However, Safaricom opted to sort out its own call center, and says it has reaped benefits. While Safaricom is seen as a potential major source of business by local BPO, marketing efforts have been unable to convince the company that outsourcing will lead to lower costs and more subscribers.

"We see our call centre as a partner to our sales and product development that promotes product uptake," said Nzioka Waita, Safaricom corporate affairs director. "It partners with our marketing team to provide insights into and on marketing campaigns based on customer feedback and some of our call centre staff have grown to become experts when it comes to customers and what they want."

Asked why the company has not considered outsourcing to local BPO, Waita points at increased call uptake and query resolution because callers can access the company faster and the incorporation of social media- Twitter, Facebook and email in resolving client issues.

"Through data mining and continuous provision of feedback on customer experience to our internal product development teams, Safaricom has become a leader in innovation and made great inroads in building market share," added Waita.