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vCustomer, the US-based BPO company with processing centres in India, is set to achieve one of the most rapid ramp-ups in the sector with plans to double its headcount to 6,000 in the course of a single year (by end-2004). Simultaneously, it is scouting for an acquisition in the US.

The company, promoted in 1999 by CEO Sanjay Kumar, formerly of Microsoft and now based in Seattle, is set to match this growth in headcount with revenue growth.

It is aiming to double its revenue for two successive years to reach $ 33 million in the current financial year (ending March 2004) and $ 65 million in the next year.

Sixty-five per cent of vCustomer work comprises providing technical help desk support and the rest is made up of customer support for retail chains and running loyalty programmes for airlines. Through the proposed acquisition the company wishes to acquire back office and transaction processing work and domain knowledge in the business.

VCustomer, which has thus far received $19 million in funding, mostly from Waburg Pincus and WestRiver Capital, has been profitable since 2001 and is cash rich.

It will not go in for an IPO for the acquisition as promoters, who own more than 50 per cent of the stock, are not under pressure from VCs to dilute. The acquisition will be made through internal resources.

Sujit Baksi, who joined as president last October by moving over from HCL BPO where he was CEO, attributes the rapid expansion plan to the ramping up plans of existing customers, acquisition of two new large customers and negotiations at an advanced stage for several new contracts.

Baksi attributes the growth to both the satisfaction level of existing customers and the processes in place to maintain quality standards even during rapid ramp-up.

"We have invested heavily in quality, with one quality supervisor per 16 agents compared with the industry average of 35," he explains. For one of its most important customers, a Fortune 100 computer and peripherals player, vCustomer has scored higher than the clients own contact centres in customer satisfaction.

vCustomer is able to maintain good margins because of the support received from its tech subsidiary vCLabs, which develops and deploys products and solutions for BPO operations.

By becoming one of the earliest users of voice over IP, vCustomer has been able to cut technology costs. Extensive use of process automation, enabled through in-house technology support, has also cut costs. VCLabs is also set to ramp up its staffing from 40 to 100.