PT Infomedia Nusantara, a telephone directory publishing company, plans to invest Rp 125 billion (US$13.7 million) next year, with 80 percent of the money going on the development of the firm's contact-center business.
"The growth of our core business, Yellowpages, only amounted to 8 percent in 2006. Therefore, next year we will focus on our contact-center business.
"We expect that this business will contribute up to 50 percent of our revenue," said M. Gatut Awantoro, Infomedia's president director, during a media gathering Thursday.
Infomedia booked between 15 and 20 percent revenue growth this year compared to last year, and is projecting the same growth level for 2007.
The company, which has three business divisions -- directory publishing, contact center and content services -- currently earns 55 percent of its revenue from the telephone directory business.
The contact-center business, which was set up by the company in 1999, is a more advanced version of a call-center business, and employs telephone, fax, SMS and Internet contact. At present, Infomedia provides contact-center services to corporate clients such as Telkom, Telkomsel, Garuda, McDonalds and Bank Niaga.
It is currently the leading player in the Indonesian contact-center industry, controlling about 60 percent of the domestic market, Gatut said.
Infomedia is a subsidiary of PT Telkom, which owns 51 percent of its stock. The other 49 percent stake is held by PT Elnusa Yellowpages.
The company deploys 7,500 outsourced operators daily and 600 permanent employees at its offices throughout the country.
"The contact-center business is still in its infancy in Indonesia, and growth has been slow compared to India due to the relatively high cost of telecommunications access and unfavorable manpower regulations in this country," he said. (07)
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