(Seychelles News Agency) - Businesses and government offices in Seychelles can now improve communication and service delivery through a newly opened call centre.

The ‘Connect Call Centre Solutions’ -- the first in Seychelles -- was officially opened last Thursday in a brief ceremony at the company’s offices located next to the Financial Services Agency (FSA) on the Bois de Rose Avenue.

Maria Stevens, the owner and director, said the centre has been set up “to help support companies in regards to their delivery service. As we all know, at this present moment, there are a lot of issues in regards to customer service.”

A call centre is an office equipped to handle a large volume of calls for an organisation. It is a primary means of communication between a business and its customers.

Connect Call Centre Solutions will provide a 24-hour service with three work shift slots – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; and 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. The agents attending to calls will be trained accordingly based on the specificities of the company that signs in for the service.

The centre will also offer extra services such as handling bulk emails, bulk SMS, data entry, telemarketing, social media marketing, e-commerce, conference calls and other office work.

Stevens said that the centre will allow companies “to focus on the core of their business because sometimes companies focus on the mundane things that can be outsourced.  I have noticed in Seychelles, people do not like to outsource. What they do is that when somebody is off or on annual leave, the job does not get done.”

The initiative has been done in partnership with local telecommunication company Kokonet and the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

The call centre will provide a 24-hour service. (Jude Morel) Photo License: CC-BY

The SCCI’s secretary general, Louana Pillay, said that members of the chamber are happy the call centre is up and running as it will facilitate their communication and will help offer a better service to customers.

The centre was officially launched by the Seychelles’ Vice President who is responsible for the Department of Information.

Meriton said the centre is a new concept which attends to the current needs of businesses and which embraces the use of technology while fostering good business partnership.

Stevens said that companies that will use the service do not need to change their telephone numbers as calls will simply be diverted to Connect where its agents will respond to the call as representative of that company.

SCCI and Space 95, the sister company of Kokonet, are the centre’s first customers.

Connect Call Centre is still undergoing call acceptance testing with Space 95 acting as the soft launch company. This is expected to be completed in two weeks.

“We are digitally growing and we already have new ideas and opportunities we want to present once we have settled,” said Stevens.

She added that Connect Call will also be working with some government agencies and some have already shown interest in subscribing to the service.

The centre currently employs five staff but expects to expand as more contract comes in and will provide employment opportunities for people on a part-time basis and for students as well.