Philips has signed an agreement with HCL Care, a division of HCL Infosystems, Ltd., that names HCL Care as the contact center service provider for Philips consumer lifestyle products.
HCL has established the contact center at Noida, which is about 15 miles southeast of New Delhi. Agents will be trained by both HCL and Philips personnel.
"Over the years, we have acquired a rich knowledge of field and contact center service for our own line of businesses involving products including laptops, display devices and telecom equipment," explained Sayantan Nandi, who is VP of HCL Care. "This partnership is a concrete step in unlocking this extensive experience for leading consumer brands like Philips."
Philips has developed its consumer products line with the goal of improving every consumer's health and well-being. The company has moved into consumer lifestyle products because of an increased demand for technologically advanced and easy-to-use personal care products.
To differentiate itself, Philips focuses on design as well as "eco-awareness." The company claims to develop products that are in touch with the social and emotional needs of the consumer. Examples of Philips consumer products include the Philips Juicer and the Philips Wake-Up Light.
HCL Care provides support and repair services for a number of IT, telecom and consumer electronics products. Typically, HCL contact centers deliver support through a number of channels including voice, SMS, e-mail and chat. These centers also enable remote login and diagnosis of issues.
Additionally, HCL Care has a number of service partners around India that can provide repair support for consumer devices.
HCL Infosystems offers a number of IT services throughout India ranging from cloud services to learning solutions. HCL Infosystems CEO Harsh Chitale has revealed that the company is pushing into the small- and medium-sized business (SMB) sector. Instead of just selling out-of-the-box solutions or resale products to that sector, HCL wants to become a solutions provider.
"We want to expand our presence through partners to all the 600 districts in India, up from the current 250 districts. We are also transitioning a large part of our existing sales executives to business development and partner enablement managers," Chitale told CRN.
Edited by
Jamie Epstein
