The notion of on-demand or utility pricing is being aggressively pushed by computing giants such as IBM Corp [IBM] and Hewlett-Packard Co [HPQ], and Streamdoor believes that clients are also looking for more flexible ways for paying for call center services.
Streamdoor’s business model splits up the technology and human elements of a call center. The company hosts a center in London’s Docklands area housing all the technology underpinning a call center operation handling voice calls, email and web customer interaction and call recording, based on Cisco’s IP communications software platform.
This center acts as an intermediary between a customer and a call center agent working for one of Streamdoor’s partners such as Dimension Data, which can link into the Streamdoor center from anywhere in the world, using any network carrier. The company claims this model enables clients to reduce their capital expenditure on call center equipment, with pricing based on concurrent agent utilization across multiple sites.
Streamdoor, backed by private investors, is using an indirect sales model, with Johannesburg, South Africa-based DiData its first major partner. Streamdoor plans to open a second center in the UK in coming months, and a US center, probably in the Boston area, in early 2004. The services are being aimed at both large enterprise and small and medium business clients.
This article was based on material originally published by ComputerWire.
