Bangalore: US-based online services provider America Online Inc plans to boost its headcount at its single largest call centre located in Bangalore by 400 employees by year-end, senior executives said on July 15.

The centre, America Online Member Services India (P) Ltd, currently has 1500 people spread across one lakh sq ft of space at International Tech Park Limited at Whitefield on the city outskirts.

It's AOL's single largest call centre in the world, growing from 200 employees in July 2002.

"We are planning to grow our employee strength to 1900 by year-end", Maneesh Dhir, Vice-President and Country Head, AOL India Member Services (P) Ltd, the subsidiary of AOL, told reporters.

AOL's India call centre, a wholly in-bound server centre with 24/7 operations providing customer acquisition and support services out of Bangalore for AOL members globally, handled 10 million member calls in the last one year.

"We anticipate this figure to reach 20 million in the next one year," Dhir said.

Sounding bullish on Indian operations, AOL's Executive Vice-President, Member Development, Neil Smit and Senior Vice-President, AOL Member Services, Lloyd M Wirshba said AOL would continue to grow and invest in the country.

It was noted that America Online Inc is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc. AOL is world leader in interactive services, web brands, internet technologies and e-commerce services, company officials said.

PTI