Canon call centre bucks offshoring trend

Merges trans-Tasman centres with 92-strong centre on Auckland's North Shore

By Reseller News Staff, Auckland | Thursday, 22 July 2010
Canon has merged its Australian and New Zealand call centres to form the Oceania Contact Centre, which employs 92 staff.

The company previously had a centre in Sydney which served Australian customers, and a smaller team of 12 in its headquarters on Auckland’s North Shore.

The Auckland team has now added 80 staff.

The contact centre is being opened today by Prime Minister John Key.

“Having an Australasia-serving contact centre in one place and under local management made good sense both economically and from a customer service perspective,” says Canon managing director and chairman Kenji Kobayashi.

Datacom will manage the contact centre in-house for Canon.

“Through the implementation process, Datacom worked closely with Canon to transition its existing customer service staff into the new structure,” says Datacom director Greg Magness.

The expanded call centre is the first point of contact for product enquiries from businesses, print companies, Canon retailers, customers, orders, returns and field service dispatch. It also managing the Australian inbound switchboard.

Canon country manager Mike Johnston says it made good business sense to engage Datacom to manage the contact centre in-house, rather than sending it offshore.

“New Zealand and Australia also have similar cultures and expectations and, with so many kiwis living in Australia, hearing a New Zealand accent is not unusual for an Australian customer,” Johnston says.