Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

www.elsevier.com/locate/futures

The use of Call Centres by local public

administrations
*
T. Kinder
TechMaPP, Department of Business Studies, University of Edinburgh, William Robertson Building, 50
George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JY, Scotland, UK

Abstract

European local public administrations (PA) are rapidly adopting information and communi-
cations technologies often with a view to offering e-commerce. Call Centres (CCs) feature
prominently in the technology mix used by private sector e-commerce, but as a survey in this
paper shows, CCs are less often used in public sector. This paper analyses the differences
between private and public sector commerce and their implications for public sector e-com-
merce and its prospective use of CCs over the next ten years. It outlines the evolution of CC
technologies and argues that current developments make the technology increasingly appropri-
ate for the public sector. A model of e-commerce featuring connectivity, interactivity and
agility is developed in the paper. From this it is concluded that many of the advantages from
the use of CCs by PAs, are in system integration and process re-engineering — attributes
positioned in terms of bridging technology and acting as a learning organisation. From this
perspective, the paper concludes that CCs are likely to increasingly feature in the information
and communications technology-mix for e-commerce delivery of PAs over the next ten years.
 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

At a recent Telecities conference of public administration (PA) e-commerce inno-

vators, one delegate expressed surprise that Call Centres (CCs) should feature in a

* Tel.: +44-131-650-1000; fax: +44-131-668-3053.

E-mail address: t.kinder@ed.ac.uk (T. Kinder).

0016-3287/01/$ - see front matter  2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 1 6 - 3 2 8 7 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 2 2 - 2
838 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

presentation on e-commerce.1 Her view equated e-commerce with Internet-based

digital exchanges characterised by an absence of human intervention. This paper
positions CCs at the core of the mix of technologies PAs can use to innovate e-com-
merce.
Electronic commerce is characterised by an absence of physical proximity between
the buyer and seller in conducting the search, assessment and transaction stages of
a transaction, irrespective of physical location. It is now commonplace to use tel-
ephony to book cinema tickets or personal banking or via free-phone numbers to
order and pay for products. CCs feature prominently in the offering of many success-
ful businesses to consumer (B2C) Internet traders. Indeed, out-bound CCs
(telemarketing) and in-bound CCs (enquires, help desks) are a pervasive and integral
feature in the technology mix constituting private sector B2C e-commerce offers.
Whichever way one looks at CCs, the growth and importance of the technology
is impressive. The worldwide CC market gathered 23 billion Euro revenues in 1998
and is projected to top 60 billion Euro in 2003. About 75% of the CC revenue result
from outsourcing, which already employ (as Fig. 1 shows) over half a million Euro-
pean and are projected to employ one in fifty of the working population by 2002.2
Already 3% of the US working population (1.55 million) are employed in 70,000
centres, serving the 80% of US companies that use CC facilities. The compound
worldwide growth rate for CC employment is 114%, 82% of these jobs are in in-
bound centres. The worldwide market for CC software already exceeds three
billion Euro.
From the viewpoint of CC use, companies fall into four categories, shown in Fig.
1. Category 1 may be business to business (B2B) companies with low volume high
cost products, or alternatively slow adapters of e-commerce. Category 2 companies
may have an entirely digital operation. However, many e-commerce SMEs, parti-
cularly in business to consumer (B2C) operation soon learn the necessity of using
CC facilities. Category 3 companies may have used a CC (for example for
telemarketing) before adopting Internet-based e-commerce. Examples of this include
Skye TVs 6000-agent CC in West Lothian, Dixon’s 1200 agent positions in Sheffield
and the Banks. Category 4 companies may be e-commerce in origin who have

Fig. 1. Companies categorised by their use of CCs.

1
Some 105 European cities and towns co-operate within Telecities to identify the European dimension
of the local Information Society Technologies developments. Their contact point is c.nielsen@eurocities.be.
2
See http://www.callcentre.co.uk see also CEC [1] and CEC [2].
 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860 839

adopted CCs as their business has grown in complexity. In China CCs are an
important way of introducing into the economy, sectors previously retarded such as
tourism, personal services, medical care and procurement.
Some US figures suggest that 80% of B2C companies now use CCs. Most of the
successful e-commerce companies find that CCs are a central part of their tech-
nology-mix.

앫 General Electric (GE) is an example of the above category 3. It has 298,000

employees and turnover of $58.4 billion from products ranging from white goods,
airlines to burgers. The company established it first combined out-bound
(telemarketing) and in-bound (customer enquiries) in 1981. GE’s CC uses and
supports an order-ship-bill system, EDI and credit payments processing 750 orders
per day. Their out-bound facility generates $4 million per year from 500 calls per
week. GE’s CC help reduce inventory costs by integrating sales with production
giving the company the competitive advantage of remote sales access. GE pion-
eered telemarketing and many telesales techniques (see http://www.callcentres.
au/gecase.htm).
앫 In 1993, Microsoft received 40,000 electronic or interactive voice response (IVR)
enquiries and 20,000 telephone enquiries per day. In total one telephone call was
received per three units of product sold, lasted an average of twelve minutes and
in 80% of cases were answered within one minute. Microsoft analyse these call
in order to identify potential areas for product improvement, (see Cusamano and
Selby [3])
앫 Amazon.com, a category 4 (above) company have four CCs each housing 600
agents (the term used in the industry denoting CC operators).
앫 An alternative example is the music sales company cdnow. As cdnow grew, the
company began taking orders over the telephone. Even with a charge of one dollar
per call and per item ordered this proved too costly and the telephone service
discontinued. However, some customers still prefer to call with their credit card
number rather than including it on their web-site order, see Olim [4].

