Bangalore: Indian contact centres must move from being cost centres of overseas firms to value centres by building lasting partnerships, industry experts said today (Nov 11).

Delivering his address at the one-day conference on 'Global Perspectives on Contact Centre Management' organised by the Limebridge Contact 2003, Driva Solutions founder and Limebridge Global Alliance co-founder Bill Price said open communications, surrounding processes, ability to adapt to suit and customer obsession were the four critical aspects to build successful partnerships.

"Customer service is analogous to a canary in a coal mine and should play a more proactive role in listening and innovating for customers. This could be achieved by transitioning from cost centre approach to being proactive and a value centre," Price said.

Tata Telecom vice president-enterprise solutions Raman Mahajan said the biggest challenge faced by Indian Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) providers was not procuring work from overseas, but moving up the value chain and maturing from transaction-based offerings to other value added services.

"With the US outsourcing only five per cent of its total 60 per cent global spending, Indian vendors would need to build credibility with their target clients through the work being outsourced to them so that they would become the logical choice for future outsourcing," he said.

PTI