Are you embarking on the bumpy road of cost-cutting? If so, we’d love to hear about your experiences. We know that contact centres are cost-effective by nature, but the current economic environment is adding pressure for centres to reduce or better manage costs in an attempt to create better operational efficiencies. Industry experts advise introducing greater efficiency drives, more automation, reengineering business processes and undertaking better workforce planning initiatives. Yet there is a fine balance to strike. What’s your view?

Benchmarking performance is vital for all areas of business management which is why the ACCS, now in its 8th year, is regarded by industry leaders as a ‘must-have’ reference tool for contact centres. If you have participated in an ACCS survey, how did it benefit your business?

With supply-side resourcing constraints impacting on all aspects of the industry (source: ACCS Annual Report 2008), how is your centre best managing the under-resourcing challenge?

The contact centre industry is expected to retain its core position to business operations during the current economic downturn, according to the ACCS Annual Report 2009 which was released this month by contact centre specialists Vivaz, with a significant proportion of businesses (37%) still anticipating business growth over the next 12 months. Contribute your thoughts on how your centre is weathering the current economic storm and what is your outlook for the year.

Centres are expecting self-help web-based communication to emerge as a dominant theme in the industry over the next five years, as a means of refining multiple delivery channels and better meeting customer needs (source: ACCS Quarterly Snapshot Q1-08). What are your predictions for this growing communications channel?

While Australia's contact centres remainded largely unaffected from the US economic slump in 2007, Frost & Sullivan believes that if the financial crisis continues, demand for contact centre applications across Asia-Pacific will dive in late 2008 and 2009? Is this view in line with your expectations and predictions?

According to the ACCS Quarterly Snapshot Q2-08 report, attrition rates are on the upswing, having been steady at around 40% over the past two years, to reach their highest level since 2002. How is your centre combatting this challenge?

The slowdown of the contact centre industry has taken hold, with benchmark indicators in the latest ACCS survey showing curtailed growth for the sector during the July to September quarter, ahead of October’s economic meltdown. The report also shows the under-resourcing has eased for many centres; a situation which helped improve service level achievement ratings for the industry. Share your views and thoughts.

Given that the contact centre industry is one of the country's fastest growing businesses, is Australia maintaining its position at the vanguard of this dynamic sector by investing enough in training? Are agents, team leaders and managers gaining the right access to quality industry-accredited training programs?