Another way of siting contact centers is to bring agents across the globe together in a virtual contact center through IP technology. Avaya and communications specialist Call Centre Technology (CCT) established such a system for ebookers, the U.K.-based Internet travel firm.
      "In a virtual IP contact center, it doesn't matter where the agents are sitting," Davies says. "They can be in Ireland, India or Budapest."
      Ebookers used Avaya's technology to link 1,000 agents at 39 sites across 11 countries. The system was implemented about a year ago and the company has seen good results, Davies says. It is particularly useful in times of heavy usage.
      "For example, if a call coming into their Paris call center hits at a peak traffic time, it is automatically routed to Dublin where there is a pool of French-speaking agents without the customer knowing the call was diverted to Ireland."