24/7 Customer sets up delivery centre

24/7 Customer, an outsourced contact centre and BPO services provider, has set up a new delivery centre in Chennai to offer life and motor insurance services to Aviva's customers in UK and Canada.

The company has announced that it would hire 2000 professionals over the next 18-24 months for the new centre. It has already hired 200 professionals.

The expansion of the company in Chennai comes in the wake of some acquisitions made recently by Aviva, world's fifth largest insurance company, and the subsequent restructuring with a view to carry out some offshoring operations in Chennai.

The alliance between the two companies started in April 2003 with the setting up of a separate subsidiary by 24/7 Customer in UK. 24/7 Customer has already set up a 1700 seat facility in Bangalore to serve Aviva's customers in UK and Canada.

P V Kannan, co-founder and CEO, 24/7 Customer, told at a press conference that Aviva's growth needs were fuelling the company's growth in India.

The Chennai facility, spread over 200,000 sq ft, will have a seating capacity for 1800 people. The company has entered into a build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) agreement with Aviva for a period of five years, on a renewable basis, for the new facility. It is 24/7 Customer's second facility in Chennai.

"Our focus is on integrated customer life cycle management services and our delivery centres would focus on optimising outflow of claims for our clients," S Nagarajan, co-founder and COO, 24/7 Customer, said.

At present, services to Aviva contribute about 25 per cent to the topline. In the future, this contribution is expected to be in the range 22-25 per cent.

24/7 Customer has seven facilities across three cities in India "� in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, with a total seating capacity of 7500. The company employs about 6500, including 2500 professionals added during last year. It has so far spent about $35-$40 million in building infrastructure in all the centres.

For 2006-07, the company would focus on financial services and telecom verticals. It is serving about 20 clients.

This Bangalore-based company has recently launched its business continuity centre in Manila, Phillippines. This centre is expected to hire 500-1000 professionals this year.