ECCCO - the European Confederation of Contact Centre Organisations - was formed in 2002 and represents contact centre organisations in countries across Europe. CCMA (UK) was a founder member of ECCCO and each country is represented by ONE national association only; in the case of UK it is CCMA (UK).

The purpose of ECCCO is to encourage and assist in the development of European National Contact Centre Associations, by bringing together all the European National Associations / Organisations, fostering free and frank information exchange on issues relating to Call Centre services, and using their combined voice to influence. ECCCO is a non-profit association that will promote the interests and needs of the European contact centre industry.

Their major aims are:

  • Promote the exchange of knowledge and information
  • Promote the profession and recognition of Contact Centre Management
  • Provide representation to Regulatory bodies
  • To act as a collective to influence the appropriate legislative bodies
  • Provide information and education to its members
  • Promote co-operation among its members
  • Develop and promote European quality standards for the cc-industry
  • Promote a European Contact Centre Award
  • To encourage and assist in the development of European National Contact Centre Associations by bringing together all the European National Associations

Current ECCCO members

Belgium - Belgian Association of Call/Contact Centres
France - Association Française des Centres de Relation Client
Germany - Call Center Forum Deutschland e.V. 
Ireland - Call Center Managers Association
Italy - Call Center Managers Association
Poland - Call Center Managers Association
Portugal - Associacio Portuguesa de Contact Centers
Spain - Asociación Española de Expertos en Centros de Contacto con Clientes
Switzerland - Swiss Contact Center Association
Netherlands - Call Center Managers Association
U.K. - Call Centre Management Association (UK) Ltd.  

Meetings

Since inauguration there have been twelve meetings of the ECCCO board, usually at major call centre events in London, Paris, Berlin and Madrid. The next meeting of ECCCO is at their European Awards in Manchester. Alongside each meeting ECCCO will run a workshop, open to all conference delegates, which will outline the work and progress of ECCCO.

European Call Centre Day

The objective of this is to have one day, when as many call centres as possible are opened to the public, so that we can promote our industry across Europe, and perhaps dispel some of the myths surrounding working in call centres. It will probably not be possible to use the same day in each country, due to national holidays; however, the goal is to ensure maximum exposure to local and national press, politicians and the public. So why not start to think about what you can do in YOUR call centre? Why not use it as a recruitment event?

Annual conference

ECCCO intends to hold its own annual call centre event, once a year, around November, covering one and a half days. The programme will include workshops, keynote speakers and user case studies. Visit their website www.eccco.org for more information.

And finally…

Behind this mass of information lie the two basic objectives of collaboration and information sharing between countries and their national associations; to try to establish some common ground and common practices and to present a united front when taking issues to the European Commission.