India is called the ‘call center capital’ of the world. Even though China is giving it a run for the money, there is still a long way to go before that crown can be given to any other nation. When analyzed on certain parameters such as overall cost of outsourcing, labour costs, infrastructure costs, telecom costs etc, India still emerges as the most attractive call center destination for the world. All of this has led the call center industry to grow to US$ 300bn.
Until now, these call centers had people who spoke English with an American twang to provide 24 hour support to various customers of US clients. But one call center which has been inaugurated just recently looks set to change such an image of call centers. IT AIMS TO BE DIFFERENT!!!
And why not? The ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has modeled the ‘Udyami Helpline’ call center in such a way that a single toll free number would be used to help entrepreneurs across the country [Full Udyami Project report – pdf].
The Ministry has provided financial support for the project while Caretel Infotech has been assigned to run the center. Now how amazing is that? All you entrepreneurs out there especially those in far flung locations; this could be the best thing you have heard in recent times.
Entrepreneurs in India face a tremendous number of problems –
- Poor knowledge of government rules and regulations which leads to harassment at the hands of various authorities
- Challenges in arranging the capital for financing the project
- No proper body to address any queries related to setting up of projects from the seed stage to the final stage
- Challenges in monetizing the different business ideas
- Difficulties in getting the requisite technology and marketing of products
This call center would aim to remove all these problems with information on various business possibilities, credit availability, MSME schemes and above all remove the grievances of entrepreneurs.
Though the success of this call center can be judged only after a certain period of time, this initiative is nonetheless AMAZING!
So what are your thoughts? Will this initiative really help Entrepreneurs or will it be just another non-working initiative by Indian Government ?