- Cost advantage holds the market in good stead in the price-sensitive Asia-Pacific region

SINGAPORE, Dec. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- While the Asia-Pacific is still the preferred off-shore destination for contact centers, keen focus on quality customer service has attracted business from domestic enterprises across the region. Organizations have begun to leverage customer service as a key differentiator to stand out in an intensely competitive environment. This higher interest in customer services has triggered investments in the advanced contact center features and capabilities.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.contactcenter.frost.com), Asia-Pacific Contact Center Applications Market, 2011, finds that in 2011, the market registered more than 13 percent annual growth. To meet the rising customer demand, the region recorded a 9.7 percent growth in contact center agent seats to reach 2.5 million, increasing the investment in contact center applications.

The market will sustain double digit growth in 2012 despite the overall economic slowdown due to the continued deregulation of markets and growth in verticals such as online retail, telecom, government and education. Among countries, Japan, Australia, Korea, the Philippines and India were the key growth markets in 2011. By 2018, India and China are likely to account for over 30 percent of the total market revenue.

Multi-channel conversation and social media integration has gained extreme mind share across markets and is expected to grow rapidly across Asia-Pacific markets. Contact center applications such as multimedia and speech found high uptake, particularly in Australia, due to the growing importance of self service and social media. Even high-growth markets like India, China and the Philippines are investing in self-service applications and optimization tools. BFSI and Telco continue to be the leading verticals in terms of investment and are expected to drive the growth of the contact center applications market, during the forecast period..

"Cost is a vital purchase factor for contact center operations in the Asia-Pacific," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Manager Krishna Baidya. "Therefore, several contact centers are looking ways to optimize their operations, generating strong demand for workforce Optimization (WFO) and analytical tools."

Across the region, many organizations are shying away from setting up in-house contact centers and instead, are seeking the services of small-sized contact centers offering customer contact services. Despite end users being at varying stages of growth, contact center spending has increased across the board.

"Meanwhile, the rising popularity of cloud computing has encouraged the growth of alternative models such as hosted contact center service with its pay-per-use model," noted Baidya. "This is an attractive option in the Asia-Pacific, as it lowers upfront investments and prompts higher investments in contact center services."

If you are interested in more information on this research, please send an email to Jessie Loh, Corporate Communications, at jessie.loh@frost.com, with your full name, company name, job title, telephone number, company email address, company website, city, state and country.

Asia-Pacific Contact Center Applications Market is part of the Contact Centers & CRM Growth Partnership Services program, which also includes research in the following markets: Assessment of Asia-Pacific Contact Center Market and Asia-Pacific Hosted Contact Center Services Market. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

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Contact:
Donna Jeremiah
Corporate Communications – Asia Pacific
P: +61-02-8247-8927
F: +61-02-9252-8066
E: djeremiah@frost.com

Jessie Loh
Corporate Communications – Asia Pacific
P: +65-6890-0942
F: +65-6890-0988
E: jessie.loh@frost.com

http://www.frost.com