Customers do not universally welcome CCs. Argent and Rolley [5] illustrate this
in their examination of branch bank withdrawals in New South Wales and their
replacement by CCs. Nevertheless, CCs have apparent advantages in private sector
e-commerce. Paper based transactions for consumer sales may cost between 25 and
10 Euro, CC transactions 2–5 Euro, and Internet transactions 0.25–0.50 Euro. At the
median, paper transactions are five times the cost of CC transactions.3 Since from
the consumer perspective the main technology used is ubiquitous — the telephone —
CCs face none of the criticisms of the Internet that usage exacerbates social
exclusion. A final advantage of CCs is that they are labour intensive. On average
34.5% of costs are equipment and telecommunications charges, 7.5% property and
58% on staffing. In the main these staff work flexible hours thus contributing to

3
See Betts et al. [6] and Dawson [7].
840 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

women’s labour market participation rates, in the main in small centres (59% of CCs
employ under 50 call agents, only 4% of centres employ over 500 agents). Fig. 2
indicates the rapid growth of CCs in Europe.
In summary, as Huws [8] makes clear, CCs are a proven and successful infor-
mation and communications technology (ICT), with a remarkable record of growth
and success in reducing costs whilst generating employment and are widely
employed in the expanding arena of private sector e-commerce. Yet, this paper
reports on new research showing that only half of European PAs innovating e-com-
merce use CCs. More remarkably, this survey was conducted amongst those Euro-
pean PAs at the vanguard of introducing the Information Society. How can this
conundrum of high rate of adoption of CC technology by the private sector and low
adoption in the public sector be explained? In addition, can it be anticipated that the
introduction of CCs will feature more prominently in the technological mix selected
by PA policy makers as they drive forward towards the Information Society over
the next ten years?
This paper begins to answer these questions. It argues that the reasons for the
disparity in CC adoption rates between PAs and the private sector are differences
in goals and the evolution of the technology to a form appropriate for PAs. Existing
CC technology helps to successfully launch new products and expand market share.
Only latterly have CC technologies and staffing practices migrated to accommodate
the more complex goals of PAs.4 The paper demonstrates the technological potential

Fig. 2. The growth of CCs and employment in Europe (based upon ‘UK Call Centres’, survey in Finan-
cial Times, 9 Friday June 2000 the figures in which exclude Ireland).

4
See Crome [9] and Taylor and Bain [10] who argue that staffing practices in call centres may be
 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860 841

of CCs migrating towards a model suiting PAs purposes. The paper further argues
that as the pace of joined-up-government and PA e-commerce intensifies, CC adop-
tion will increase amongst PAs as part of a mixture of ICTs.
The paper is structured as follows. It begins by outlining the differences between
private and public sector commerce and e-commerce, an understanding of which is
crucial to explaining their different technology-mixes as they innovate e-commerce.
Section 3 then presents a survey of 28 European PAs each of which are innovating
e-commerce showing that only half currently use CCs. Section 4 charts the evolution
of CCs and CC technology. Rather than a chronological survey, the picture presented
is one of CCs evolving towards models of increasing relevance to PAs. Section 5
of the paper returns to analysing the conundrum of differential adoption rates of
CC technology by PAs. A final section examines public policy issues and identifies
further research.

2. Public and private commerce and e-commerce

This section contrasts the environment for commerce and e-commerce facing PAs
and private firms and summarised in Fig. 3, which highlights two significant differ-
ences between private and public commercial activities. Firstly, commercial activities
for PAs are more constrained. Their products, customer, market sectors and physical
market space are constrained by regulation. Secondly, the purpose of PAs is primarily
to allocate services funded from taxation rather than charges (sales), whilst firms
generate income from sales: PAs are primarily redistributive whilst firms are income
generative. Thus increasing sales (via new products, new markets and market share)
is fundamentally more important to firms than PAs.
From a user perspective (customer, client, consumer in B2C or PA2C) Kinder
[13] decomposes commercial exchange into moments of search, assessment and
transaction.

