Call Center Work hours

[ikyan]

I'd like to know if there is a study on the number of total working hours of call center agents per week/month.

Is there any preferred total number of working hours by call center companies, say, 8 hours per day for 5 days? Or is this the common practice? If there is, what is the rationale behind this? Are there any BPO companies which practice 48 working hours per week?

Any input or discussion will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot:)