COVID-19, Brexit, Regulation Weigh on Contact Centers in U.K. and Europe
ISG Provider Lens™ report highlights uncertainties in the contact center industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in Europe and the U.K. due to Brexit and new IR35 regulations limiting temporary workers. The report identifies trade and labor challenges, but also notes opportunities for firms collaborating with tech vendors. It reveals a shift to cloud contact center platforms and automation as companies adapt to new customer demands. Seven companies, including Teleperformance and Wipro, were recognized as leaders in the field.
- Shift to cloud platforms enhances flexibility and customer experience.
- Increased adoption of automation improves efficiency in handling queries.
- New working models may lower operational costs and expand workforce potential.
- Uncertainties from Brexit and IR35 regulations pose challenges to labor markets.
- COVID-19's impact has forced contact centers to change operational models abruptly.
ISG Provider Lens™ report finds regional issues add to uncertainty as providers join global trends toward remote work, automation and cloud contact centers
LONDON, Oct. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With the COVID-19 pandemic posing steep challenges to the contact center industry worldwide this year, providers are facing additional uncertainties in Europe and the U.K. amid the looming no-deal Brexit and changes to U.K. regulations affecting temporary workers, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center – Customer Experience Services report for Europe and the U.K. found trade and labor issues remained high on the industry’s agenda even as the pandemic brought rapid changes in consumer behavior.
Reforms to the U.K.’s IR35 regulations, which limit the role of temporary workers within the U.K., came as a blow to many public- and private-sector enterprises that hire freelancers, experts, digital consultants and other types of independent workers. But the new rules could open up opportunities for organizations willing to collaborate with providers, startups and technology vendors for nearshoring or offshoring of labor. Meanwhile, negotiations over the U.K.’s exit from the E.U. continued to loom over the region even as many countries, especially Italy and the U.K., were hit hard by the pandemic.
“Contact center providers in Europe and the U.K. are facing serious economic questions on top of pandemic effects that have forced them to change operating models overnight,” said Jan Erik Aase, director and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. “Uncertainties about trade and employment only add to disruption in the contact center industry. But many providers are now adopting cloud platforms and other technologies to increase their flexibility and offer better customer experiences.”
As in other regions, COVID-19 lockdowns forced many providers to institute large-scale work-from-home strategies. The shift to remote work can give providers some advantages, including lower costs and a larger potential workforce, the report says. But it has also brought challenges related to training, agent motivation, background noise and security. Companies are turning to facial recognition, auto screen lock, voice biometrics, VPNs and other tools to tighten the security of work-from-home and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) operations.
With advances in technologies for remote work, a healthy mix of remote and brick-and-mortar working models is expected to emerge, according to the report.
Worldwide, the pandemic led to call volumes sharply increasing in some industries, such as travel and insurance, and falling in others, such as retail. With wait times and call abandonment rates rising, customers of all ages are adopting digital channels such as email, social and asynchronous messaging, increasing the need for personalized, omnichannel customer experiences. Though triggered by the pandemic, these changes are likely to be irreversible, the report says.
Many companies are looking to cloud contact center platforms to meet the new demands from both operational requirements and customer preferences. Providers that were using cloud platforms before the pandemic adapted more quickly to the need for remote work requirements and were better able to provide effective omnichannel experiences, ISG says. Cloud platforms with a full technology stack can include tools for better workforce management as well as analytics, AI and machine learning (ML) to enable more personalized services.
The pandemic has led to a sharp spike in the use of automation, which is becoming a necessity, according to the report. When agents were being shifted to the new remote work model, many companies turned to AI or chatbots to handle basic queries. In addition, AI-powered speech, text and sentiment analytics and customer behavior prediction are enabling more meaningful conversations. Most call centers now are looking to scale up their automation capabilities while giving agents more specialized skills to field complex inquiries, ISG says.
The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center – Customer Experience Services report for Europe and the U.K. evaluates the capabilities of 20 providers in a single quadrant: Digital Operations.
The report names seven as leaders in the quadrant: Capita, Concentrix, Conduent, Sitel Group, Teleperformance, Transcom and Wipro. HGS was named as a Rising Star – a company with a “promising portfolio” and “high future potential” by ISG’s definition.
Customized versions of the report are available from Conduent and Transcom.
The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center – Customer Experience Services report for Europe and the U.K. is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.
About ISG Provider Lens™ Research
The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe and Latin America, as well as in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, the U.K., France, the Nordics, Brazil and Australia/New Zealand, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.
The series is a complement to the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, which offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.
Starting this year, each ISG Provider Lens™ study will include a Global Summary to help enterprise subscribers better understand provider capabilities across all geographic markets covered by that study. All ISG Provider Lens™ reports also will now include an Enterprise Context feature to help executives quickly identify key insights related to their roles and responsibilities.
About ISG
ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.
FAQ
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