앫 Search is the prospecting for options by information gathering. e-Commerce offers

wide scoped search than alternatives, often deeper and more through, at less
expense and time and with a higher order or segmentation. For users of PA ser-
vices, often a spatially confined community with no choice of which PA to use,
e-commerce mitigates some of these search advantages of e-commerce.
앫 Assessment is the evaluation of options and their consequences including after-
care and cost. e-Commerce reduces the cost and time of assessment and enriches
it with interaction a cumulated stores of answers to customer questions. For PAs,
unlike firms, information assessment has the potentially added merit of supporting
tele-democracy.
앫 Transaction is the mutual exchange of values (buying, bid or barter), that con-

radically changing, and for a criticism of human relations in call centres see Feldberg and Glenn [11]
and Gillespie et al. [12].
842 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

Fig. 3. Significant differences between local PAs and private companies affecting their commercial
activities.
 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860 843

cludes a change of ownership and any commitment to after-care. This is often a

credit-card payment or invoice, which compared to its physical equivalent, is fas-
ter, has lower transaction costs, may be less subject to error and can occur irres-
pective of distance.

PAs thus differ from firms in the purpose for which they adopt e-commerce. Firms
aim to expend turnover and reduce transaction costs whereas PAs are concerned
with reducing transaction costs and in addition supporting tele-democracy. Since the
proportion of PA income generated by sales is lower, the added value from tele-
democracy or savings resulting from functional integration with existing processes
and systems are important in calculating the cost-benefit of e-commerce by PAs.
Fundamentally, most increases in customer turnover typically add to a private firm’s
profitability. In most instances, increased customer turnover simply adds to the costs
facing PAs. Unsurprisingly, therefore, only exceptionally have PAs extensively used
CCs, which in their early models were primarily a technology targeted towards telem-
arketing and increasing customer turnover. As we shall see, CC technology has
evolved and is increasingly capable of fulfilling a wider role within e-commerce.
This is not to say that CCs have been unimportant to PAs. For example, the
Brisbane City Council CC (BCC), established in 1996, has received that accolade
of the best CC in the world.5 BCC operates on a 24/365 basis, and handles 1,320,000
calls per year (90% answered within 20 s and 90% resolved at first point of system
entry, without the use of IVR. Brisbane’s CC is in-house and has 140 agents with
the remarkable annual staff turnover of 0.7%. BCC is integrated with all Council
service departments, which share its cost. Mayor Jim Soorley of Brisbane, refused
to use external consultants in setting up the centre which is estimated to annually
save the Council between eight and eleven million Euro (A$5–7 million); a figure
not including the savings from dealing with complaints.
Often PAs have simply used CCs as help-desks or information points. The major
innovative use of CCs by PAs is in free (at the point of use) telemedicine services.
In Britain the CC/web-based NHS-direct now covers 30 million people.6 It offers
qualified telephone medical advice and runs preventative and informative health cam-
paigns. In the US one third of all medical services are currently accessed digitally.
Savings may result from lower acute admission rates, (Perros and Frier [14] argue,7
lower rates of bed occupancy and higher rates of service take-up (Kinder et al. [15]

5
See http://callcentres.com.au/bbccall0.htm#Rating%20the%BBC%20cc.
6
See National Health Service (NHS-direct) at www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk.
7
Open access to specialist advice on diabetes offered by the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary resulted in
45 calls per week, 48% of which were out of hours. The doctor spent 8.6 h per week answering calls,
the results of which was to save four acute admission per week.
844 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

and Kinder [16]),8 improved demand management (Levine and Birnbaum [17]),9
time saved in communicating test results (Blankenship [18])10 and improved after-
care resulting in lower re-call rates (Robinson, Conroy and Wickemeyer [19]).11
CCs then are widely used in private sector e-commerce where they easily align
with telesales. In the public sector, CCs have had a more limited diffusion.

3. The use of CCs by PAs

At the 2000 Vienna conference of the European Telecities network, a questionnaire

on the use of CCs by cities was circulated. Results from the 28 completed question-
naire results are presented in Fig. 4.
The cities represented in the TeleCities network pride themselves upon being inno-
vating of Information Society technologies — this was not a random sample. Each
of these cities are implementing strategies designed to innovate e-commerce. The
non-adopters of CCs are not laggards at innovating ICTs: rather they have chosen
a mix of ICT-technologies which at the current stage of development does not feature
CC technology. By way of example, and to reinforce this point, consider the cases
of Stockholm12 and Manchester,13 (see Fig. 5) neither of whom operate CCs, yet
both cities use Internet portals to encourage e-commerce.
In many of these cities or city-regions private sector employment in CCs is sig-
nificant. For example, the sector employs 10,000 people in Liverpool, a similar num-
ber in West Lothian and double this number in Leeuwarden and Ghent. The survey
reveals that:

앫 Half of these cities currently use CCs (fourteen out of twenty-eight).

