Business Wire

ISG

12.11.2021 10:02:09 CET | Business Wire | Press release

Share
European, UK Contact Centers Adopt Remote Work, Omnichannel Customer Experiences for Post-COVID World

Contact centers in Europe and the U.K. are adopting remote work models and new technologies to address changes in consumer behavior and customer service in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group (ISG ) (Nasdaq: III ), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center – Customer Experience Services report for Europe and the U.K. finds major trends seen over the past 18 months, including consumers choosing digital channels over voice calls and employees working outside physical call centers, are likely irreversible. The contact center industry now must develop seamless, efficient omnichannel experiences for customers, delivered securely by decentralized workers and automated personas.

“Companies in Europe and the U.K. have begun to recognize they need new technologies and operating models to survive in a post-pandemic world,” said Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. “They have drastically changed their business approaches in the past 18 months and are accelerating their transformations.”

Enterprises in the region are increasing their use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, as well as automated personas in customer-facing roles, the report says. For secure and effective support by an increasingly remote workforce, companies are investing in real-time performance dashboards, automated coaching, agent performance analytics and gamification.

Geography plays a major role in the strategies of some contact center operators in the region, ISG says. European companies increasingly are turning to Eastern Europe for outsourcing, taking advantage of lower labor costs and local proficiency in other European languages. U.K. companies continue to favor India and other English-speaking countries, their traditional sources of offshore talent.

In the U.K., changes to the country’s IR35 regulations, which cover the use of temporary workers, disrupted the use of freelancers, digital consultants and experts and made the rules governing those engagements less clear. This complicated what has been a standard practice in the U.K.’s contact center industry. However, the changes also created opportunities for organizations willing to collaborate with providers, startups and technology vendors for nearshoring or offshoring of labor.

As in other regions, enterprises in Europe and the U.K. have had to adopt new working models that allow nearly all contact center agents to work remotely, the report says. These new models provide benefits including cost savings, access to talent, worker flexibility and higher productivity. Operators are making investments to address poor connectivity, background noise and security in remote work settings. With tools such as virtual private networks (VPNs), facial recognition, voice biometrics, screen monitoring and near environment monitoring, they are closing the gap in security between in-office and home-based work.

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center – Customer Experience Services report for Europe and the U.K. evaluates the capabilities of 28 providers across four quadrants: Digital Operations, AI & Analytics, Work From Home Services, and Social Media CX Services.

The report names Atento, Capita, Firstsource, Sitel Group, Teleperformance and Webhelp as Leaders in all four quadrants. It names Majorel, Transcom and Wipro as Leaders in three quadrants each. Concentrix, Conduent and HGS are named as Leaders in two quadrants each.

In addition, Tech Mahindra is named a Rising Star—a company with a “promising portfolio” and “high future potential” by ISG’s definition—in two quadrants. Majorel and Wipro are named Rising Stars in one quadrant each.

Customized versions of the report are available from Capita , Firstsource and Sitel Group .

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center – Customer Experience Services report for Europe and the U.K. is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage .

About ISG Provider Lens™ Research

The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, the U.K., France, the Nordics, Brazil and Australia/New Zealand, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage .

A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III ) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com .

Link:

ClickThru

Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/InformationServicesGroup

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Check Point and ControlPlane Partner to Help Enterprises Securely Scale AI and Accelerate Agentic Innovation24.2.2026 15:30:00 CET | Press release

ControlPlane, a specialist AI Security and DevSecOps consultancy, and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a pioneer and global leader in cyber security solutions, today announced a strategic collaboration to help enterprises securely adopt Large Language Models (LLMs) and agentic AI systems at scale. The partnership delivers a comprehensive, regulator-ready security framework designed to reduce risk, protect sensitive data, and enable organizations to move confidently from AI experimentation to production deployment. By combining Check Point’s AI-native threat prevention platform with ControlPlane’s deep expertise in cloud native architectures and DevSecOps, enterprises can operationalize AI securely without slowing innovation. As organizations advance AI initiatives beyond pilots, they face a growing “AI readiness gap.” Emerging threats such as prompt injection, unauthorized access, data leakage, and model misuse introduce risks that traditional security controls were not built to

