, and other specifications for providing services in this industry.
Now, a country like the United Arab Emirates relies on the ISO 18295 standard for all contact centers that provide call center services, whether they are government agencies or private companies.
How does this certificate improve company efficiency, enhance productivity, and improve the industry’s image among young people?
It is essential in the outsourcing industry to have accreditation from a reputable entity for a company’s business model to gain customer trust and provide services.
Customers are keen to know a company’s business model to ensure its trustworthiness. Some global companies, such as Vodafone and Teleperformance, have their own business model standards.
Most companies don’t have a standardized business model and rely on obtaining accreditation to ensure that outsourcing clients receive service in a way that satisfies their own customers.
Previously, ITIDA supported call center companies in obtaining these accreditations through a program aimed at the institutional development of outsourcing service providers.
What makes ISO special compared to other certifications?
First, it is a credible and reputable accreditation body, which gives companies the benefits they seek from accreditation and helps them attract new clients from outside Egypt.
Additionally, the cost of ISO accreditation is very suitable for companies, especially since the call center industry is based on two main points: technology and human resources.
Human resources depend on employees and managers. Managers are a point of strength or weakness in companies because they are a primary reason for an increase or decrease in employee turnover rates.
Equipping managers with leadership skills and flexibility to deal with employees improves the work environment and prevents lower-level employees from leaving the company or the industry.
Therefore, training and preparing them based on a “standard” from an accredited body and built on scientific principles is essential for the continuity of companies and the industry.
How does obtaining these certifications help contact centers expand?
Let me give you a simple example. The Saudi market used to rely on outsourcing services from companies outside the Kingdom.
However, in 2018, a decision was issued to move outsourcing services from outside the Kingdom to within it through national or international service providers.
This is because the sector is labor-intensive, which raises the level of job localization within the Kingdom while opening up a vibrant investment sector like outsourcing, which highlights the industry’s economic importance.
This is where the importance of ISO certifications comes in, as they include training and skill development for human cadres, which opens up another opportunity in the industry, along with the development of non-voice or digital outsourcing sectors.
This requires human resources to be highly knowledgeable about these types of services.
The employee providing the service must have professional intelligence and be knowledgeable about the industry to compete strongly, especially with the emergence of new players in the market such as South Africa and Nigeria.
What has changed and might push companies to seek and obtain ISO certifications?
Generally, the ISO certification for the call center industry improves work efficiency and employee skills and raises the value of the company and the industry at a competitive cost.
In addition, it enhances the efficiency of management, whether mid-level or senior, as they are one of the key elements for the successful management of operations and business continuity.
It sharpens the practical experience of management with the necessary leadership skills to balance work needs and the human needs of employees.
Recently, the Egyptian Organization for Standardization and Quality, headed by Dr. Khaled Soufi, as well as the National Institute for Training, which is the training arm of the organization, have shown interest in making ISO certifications available along with a professional practice certificate.
This is a crucial point, as it increases the value of the training and the professional standing of the profession, enhancing its opportunities for spreading among young people and those looking for stable jobs in general.
How do ISO certifications affect company performance?
Obtaining training through ISO certifications improves employee efficiency and helps build a career path, which changes the perception of the industry among many young people from a temporary job to a permanent career.
The process of training and obtaining certified credentials helps improve how employees think about this profession and makes them seek mechanisms to improve their future skills to advance in this industry.
All these factors benefit the company in several ways, perhaps the most important of which is ensuring high-quality service, attracting major clients due to the efficiency of the human cadres, and the availability of certified credentials, which reduces employee turnover.
Can the idea of generalizing the acquisition of accreditation certificates improve the market and eliminate bad companies that create a negative image of the industry?
This can be done in two steps. The first is training and raising efficiency, and this is where the importance of obtaining accredited certifications such as ISO in this field stands out.
The second step is administrative follow-up of outsourcing companies in Egypt through a regulatory body to ensure the quality of the work environment, that the company has the necessary licenses, and that employees receive their full rights.
Therefore, there must be a specialized body to receive and resolve complaints from employees in the outsourcing industry.
Please see the file below for more details about ISO certifications on the newsletter group.
