Wellington, Aug 4 NZPA - New Zealand telecommunications software developer Agile says it has opened an office in Australia, despite the economic malaise.

Agile Australia head Peter Dillon told The Australian newspaper there were opportunities to tap into Agile's existing customer base in New Zealand, where customers such as IAG, Fonterra and Vodafone used its services.

"We want to own that trans-Tasman business," Mr Dillon said.

Agile hoped to do more consultancy work and advise customers on how to optimise their call centres.

Two of its clients in New Zealand -- whitegoods giant Fisher and Paykel and debt recovery services group Baycorp -- have contracted its services across the Tasman.

Mr Dillon said the company would manage the communication needs of Fisher and Paykel and Baycorp as both customers were heavy users of a unified communications platform.