앫 Of the 14 non-adopters, four are currently studying the use of CCs, and two have
firm plans to start using them.
앫 Each of the fourteen PA CCs are in-bound only, though Vienna, West Lothian
and Hammersmith and Fulham (in housing benefits) have firm plans to extend to
out-bound use.
앫 Only three of the 14 adopters have used a private–public partnership to deliver

8
This study found that a simple telephony-based (peri-natal) telemedicine service improved access
and increased service quality whilst lowering overall health care costs.
9
Increasingly active and informed patients pose issues of demand management and information trans-
fer in health care services. The old gate-keeper model of managing service supply is less effective with
informed patients. Demand-side management takes on the more problematic task of encouraging appropri-
ate behaviour, often by offering CC information transfer services and requires skilled and informed agents.
10
Low risk medical test results left on messaging service. 80% of patients accessed results and 78%
who did so were satisfied with the system saving both patient and doctor time.
11
There is a 25–30% reduction in coronary and cerebrovascular events by taking lipid-lowering medi-
cation, a CC managed by dieticians, followed-up hospital patients to review test results and receive patient
information on behaviour. The pilot resulted in a halving of patients at risk.
12
See www.sito.se www.chamber.se and www.sht.se.
13
See www.manchester.gov.uk.
 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860 845

Fig. 4. Summary of the survey of 23 European PAs (SS denotes social services and JUG is an abbrevi-
ation of joined-up-government meaning shared use of CC with other PAs) (Birmingham here indicates
a consortium of Coventry, Solihull, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton with a 2.2 million population.
West Lothian Council is not a member of TeleCities but is a case known to the author).

Fig. 5. Two examples of cities not adopting CCs showing their innovativeness of e-commerce using
alternative technology mixes.
846 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

their CC (West Lothian, Siena and Rome), with Birmingham planning to do so

in the next phase.
앫 Only three of the 14 (Vienna, Barcelona and Birmingham) use a virtual CC model,
the other 10 have one or more central locations, (Vienna plan to migrate to vir-
tual centres).
앫 Four of the 14 adopters have out-sourced part of their CC activity, no PA has
outsourced its entire CC. Barcelona 20%, Helsinki and Rome part and Siena the
parts dealing with e-commerce (three other PAs plan or are studying outsourc-
ing — Hull, Birmingham and Munich).
앫 In Birmingham, Bologna, Leeds and West Lothian the CCs are planned to be
joint other PAs using a joined-up-government model.
앫 Five of the six UK PAs responding already run CCs.
앫 By Member state five of the seven UK PAs run CCs, two of the three Spanish
cities, three of the three Italian cities, one of the two Danish, one of the four
German and neither of the two Swedish. Since this was not a scientific sample
little can be deduced from this distribution. It may be that the UK government’s
target of 25% of PA transaction via e-commerce by 2002 stimulated adoption.14
Taking population of PA area as a measure of size, the non-adopters average size
is 599,598 which is smaller than the adopter’s average size of 696,504. Four
adopters are below 300,000 in size (Hull, Næstved, West Lothian and Siena).
There is a normal distribution between adopters and non-adopters in relation to
size.

A detailed analysis is given in Kinder [23] of the importance of CCs in local PA

modernisation and joined-up-government in West Lothian. At the TeleCities confer-
ence, some delegates expressed the view that CC work was viewed as being of low
status and that PAs would find difficulty recruiting staff. In addition, delegates from
non-adopting PAs argued that CC technology is ‘on its way out’ and adds little
to the e-commerce offering of PAs. The next section of this paper addresses this
latter argument.

4. The evolution and use of CC technology

This section, in five parts, examines the evolution of CC technology, showing in

each case the public services it is potentially capable of supporting. It begins by
outlining a general model of how computers, communications and learning organis-
ations interrelate.

14
See Cabinet Office [20]. British Government targets for transactions via e-commerce also include a
target of 50% by 2005 and 100% capability by 2008. The Government has a ‘spend to save’ programme
enabling PAs to borrow provided the money is invested in ICT which will repay the investment, see Dti
[21] and Correll [22].
 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860 847

4.1. Connectivity, interactivity and agility dimensions of CCs

Like e-commerce in general, CCs as an instrument in e-commerce have three

analytical dimensions — interactivity, connectivity and agility (see Kinder et al.
[24]).

앫 Interactivity refers to three sets of relationships. Firstly, between the virtual and
the physical aspects of e-commerce — the ‘click’ and the ‘brick,’ and secondly
interactivity between previously fragmented tasks and the prospect of their inte-
gration and de-fragmentation. Thirdly, interactivity is the richness and depth of
relations between B2C or PA to customer, client or consumer (PA2C). Typically,
this may begin with flows of information (search). In a richer format interactivity
may compare offers or qualities (assessment), and at a richer still level result in
an exchange of values completing a transaction. Interactivity is purposive and not
an end to itself.
앫 Connectivity has both technical and social characteristics. For example, the ease
and cost of connectivity is greater using the Internet than the telephone. It may
be easier with a remote option (mobile telephone) than a fixed landline. Purposive
connectivity between organisations (PA2B, B2B, PA2PA) with consumers (B2C,
PA2C) and between consumers (C2C) entails at least the potential of jointly acting
to mutual advantage — it too is purposive.
앫 Agility is a term borrowed from learning organisation theory (see Nagel and Dove
[25]), meaning an organisation with the absorptive capacity to learn from its
environment, and to incorporate new knowledge into its ways of working and
structures (double-loop learning). Agility (agilmente) is the ability to put knowl-
edge into action.

