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Support for Debt Collection Drives Demand for OBD

By Calvin Azuri
TMCnet Contributor

After the economic downturn in 2009, sales of new and add-on outbound dialer (OBD) systems used in debt collection activities have increased. Telemarketing and pro-active customer contact are the other top applications for OBD systems in Europe, the Middle East and Africa or EMEA. The largest market for OBD systems in EMEA is the United Kingdom.

Revenues to the tune of approximately $77 million were earned by markets in 2009. This information has been provided by Frost & Sullivan’s new analysis ‘EMEA Outbound Dialer Systems Markets’. According to the research, by 2016 the revenue is expected to reach nearly $1,278 million. Regional markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa have been covered by the research.

In a release, Joe Outlaw, Principal Analyst at Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) said, "Support for debt collections continues to be a major driver for the sales of OBD systems in EMEA. Proactive customer contact will emerge as the most significant long-term driver of growth for outbound customer contact solutions across regional and vertical markets in EMEA."

OBD systems are being increasingly used across all industries as a single tool for pro-actively contacting customers. The banking/financial services sector, followed by outsourcers and telecommunications companies are the largest consumers of OBD systems.

The usage of OBD systems in debt collection campaigns has been however affected with the increasingly restrictive and overlapping government regulations across EMEA. The use of agent-assisted outbound calling is being aided by other methods and media. This will help them comply with laws and reduce campaigns cost. Unified campaign management tools including OBD systems are therefore in great demand.

In a press release, Outlaw said, "The market for standalone OBD systems in EMEA is gradually diminishing. The rising need for pro-active customer contact and the increasingly restrictive government regulations are driving the demand for multi-function and unified outbound suites of applications as well as blended inbound and outbound customer contact."

According to Outlaw, vendors of outbound solutions in EMEA need to build out suites of outbound functionality to handle the growing demand shifts for unified outbound and blended inbound/outbound functionality. This will also ensure interoperability with the inbound customer contact applications.