How were call centers established and operated in Egypt?
The regulatory framework for call centers in Egypt reviewed the previous status of call centers when establishing and operating call centers within Egypt.
Procedures followed before approving licenses to establish and operate call centers
Call centers were being established and operated within the Republic without obtaining licenses from the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
Providing call center services or call center outsourcing services did not require obtaining a license from the Authority.
A company wishing to provide call center services may establish its own call center or contact one of the call center outsourcing service providers and contract with it to provide call center services to users. In this case, the call center operator is responsible for providing the required technical solutions, technologies, and means of connection.
Non-Egyptian call center service providers used to approach the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), which provides a range of services to support and qualify companies looking to expand in Egypt, starting with financial support, training and qualifying human cadres on language problems, lack of product knowledge, and obtaining the required certificates.
Call center service providers are currently only permitted to obtain the required connectivity to receive and send calls through a company licensed to provide voice communications services.
How to contact the call center with users inside Egypt
The call center service provider contracts with the fixed telephone service provider to obtain the fixed telephone service including telephone numbers and the Primary Rate Interface (PRI) circuits to access the fixed telephone network.
The fixed telephone service provider collects the calls received on the call center number and transfers them via PRI circuits to the call center. The call center can also make local calls.
How the call center communicates with users outside Egypt
The telecommunications service provider completes communication with users outside the Arab Republic of Egypt in one of the following ways: Contracting with one of the companies licensed to provide international telecommunications services to others to rent an international connection circuit.
Or contracting with one of the fixed telephone service providers to make and receive international calls via the licensed international gateways between the call center and a collection point outside the Arab Republic of Egypt, which is considered an expensive solution due to the high price of the international connection circuit and the procedures for obtaining the circuit.