Fig. 6 represents these three dimensions of e-commerce in a three dimensional

quadrant. Degrees of high and low interactivity and connectivity correlate with
degrees of agility. Unlike many models which suggest simplistic typologies and pre-
determined actions to achieve each, Fig. 6 shows the variants of high/low interactiv-
ity and high/low connectivity crossing over quadrant boundaries. There are two
reasons for this. Firstly, such is the pace of market, organisational and technological
change in e-commerce it would be wrong to suggest anything but the most dynamic
model: re-configuration and change are part of the life experience of successful e-
commerce companies. Secondly, there is no ‘stable equilibrium’ here. Even with a
particular time-frame, poor interactivity and connectivity (for example) may be over-
come where agility (for example) is exceptionally good.
Successful e-commerce continually realigns its ensemble of technological and
social capabilities and competences. Fig. 6 is not a periodisation or set of historical
phases of CC development. Rather this classification of CCs, which will be used in
this paper, illustrates the development of the technology and its associated uses,
system integration and alignment with other technologies.
848 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

Fig. 6. Connectivity, interactivity and agility in e-commerce models.

4.2. The non-networked CC technology

Early models of CCs were characterised relative to today’s state of the art, by
low connectivity, interactivity and agility (see Anton [26]). The first CCs were set
up by the telephone companies to handle operator placed calls. In 1968 a US Federal
Judge, ordered Ford to establish a free telephone line to handle calls relating to a
defective vehicle. By 1972, Rockwell had developed an Automatic Call Distribution
(ACD) device that they targeted on the US airline industry. From the early 1980s,
CCs began to diffuse. In 1981, GE established its network of help desks, and in
1984 AT&T launched its outbound telemarketing campaign contacting 16 million
households from an 800-agent CC. Fig. 7 illustrates the early CC model. In the view
of some analysts, CCs introduced the Taylorisation of spoken word jobs, as typing
pools had into the written word (Belt et al. [27], review this literature).
Both out-bound centres (such as AT&T) and in-bound (the Ford example) were
sales-related, the content offered being limited by two factors. Connectivity in early
CC models was analog based. This meant that information could only be transferred
by voice — a limited factor. Early scripting and manuals were hard copy, making
manuals expensive to codify and slow to consult, thus reducing interactivity. Main-
frame databases were non-interactive for agents and based around an architecture
suiting programmers, rather than the life-events of callers or usability for agents.
Agility was limited by workflow and staffing arrangements that were rule rather than
role based, the emphasis being upon lower centre costs achieved by hierarchic super-
vision. As such centres began to use PCs, automated monitoring de-layered much
 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860 849

Fig. 7. Early Call Centre model.

of the supervision, often intensifying work-effort expected from agents. These early
centres, as Fig. 7 shows, were separated from other processes and systems and were
mainly run for tele-marketing or as help-desks.

4.3. Computer-telephony integrated CCs

Over the last ten years a new model of CCs has emerged featuring heightened
connectivity and interactivity, though often with low agility. This model is supported
and enabled by the alignment and networked nature of ICTs. CCs have become
an important business instrument in expanding industries: travel, financial services,
insurance software and hardware. The six technological developments outlined below
have reshaped CC technology and improved connectivity and interactivity.

앫 Computer-communications ‘middleware’ which integrates servers, PCs and tele-

phones via telephony servers (T-servers) translating between two previously non-
interoperable devices (telephone and computer).15
앫 Bandwidth supporting such as Bosch’s ISDN switch (1986) which significantly
lowers the cost of attaching CC devices, supports digital switching, tone dialling
and shared media (duplex) transmissions.
앫 Flexible databases releases from the fixity of mainframe architecture facilitates
easy data homogeneity, acquisition, dynamic exchange, warehousing, mining,
analysis, integration, mining, modelling and use in neural networking.

15
See http://apropos.com/prodserv/WP%20Reliabilityword97.html and http://nextel.demon.co.uk/
html/whatiscti.html.
850 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

앫 Automatic call distribution which reduces the need for supervision and automates
statistical process control.16
앫 IVR lowers staffing costs and often features a record of transactions, authorisation
and tagged caller data.
앫 The Internet, intranets and extranets support text and data transmissions and in
future integrated voice–video–data synchronous transmissions in B2C, PA2C,
B2B and PA2B in intelligent networks supporting e-commerce.

Fig. 8 represents this state-of-the-art computer-telphony integrated (CTI) CC

model incorporating these technologies, (though featuring little rich use of the
Internet). The figure shows an in-bound CC; however, by reversing the flows the
same technology (though not same staffing structure and organisation) produces an
out-bound centre. The figure shows a typical centre as using digital transmission
(thicker lines) with the centre, though not for communications outside of the centre.
The scalability of CCs is significantly correlated with the falling cost and improved
versatility of server technology.
In terms of the connectivity, interactivity and agility (CIA) model CTI CCs offer

Fig. 8. The state of the art computer telephony in integrated (CTI) Call Centre model.

