IT ENABLED SERVICES

Call Agents

INTRODUCTION

A call centre in the IT lexicon is a place that has adequate telecom facilities, trained consultants, access to wide database, Internet and other on-line support infrastructure in order to provide information and support to customers on real time basis. The NASSCOM-McKinsey's December 1999 India report estimated that by the year 2008, IT-enabled services - such as call agents and medical transcriptionists - should become a $17 billion industry with an employment potential of one million jobs.
Only three percent of the US working population works in it's 70,000-odd call centres. Considering the fact that the need for call centre agents is growing by 20% per annum, it appears that soon there will not be enough people to work in call centres in the US. The demand for call centre professionals is on the rise in our country.

NATURE OF WORK

Customer contact associates interact with international clients either on the help-desk, make collection calls and respond to customer queries.
Team leaders handle a team of more than 5 associates, scheduling their day-to-day activities. They are responsible for rostering and planning the portfolio to suit customer and business requirements.
Customer's service managers are the senior most and assume the post generally after 5-10 years of work experience. They oversee a group of 3 team leaders. They are responsible for handling team logistics and hiring new people. They organise the coaching and training of associates and manage the entire call center operations.

PERSONAL CHARACTERSTICS

The job requires keyboarding skills, written skills, American/British English, a good voice and accent. Call centres require people who can manage stress.

EMPLOYMENT AVENUES

Call centres employ about 50,000 professionals. Reliance is planning to establish 10 call centres which would employ 1,00,000 people. Other established players like GE and Spectranet are on expansion spree. Considering the turnover rate in the industry, which is close to 40% each would need at least 100 new, trained agents every month. GE, AmEx, Standard Chartered, allow lateral transfers.
Earnings (per month)
Call centre agent-Rs 8,000, Teamleader- Rs 12,000-16,000, Supervisor-Rsl8,000-Rs.20,000, Shift manager - Rs.25,000, Manager- Rs 40,000 (plus perks)

ENTRY/TRAINING

The standard selection process for a call centre agent would involve an English Langauage examination, a group discussion, numerical test (only in some cases and includes basic maths), recording of voice, interview and, psychometric tests(optional).
Chronological sequence for training would be - Basic skills, training on product/services (client-specific), training in technical fields, and in functional areas (medicine, taxation, law, financial services, etc.). The training they receive is in call centre simulation, and its dynamics and terminology. The training is Adult Immersion Technique, LAMA and Auditory Typing Technique.

INSTITUTIONS/COURSES

KarROX Technologies Limited, International ITES Institute, H-19 A, 2nd Floor, Kalkaji Main Road, N. Delhi-110019 HO: Ronuk estate, LBS Marg, Opp. Shreyas Cinema, Ghatkopar(W) Mumbai 400086 WebSite: http:/www.karrox.com

KarROX Technologies has training infrastructure in Mumbai, New Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Courseware, testing instruments (pre and post-training), course certification are from Algonquin College of Canada, training partner of Bell, Canada which has the largest network of contact centers in Canada, a national presence in ITES training.

Course: Training for prospective contact centre executives (150 hours) Professional specialization & International certification for a job in a call centre.

Call Centre Academy website www.cccts.com

CCCTS Pvt. Ltd. is a call centre training and consultancy company with almost 85% American training staff. CCTS have francise centres at Modinagar, Delhi and are to open in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, & Chennai. CCCTS plan to set up acedemies in Chandigarh, Pune, Dehradun, Manipal, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Trivandrum, and Jamshedpur.

Certification training- Duration - 264 hours Eligibility. 10+2, fluent in English communication and written skills, basic computing, Internet and Microsoft Office Skills. Application: Online at the company. Test Online English written skill test followed by a Voice Test.Venue for the Voice test intimated on completion of the application formalities at the CCCTS website.

The Mind Bank, A 20, Sector-2, Noida-201 301, NCR Delhi.

Mind bank in India, a global business service provider offers comprehensive recruiting and training solutions for the IT and IT enabled industry. The Training centre, which offers comprehensive training for call centre professionals. Alliance partners currently include Assessment Solutions Inc, the Univ. of California, Davis, the Rosetta Stone Language Library Relocation Services International-all based in USA. Mindbank has received 25% funding by Singapore Technologies Pvt Ltd.

Courses - Call Centre Agents Training
Duration- 6 weeks for end-to-end solutions
Selection- (I) English Language Assessment- University of California preliminary assessment of each trainee, evaluating their use of English language, grammar, and comprehension. (2) Assessment of conversational fluency. (3) Call Center Assessment Program (4) Post Assessment for Call Center Agents.

