America Online Member Services India, the customer
support subsidiary AOL, is to increase staffing from 1,500 to 1,900
by the end of this year.
The Bangalore-based subsidiary is also diversifying into
technology development and content creation for AOL.
AOL set up customer support operations in India in July last
year with 200 staff, to offer telephony-based support to AOL's 35
million subscribers worldwide.
The centre handled about 10 million customer calls over the past
12 months, according to Maneesh Dhir, vice president and country
head of AOL's India operations. "We expect to handle about three to
four million calls a quarter once our ramp up to 1,900 people is
complete," Dhir added.
AOL India offers support in various customer-related processes
including technical support to AOL's narrowband and broadband
customers.
AOL has eight support sites worldwide, of which six are in the US
An AOL site at Manila, which is the only other customer support
site outside the US, employs 1,000 staff, and offers chat and
e-mail based support.
"We may also look at e-mail and chat-based support as that
transition is easier than getting into voice-based support which
requires you to set up a very complex infrastructure," said
Dhir.
AOL India is also working with other AOL groups on development of
technologies to fight spam, and also to make internet use safe for
children and young adults.
Although the key line of operation will continue to be customer
support, one of the other goals of AOL India is to broaden its
portfolio to encompass other AOL businesses.
AOL India will also work on content development and content
management.
John Ribeiro writes for IDG News Service