16
See Whitt [28]. In large systems (where predictability of fluctuations as proportion of the whole is
greater), under regular conditions, the staffing required will tend towards a Poisson distribution. Thus
extra staffing to account for fluctuations will be c√m (where c is a constant and m the square root of the
mean, typically 1ⱕcⱕ10). In large centres therefore, the problem is predicting the mean, in small centres
the problem is predicting deviation from the constant. See also Jain [29].
 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860 851

impressive functionality. Connectivity is both analog and digital, supporting asyn-

chronous voice, data and still picture transmission (including maps) with callers
enabling CCs to become services rather than merely gateways. Within organisations
CTIs access rich data sources and support multimedia electronic documentation.
They are configurational technology (see Kodama [30] and Fleck [31]). Interactivity
features in the CTIs relation to databases and customer routing to appropriate agents
becoming a demand rather than supply-led service. At the transaction stage, digital
connectivity supports direct payment via credit cards, and scripting which can offer
customers a more complete range of payment and product options. Agility, is however
limited. CTIs over-lay existing structures and business processes rather than stimulate
their re-engineering.
In summary, unlike the non-networked CC, CTI model centres have available
range of technologies networked with a growing IS infrastructure and supporting
flexible and focused staff deployment.

4.4. Service solutions integrated CCs

This section argues that there is an emerging new model for CCs, and that its
defining characteristic is a focus upon providing solutions for customers based upon
closer integration between back and front office functions. This new model is termed
here as a service solutions integrated call centre (SSICC), see Fig. 9. ICT network
technologies are generalising (in parts of Europe) to the point of ubiquity (see Rinde
[32]. The technologies utilised by CC technologies are converging, fusing and gen-

Fig. 9. Dimension of ecommerce and call centres.

852 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

eralising. This section outlines how configurable technologies are making possible
the integration of CCs with organisational systems and process (connectivities) and
enriching possible interactivities with consumers. Then, focusing upon organisational
agility, it highlights the alignments necessary for the potential of these evolving
technologies to be crystallised into an e-commerce delivery of PA services.

4.4.1. Connectivity
Firms and PAs currently rolling out technologies enabling asynchronous text,
voice and data transfer within their organisations anticipate broadband wiring upgrad-
ing these facilities to include synchronous video transfer (web-cam, video-conferenc-
ing and moving pictures). Broadband will support communications between organis-
ations and with customers and support e-commerce using platforms such as kiosks,
videophones, multimedia kiosks, WAP mobile telephones and iTV in multi-channel
synchronous communications. Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and speech to
text technologies are also likely to be important in widening connectivity.

4.4.2. Interactivity
The interactive use of CCs is likely to increase as e-mails and calls are routed to
staff throughout organisations, so-call virtual CCs. An alternative model is the out-
sourcing of CC activities to centres covering types of services (an area, a demo-
graphic group, or a campaign activity).

4.4.3. Agility
Releasing the potential of CC is far more difficult than buying the right technology.
Bridging back and front offices entails four processes (see Kinder and Molina [33]).

앫 Previously heterogeneous databases must be combined or at least access com-

bined. This is often done using open-standard data server body text creating scal-
able compliant databases.
앫 The skill levels of agents must reflect the wider and diverse range of customer
enquiries using highly qualified agents.
앫 Introducing new structures and new ways of working which internalise flat struc-
tures and de-fragmented business processes, in short, becoming a learning organis-
ation.
앫 Mass personalisation of services by PAs will be characterised by agents accessing
(via pop-ups) individual histories and cases and secondly, by PAs offering the
widest range of service choices to each individual. Fig. 10 shows how telephone,
e-mail and web may evoke different opportunities for access and confidence as
a medium for assisted and non-assisted service access. Each of these forms of
access will be available to the citizen via the SSICC.

Fig. 12 gives examples from Barcelona, Birmingham, Leeds and West Lothian of
the organisational agility catalysed by, and supported by CC models evolving
towards the SSICC model.
In each of these cases the Council has integrated databases and information flows
 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860 853

Fig. 10. Emerging SSICC model.

Fig. 11. Showing how communications media offer a variety of advantages and disadvantages for users
in both assisted and self accessed services (based upon www.silknet.com/resource/futureofcs.asp).

using architecture and access which brings information to the customer or point of
customer interface, customising services. Each Council has specially trained existing
and new staff across a range of generic services. Most profoundly, the quotations
in Fig. 11 highlight that advanced CCs, when used by PAs which are learning from
their environment and are prepared to lead the organisational and structural change,
are capable of fundamentally improving local services. The quotations illustrate these
improvements to include a platform for e-commerce, integration of functions and
joining-up of previously fragmented organisations.
In summary, this section pictures the potential next model of SSICCs. In the main
854 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

the technology is little more advanced from that generally in use today (WAP and
VoIP), and centres may migrate towards the virtual model. SSICCs differ from CTI
models mainly in their agility. In short, system and business process integration
crystallises performance levels not achieved in the earlier models of CCs. This is a
demonstration of the ‘productivity paradox’ being overcome — the returns on IT
investment are only realised when it is used to support new ways of working (see
Madden and Savage [34]). It is this emerging model of CCs characterised by greater
agility, which are likely to generalise over the next ten years.

