Any entrepreneur getting into the call centre business today should be aware that he is entering a commodity-like business.

Anyone claiming that they will offer innovation with niche practices is clearly not in the loop of the industry.

One should accept the fact that this is not an innovative business. Given this how does one go ahead and make it a good proposition of investing in this pretty capital intensive foray.

After having finalised that you would want to get into the call centre business, it is imperative that you have the required infrastructure in place, the core team to propel the business and around ten call agents fully trained and capable of taking up a pilot project.

Says Avinash Vashistha, chairman and managing director of neoIT, an offshore advisory and management firm, "If one has to make a mark in the call centre business, the focus should be based on high-end quality and experience people at the helm to drive this extremely intense business. Accent neutralisation and training in various situations should be absolute and the message should be pretty much clear on how a call should be handled. The business is in real time and there is no getting back after a call is messed up."

Next to this is to register under STPI so as to get the benefit of duty free imports for all the required hardware.

In addition to this the important requirements are carpet area, equipment, communication and manpower.

The carpet area depends on the number of seats. It can range from 55-155 sq feet per agent, depending on the services rendered by the centre.

Based on this, and the space planned for facilities, amenities and support areas, you can estimate the total carpet area.

Communication/connectivity depends on the volume of traffic and services rendered from the centre.

A 200-seat call centre will usually invest in a 2 Mbps international private leased circuit for inbound services, comprising two half circuits-one in India and the other in the US or UK through an international carrier.

Manpower deployed in a centre falls under two broad categories-operations or agents and support or management.

The ratio between the two varies depending on different parameters based on organisation, services deployed and client requirements.

Technology needs: In terms of technical resources, a voice witch/EPABX, multiplexers (for data and voice transport), modems, routers and RISC/ CISC servers, headsets, desktops, E1/T1 circuits for the connectivity, IVR, CTI and ACD (Automatic Call Distributor) are needed.

Detailing further on the kind of investment, said Vashishta: "One would be surely looking at around $10,000 per agent for setting up the centre which includes all the trappings. The cost of maintenance of a seat will be in the range of $4000-$5000 per year. Usually most of the operators costs wil be two-thirds of their billings. As highlighted, one should deliver consistent value and should not be a generalist but should have precise vertical focus. In terms of getting a client signed on, the essential is to have a core team who has gone through the learning process in a call centre and the essential team of HR, Finance, Trainers, and Operations in place."

Commenting on the returns from this business, he said, if the business is managed efficiently, the entrepreneur can look at breaking even in around two and half years.