VoIP enables outsourcer to cut costs


15 Mar 2005

Stream, a Texas-based IT outsourcing company currently opening a new facility in Dublin, has said the move was made possible by its expertise in controlling costs by using voice over internet protocol (VoIP).

Stream, which provides offshore outsourcing based on a fully integrated voice and data system, first set up operations in Dublin in 1994 and provides technical support, customer assistance and sales activities.

The site currently provides multilingual support for several of the world’s largest software vendors. The centre is capable of supporting several languages including English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish, as well as eastern European and Asian languages. The new location will operate as an extension and satellite to Stream’s current facilities in Derry and Mumbai in India.

“We have total flexibility in our placement of customer service agents so our clients don’t incur extra cost or notice a difference in quality of service if support is moved to another site,” said Jeff Jennings, chief information officer of Stream. “As we move forward with IP technology, voice becomes just another data source, enabling us to intermix service channels such as voice, email and chat,” said Jennings.

Stream’s offshore methodology, known as Smart Shore, is based on a fully integrated voice and data information system.

“Clients are increasingly demanding in terms of their technical support requirements,” said Toni Portmann, president and CEO of Stream. “In addition to quality and location, service costs represent another key concern. By combining the skills of our Derry and Dublin centres with the capabilities of the Stream Mumbai-based site into a single virtual site using VoIP technology, we can meet all these criteria,” she explained.

By John Kennedy