5. Analysis

This section is in three parts, beginning with an overview of CC technologies and

the uses in the three models of CCs outlined above. Section 5.2 positions the evol-
ution of CCs as a bridging technology. This section argues that CCs as a hybrid
transitional bridging technology. Section 5.3 analyses why the adoption of CCs by
PAs has been limited, arguing that the technology now has capabilities making it
increasingly attractive to PAs as they multiply those of their services delivered by
e-commerce. Thus the paper concludes that over the next ten year period CCs will
prominently feature in the architecture of local PA e-commerce.

5.1. The evolution of CCs — an overview

Fig. 12 summarises the evolution of CC technologies and capabilities traced in

this paper.
The figure shows that CCs have evolved from the single medium of voice into
synchronous multi-medium technologies. Enriched interactivity, evolving from the
early, CTI to SSICC models shows a progression towards deeper and more focused
knowledge and information flows, with the CC mediating between product and ser-
vice providers and customers for both out- and in-bound calls. Wider ICT network
connectivity carrying more complex information in a variety of mediums, offer lower
costs, extended range, enhanced usefulness and potentially support functional (and
organisational) integration — agility.

5.2. CCs — a bridging technology

CC technology has the characteristics Kodama [35] ascribes to a fusing technology

and which Fleck [36] associates with configurational technology. Fusion is evident
in the incremental improvements in previously disparate technologies (these charac-
teristics are delineated above, particularly in Section 4.3). CC technologies are con-
figurational, as Fig. 13 has shown, since the particular blends of ICTs constituting
these evolving models of CCs, are contingent upon user requirements.
CCs, for local PAs, are a network technology used by a networking organisation
to relate to networks of customers. Thus, the characteristics of CCs go beyond fusion
and configuration. For PAs, CC pose challenging issues for business processes,
 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860 855

Fig. 12. Quotations from PA leaders illustrating organisational agility supported by SSICCs.

organisational forms and inter-organisational relationships. CCs are unlikely to reach

a design ‘closure’ but to continually change, to use Molina’s term [37–39], as the
sociotechnical processes giving birth to the CC, take advantage of new alignments
resulting from new social and technical opportunities. This unabated technological
change and re-constitution is termed here as a bridging technology.
Bridging technologies has the characteristics of fusion and configuration men-
tioned above. Fundamentally, bridging technologies are network technologies, tar-
geting network users by networking organisations. Each of these dimensions is
dynamic and hold no prospect of equilibrium. Therefore, the bridging technology is
always hybrid and transitional, as Figs. 13 and 14 illustrates. These bridges help
create their own redundancy.
In particular, their progenitor expects that functional integration (arising from busi-
ness process re-engineering) will re(dis)-intermediate functions, organisational struc-
tures and boundaries, and that customers will press for new ways of working and
856 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

Fig. 13. Summary of key characteristics in evolving models of CCs (potential characteristics in the case
of the emerging SSICC model).

Fig. 14. Showing the dimensions of a bridging technologies demonstrated by examples from the evol-
ution of CCs.

new (e-commerce) delivery channels. Since CC technology centrally features the

speed and richness of information and knowledge flows, the technology itself cata-
lyses organisational agility and re-alignment of the sociotechnical constituency con-
stituting CC technology.

5.3. Perspectives and prospects for PA use of CCs

Most successful private sector e-commerce traders utilise CC technology. Section

2 of this paper has illustrated why this technology had a low relevance for local PAs
 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860 857

in before the onset of e-commerce, but an increasing relevance with the generalis-
ation of e-commerce. Yet, Section 3 has shown that only half of the most advanced
(in terms of ICT adoption) PAs in Europe currently use CCs. Why is this the case?
This section suggests three inter-related reasons for this 50% PA adoption rate and
argues that over the next (say ten year period) this rate rapidly increase.

5.3.1. The evolving environment for CC adoption by PAs

The use of out-bound ‘early model’ CCs made little sense for local the PAs, since
they not only added to transaction costs, but also generated increased demands for
services without generating additional income. (CCs where used only for short-term
campaigns such as late tax payment or special offers on under-utilised services).
Whilst some PAs have run help-desk, the early CC model offered few advantages
to PAs in in-bound CCs since interactivity within the organisation and with cus-
tomers was limited, as Fig. 11 illustrates. CTI CCs, supported by greater interactivity
and connectivity, have enabled some PAs to make use of both out-bound and in-
bound CCs. In the main the advantages to PAs are the lower transaction and infor-
mation distribution costs associated with e-commerce and e-services. This then
explains the low propensity of PAs to adopt CCs before (around) 1995. Three
additional factors influenced PAs.