Clinilabs Establishes EU Headquarters in Basel, Strengthening European Clinical Operations Under New Regional Leadership24.2.2026 15:00:00 CET | Press release

Clinilabs, a leading specialty contract research organization (CRO) focused on central nervous system (CNS) drug and device development, today announced the expansion of its European operations, including the establishment of its European Union headquarters at Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area, and the appointment of Dr. Anne-Marie Nagy as executive vice president and head of Clinilabs Europe. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260224669284/en/ Dr. Anne-Marie Nagy appointed as Executive Vice President and Head of Clinilabs Europe Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area is part of Switzerland’s national innovation network and located within the Basel region’s globally recognized life sciences cluster, bringing together biopharma companies, research institutions, and clinical innovation leaders. “Europe is a critical pillar of Clinilabs’ long-term growth strategy,” said Gary K. Zammit, Ph.D., president and chie

Yubico Unveils “YubiNation Partners”: A New Era of Global Channel Partnership to Secure Digital Identities in the Age of AI24.2.2026 15:00:00 CET | Press release

Yubico (NASDAQ STOCKHOLM: YUBICO), a modern cybersecurity company and creator of the most secure passkeys, today announced the launch of YubiNation Partners, a new global Channel program designed to unite a community of security experts. In the face of growing AI-driven cyber threats, the program enables partners to become trusted advisors and cultivate a safer digital world for their customers, making identities private and secure. As the average cost of a corporate security breach climbs to $4.4 million*, with phishing remaining a primary attack vector, the industry can no longer rely on passwords alone. In fact, a 2026 Total Economic Impact study from Forrester Consulting commissioned by Yubico, found that by replacing traditional multi-factor authentication (MFA) and one-time passwords (OTP) with YubiKeys, customers achieved a 265% return on investment (ROI). This effectively eliminated phishing and credential-theft risks, reducing an organization’s risk exposure to breach costs fr

Pure Lithium Receives Japanese Patent for “Vertically Integrated Lithium Metal Production and Lithium Battery Production”24.2.2026 15:00:00 CET | Press release

Pure Lithium Corporation, a disruptive lithium metal battery technology company, is pleased to announce that Japan has issued a notice of allowance, granting the company its foundational patent titled “Vertically Integrated Pure Lithium Metal Production and Lithium Battery Production” which was previously granted in the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This powerful and broad patent applies to co-locating the manufacturing of pure lithium metal anodes and lithium metal batteries. Our vertically integrated anode technology results in a high-purity lithium metal anode, contributing to exceptional battery performance. By vertically integrating lithium metal anode and battery production, not only do we capture margin at every stage of manufacturing, we eliminate costly transportation, handling, third-party markups and material degradation, dramatically reducing overall battery production costs. “I am honored that the Japanese patent office has recognized the importance and no

SETi: U.S. Court Affirms Principle of Protecting Domestic Patent Technologies, Permanently Bans Infringing Products24.2.2026 15:00:00 CET | Press release

In February 2026, a U.S. federal court ruled that Laser Components, a century-old global optics company, had infringed patents held by Sensor Electronic Technology, Inc. (SETi), a U.S.-based company that has focused on opto-semiconductor R&D and manufacturing for the past 25 years. The court ordered a permanent injunction banning the sale of the infringing products. The ruling applies not only to the manufacture and sale of products using the infringing technology, but also to employees and executives who cooperated in or were involved in the infringement. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260223103204/en/ Opto-Semiconductor Structure & Applied Patented Technologies (image: SETi) The patented technology is regarded as one of the core technologies for the future opto-semiconductor market, which is projected to grow to approximately $50 billion within the next decade—about one quarter the size of the memory semico

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye