Siliguri, Nov. 19: Xplore-Tech Services Private Ltd will open a 500-seat call centre, their second and the largest unit in Siliguri, next year. The Calcutta-based company had opened a 120-seat centre here last year — the first in north Bengal.
“Given the increase in our scale of operation, we have decided to open another unit in a new building,” said Pankaj Dhanuka, a director of the company. The second centre, which requires a plot of about one-acre is expected to come up in the next five to seven months.
At present, the company runs three centres. The other two are located in Calcutta, where around 600 employees deal with clientele from the US, UK, Australia and Canada.
“Last month, we had acquired Help Desk NOW (HDN), a business process outsourcing (BPO) company of Canada, with headquarters in Greensboro in North Carolina,” Dhanuka said. “This is the first time that a Calcutta-based BPO, not counted among the major players, has taken over an overseas firm.”
HDN has more than 500 employees on its payroll, with centres located at Guatemala in Latin America and in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick in Canada. The company deals in outsourced processes in health, finance, insurance, logistic and IT sectors.
“Post acquisition, the HDN processes will be taken up from the existing overseas centres,” the director said.
Dhanuka, who was here last week to meet officials of Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority to discuss land for the new building, claimed that the agency has offered them a plot at Paribahan Nagar in Matigara.
The company has planned to recruit unemployed English-speaking youths of north Bengal, especially from the hills and Siliguri. “A fresh recruitment drive will start soon to recruit local youths as we had done earlier. We are planning to increase operation at the existing centre where a single shift is being run now,” said Subharthi Roy, the administrative head of the company.
Dhanuka thinks youths need to develop their outlook on the BPO industry. “Though good in English communication, some of them lack the competitive spirit. They ought to be compatible working on night shifts.”