앫 CC start-up costs are significant and in particular the costs of networking heritage
IT systems and databases. Capital-starved PAs are under pressure to improve
facilities directly serving the public (schools, senior citizens’ residences etc) as
opposed to making ICT investment Maude [40]. Since (around) 1995 the use of
PPP by PAs has expanded, offering a route by which CC investment could be
funded (see Radcliffe [41]).
앫 PAs are highly trade unionised, often being urged to act as model employers.
Sharp criticisms were (and are) made of industrial relations practices in early CCs.
With the advent of the CTI model, CCs have emphasised the importance of indus-
trial relations practices more acceptable to PAs and their trade unions, thus easing
the adoption of the technology.
앫 Before the generalisation of e-commerce, it has been possible for PAs to adopt
a variety of ICT-mixes. For example, some emphasises the use of smart cards
and kiosks, others the use of the Internet and CCs. It is now clear that customers
expect that whatever technology-mix PAs adopt, that it must support e-commerce.
This is ‘new wave’ of PAs (Hood [42]), is likely to invariably use CCs.

5.3.2. The emerging SSICC model

Each of the 14 PAs adopting CC technology shown in Fig. 4 has done so within
the last five years. A 50% adoption rate within five years is promising and the emerg-
ing SSICC model appears set to greatly increase this adoption rate over the next ten
years. Today, PAs generally have the technology capable of delivering high levels
of connectivity and interactivity. The SSICC model featuring heightened agility is
likely to become generalised amongst PAs over the next ten years.
PAs are under budgetary pressures (to lower costs) and customer/citizen pressure
858 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860

(to improve access, transparency, service quality and demand-led ‘joined-up’

services), and under regulatory pressure from central government (to meet e-service
targets). Thus ‘new wave’ PAs emphasise agility — they seek to integrate functions
and reduce unnecessary organisational barriers. Fig. 11 illustrates how some PAs are
already reaping the rewards of organisational agility by adopting new ways of work-
ing. The asynchronous connectivity and multi-medium interactivity in the emerging
SSICC model, are of course no guarantees that PAs will embrace this emerging
learning organisation model. However, additional factors suggest a promissory con-
dition for SSICC adoption by PAs over the next ten years.

앫 SSICC remains a bridging technology in the terms described above. VoIP via the
Internet or digital-TV is likely to become available to most EU citizens over the
next ten years creating pressures from both supply and demand to adopt SSICC.
Regulatory pressures to offer e-commerce services add to these pressures.
앫 The time-scale and problems of introducing joined-up-government, which should
not be telescoped, in the light of strong organisational and professional interest
group conservatism. However, SSICC appears to offer early wins in integrating
functions and organisations, allowing a longer time-scale with which to address
these conservative forces.
앫 In recent years, mechanisms encouraging the rapid diffusion of best practices
amongst local PAs have strengthened. These pressures include Auditing and per-
formance indicator tables. EU-sponsored networks, such as EuroCities and TeleCi-
ties now also play an important role in best practice exchange that supports its
rapid diffusion.

Promissory conditions appear to exist for a rollout of the SSICC model by local
PAs, over the next ten-year period.

5.3.3. The Internets and the internots: PAs, e-democracy and the digital divide
PAs seriously addressing the e-democracy and digital divide agendas cannot afford
to ignore the importance of telephony-related access to the Information Society (see
Brereton and Temple [43]). Already, Pratchett and Wingfield [44] and Pratchett [45]
argue that concentration upon effectiveness and efficiency in local government can
induce a neglect of ethical dimensions and the opportunities presented by ICT to
enhance accountability and promote social inclusion. However, public authorities
charged with the care of the vulnerable and inclusion of all citizens cannot be sangu-
ine about the threat of a ‘digital divide’ segregating the ‘Internets from the Internots’.
CCs remain an information technology accessible to most citizens — their use by
PAs seems likely to grow.

6. Conclusions

The paper has used two models to interpret CCs as an instrument for e-commerce.
Firstly a search, assess and transact (SAT) model of e-commerce exchange and sec-
 T. Kinder / Futures 33 (2001) 837–860 859

ondly a CIA model of the appropriateness and effects of the CC as an instrument

for public sector e-commerce. In doing so, the idea of CCs as hybrid and transitional
bridging technology has been introduced.
This paper has discussed the differences between private and public sector com-
merce and e-commerce, illustrating that early models of CC technology were less
appropriate to the needs of PAs than to the private sector. A new survey of 24
European local PAs shows that half currently innovating e-commerce, use CCs. A
further 25% plan to introduce CCs. The paper has argued that the potential benefits
now flowing from adoption of the technology are such that PAs will increasingly
adopt advance CC models as an instrument of e-commerce service delivery over the
next ten years.
CCs are a fusion of existing technologies and their incremental improvement to
serve as bridging technologies. They are unlikely to capture headlines. However,
since their effective use stimulates PAs to join-up government and de-fragmenting
services, their impact is likely to be more profound than that of more advanced
technologies for service users, staff and the modernisation of local PAs.

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