When the voice/non-voice debate started surfacing in the Indian offshoring arena, 24/7 Customer was one company that unequivocally (and strongly) reiterated its commitment to the voice-centric customer lifecycle management services business. Nothing wrong about that, but while all voice players took definite new steps to ensure growth, 24/7 was slow on that front. As a result, its growth was the slowest among all the DQ BPO Top 20 companies.

Most voice-focused players have taken one of the three steps to sustain growthbuy out onshore companies, grow India in domestic business, or leverage the parent companys IT capability better. 24/7 Customer did not do any of those.

The end of Avivas three-year BOT agreement with 24/7 Customer also had its impact. Not only did 24/7 have to transfer 1,600 agents, it also saw substantial reduction in the business generated from Aviva (from close to 25% of total revenue) in the coming years.

	RANK 17 PV Kannan, CEO
Launched 24/7 Ascend, a partnership program for the academia Executed transfer of Avivas BOT project
FACTSHEET
l Start-up Year: 2000 l Delivery Presence: Bangalore (1), Chennai (2), Hyderabad (1), Manila (2), Guatemala City (1) l Address: Embassy Golf Links, Off Intermediate Ring Road, Challaghatta, Varthur Hobli, Bangalore 560071 l Tel: 08030582470 l Fax: 08030582469 l Website: www.247customer.com

But, the company did relentlessly pursue two strategies: enhancing its global delivery capability, and developing talent. It launched delivery centers in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Shanghai and China to add to its presence in Guatamela and Manila.

However, its thrust was in people development. S Nagarajan, co-founder, gave up the COO position to take up the responsibility as chief people officer, a fairly pioneering step. In his new role, Nagarajan drove talent management globally while Reene Kuwahara, was designated the COO.

There were attempts to foray into non-voice, including analytics, to boost margins. Initial successes included an F&A account win with Aviva. Also, 24/7s early thrust in Europe, way back in 2003, with its European revenue close to 41% will help the company tackle the sliding US dollar.

Despite all this, 24/7 Customer continued to enjoy the limelight. If it was Tom Friedmans World is Flat that gave a lot of publicity to 24/7 Customer in 2005, last year, it was BBC TVs program on the life of Indian call center executives, shot entirely in 24/7s facilities.

The rumors about a possible IPO in early 2007 was denied by the company. DQ

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