North Star Call Centre College, B-109, Sector V, Noida 201 301

North Star Call Centre is the first college that trains call agents in India, A franchisee of London-based Call Centre College (CCC),

Note: This is only an indicative list

Medical Transcriptionists

INTRODUCTION

Medical transcription is an emerging career option and is the result of global openings in the IT services sectors. Jobs in medical transcription are mainly offered by US-based companies in India who in reality cater to customers (doctors) in the US and in Canada. In these countries, unlike India, a medical report is considered to be a vital document with legal implications without which doctors cannot claim fees from their patients. India offers cheaper and faster transcription services due to advancements in the telecommunication system and the availability of cheap and highly skilled English-speaking, computer-literate people.

NATURE OF WORK

Medical transcription involves preparing a medical report/document based on the doctor's tape recorded message about the patient's diagnosis and treatment. The doctors dictate into a taperecorder or telephone as they interact with the patient and the message gets tape or digitally recorded into a computer attached to the telephone. This recorded message is transcribed by a medical transcriptionist. He processes the data on a word processor in the form of a medical document. The process involves specific procedures and editorial policy guidelines. The transcribed document goes through two or three stages of editing by professional consultants and senior experienced transcriptionists The medical report is then sent back to the doctors via satellite communications.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The environment is office simulated. The transcriptionists hear recorded messages on the earphone and work simultaneously on the computer. The work requires hours of concentrated work and audio, visual, mannual coordination.

PERSONAL CHARACTERSTICS

The ability to sit and work for long hours in one place is required. Medical transcriptionists must have a good command over English, an ability to understand and transcribe American speech loaded with medical terminology, ability to understand diverse accents, dialectical variations and varying dictation styles in American English, dedication and total involvement. Exceptional listening skills, excellent concentration and ability to work with and attend to details is required.

EMPLOYMENT AVENUES

The healthcare profession is the second largest industry in the US. As the demand for quality documentation continues to increase owing to increased specialisation in medical treatment. Jobs for transcriptionists will evolve in India due to medical insurance, medical documentation. Skills of transcription are required in the legal profession also.

Earnings

Trainees receives a stipend of Rs. 5,000 p.m. while qualified medical transcriptionists begin with a salary of Rs. 7,000 upwards.

STUDY/TRAINING

Medical transcriptionists must be graduates. Knowledge of medical terminology including anatomy, physiology and clinical medicine is an asset. Candidates who have excellent written and oral communication skills in English are recruited as a trainees for a period of six to eight months after qualifying in a written test.

COURSES/ INSTITUTIONS

Regal Information Technology Pvt.Ltd., 159, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase-Ill, New Delhi-110 020 WebSite: www.regalinfotech.com
Regal Information Technology incorporated in 1999 is a member of the 44-year old Fedders Lloyd group. Regal is a well-established organization, offering assistance in implementation of high-end solutions like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relation Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Call Centers, Transcription Services etc. For Transcription Services, they have collaboration with Cbay Systems (USA) to process the best of technology; training and operational skill set desirable by US healthcare institutions.

Courses- Comprehensive Training in Medical Transcription/ Legal Transcription / Medical Coding / Billing, Insurance Claim Processing/ Telemedicine (all for the US healthcare Industry). Duration - 6 months training (Four months classroom and two months on-the-job stipendary training). Eligibility. Graduate in any discipline with good understanding of spoken English, good listening and writing skills in English, perseverance, ability to work patiently, for long hours, on a computer. Selection: "Trainee Medical Transcriptionisf'have to clear a 2 hr. multiple choice, aptitude test, English comprehension and an audio test.

Registration for Training in Medical Transcription- Selected candidates are registered for a training program in Medical Transcription with Regal. Duration- 6 months provided by trained and experienced professionals from Cbay Systems. The training is subsidized by Regal.

Placement- In-house production facility provides employment to those who qualify the Cbay certification exam.

Indo-American Academy of Medical And Legal Transcription, D 133 Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110020 Website: www.iaamt.org.
The academy is run by a group of experienced faculty with multiple specialists on its panel.
Course in Medical transcription Duration - 5 months Eligibility - Basic Knowledge of English Language, Good listening skills, No previous computer knowledge, No age bar.

MTIIL Medical Transcription Institute India Ltd., 3rd Floor, Hermann Plaza, 2 West Patel Nagar (Main Road), New Delhi-110008 Website: www.mtiil.com
Medical Transcription Institute India Ltd is promoted by well-known Divine Group of Companies with centres Chandigarh and Faridabad and proposed in Kathmandu, Dhaka, Mumbai, Jaipur, Bhopal, Patna. An experienced faculty offer Total Quality Management (TQM) oriented unique training in a simulated job environment. MTIIL is a corporate member of American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT), the apex global body in the concerned field and is technically tied up with U.S. based medical transcription companies.

Course
Medical Transcription Duration - 4 months Eligibility- Housewives/students/ retired persons/medical professionals/handicapped etc. Min Educational Eligibility- XII Knowledge of Basic English, good listening and comprehension skills.

Advanced course Eligibility- MT toppers, Doctors, Medical professionals and qualified persons looking to be consultants, Proofreaders or Quality Analysts.