The ATA has narrowed down entries from almost 100 contact centres to finalised the winners of this year's state awards.

The nominees were subject to a comprehensive scoring system based on responses to a questionnaire, as well as interviews and site visits. ATA CEO Michael Meredith said the high quality of contact centres vying for honours this year was an excellent example of the growing strength and quality of the industry in Australia, particularly in today's economic climate.

I am noticing a trend in Australian contact centres for year on year improvement across the board, not only in overall quality but also in practices, technologies and professionalism," Meredith said. This year also saw an increase in nominations, with more than 350 candidates across seven categories.

The 2009 ATA State Award winners are:

Call Centre Champion
Western Australia ?Kerryn Gavin - RAC WA
South Australia ?Chailee Timoteo ?Australian Central Credit Union
Queensland ?Ed Diaz - QSuper
Victoria ?Narelle Annett - Centrelink Bendigo
New South Wales ?Dina Kotsopoulos - BT Financial Group

Teleprofessional of the Year
Western Australia ?Clare Fielding - Water Corporation
South Australia ?Alex Mulconray ?Optus SingTel
Queensland ?Ramona Ansell - Energex
Victoria ?Sam Elliffe - Fair Work Ombudsman
New South Wales ?Teresa Rachkidi - BT Financial Group

Team Leader of the Year
Western Australia ?Fiona Counsel - IAG
South Australia ?Catherine Monga - Royal Automobile Association Of SA
Queensland ?Veronica Pender - BT Financial
Victoria ?Malcolm Rai - GIO
New South Wales ?Samantha Delaney - Flexirent

Contact Centre Manager of the year
Western Australia ?Vernon Lawrence - iiNet Ltd
South Australia ?David Coombe ?SA Water
Queensland ?Kylie Chambers - Energex
Victoria ?Shane Birch - CGU
New South Wales ?Nutan Sood - American Express

Contact Centre with less than 50 employees
Western Australia ?City of Stirling
South Australia ?HomeStart Finance
Queensland ?RemServ
Victoria ?Phillip Morris
New South Wales ?GE Money

Contact Centre with 50-120 employees
Western Australia ?RAC Insurance
South Australia ?Royal Automobile Assoc of SA
Queensland ?QSuper
Victoria ?Dept of Human Services
New South Wales ?IAG Lifestyle & Leisure

Contact Centre with more than 120 FTE employees
Western Australia ?iiNet
South Australia ?ATO Early Collections
Queensland ?Australian Insurance Holdings
Victoria ?ATO - Client Services Moonee Ponds
New South Wales ?ATO Parramatta