Call center industry in the Philippines

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Call centers began in the Philippines as plain providers of email response and managing services, these have industrial capabilities for almost all types of customer relations, ranging from travel services, technical support, education, customer care, financial services, and online business to customer support, online business to business support.

The call center industry is an up-and-coming industry in the Philippines. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is regarded as one of the fastest growing industries in the world.

The Philippines is also considered as location of choice due to its less expensive operational and labor costs.^[1] In 2005, neoIT's 2005 Mapping Offshore Markets Update ranked the Philippines as one of the top BPO destinations^[2].

Contents 1 The Filipinos' Edge 2 Types of Support 2.1 Other Services Supported 3 Common Call Center recruitment and training process 4 Number of Call Centers in the Philippines 5 Outsourcing Business During Global Recession 6 Trivia 7 See also 8 References

[edit] The Filipinos' Edge

The Industry mainly caters to markets from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and other western countries^[3] therefore call center agents are obliged to acquire the foreign accent, study the geography and cultural mores of these foreign countries. Being the third largest English speaking country in the world and with a high literacy rate, the Philippines is considered as one of the most competitive call center destinations in the world.

Other factors that make the country attractive to foreign companies are the economical class A office spaces, better power, information technology(IT), telephony and telecommunications infrastructure, good quality but affordable labor force and the support the government is all too willing to extend to these foreign investors.

[edit] Types of Support

The calls managed by a number of Philippine call centers can be categorized^[4] into:

• Outbound calls – the services cover telemarketing, advisories, sales verification, credit and collection, reactivation/reinstatement of accounts, loyalty program benefits, customer services, surveys or csat evaluators and order entry. Call center agents call the customer.

• Inbound calls – cover a broad range of services, from all types of inquiries, technical help, transcription, complaints, customer service, support, sales, marketing, and billing. Customers call the call center agents.

[edit] Other Services Supported

• Email Support
• Chat Support
• IP Relay
• Back-Office Processing
• Work Force Services
• Services
• Training and Support/Career Enhancement
• Virtual Assistant

[edit] Common Call Center recruitment and training process

The recruitment process for new call center agents may include (but is not limited to) the following:

• Phone Screening – this stage determines the voice quality over the phone and how the applicant responds to the call;
• Initial Interview – conducted by the company human resource department or another outsource staffing firm to test the speaking skills, attitude and how confident the applicant responds to questions;
• Examination – this includes aptitude tests, computer-based call simulations and emotional quality (EQ) or aptitude tests; and
• Final Interview – to assess customer service, technical, or sales skills.

There are various ways in which one may initiate a career in call centers. The most common of which is to apply directly to a call center's recruitment office. This process is commonly coined as a "walk-in" application. Another procedure includes employee referral where an applicant is referred by an existing employee of a call center. A person may also apply through an employment agency, which will conduct its own screening procedures, before endorsing an applicant to any call center.

An emerging manner to secure a career in call centers is through on-line application. More and more companies and job seekers have embraced this means due to its benefits. Some of its many benefits include: acquiring more details of the call center before applying, facilitation of application forms and resumes and the ability to reach out to Filipinos in far areas.^[5]

[edit] Number of Call Centers in the Philippines

According to the Call Center Directory^[6] of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), the Philippines now has 788 call centers over 20^[7] key locations:

Location Area	No. of Centers
Bacolod City	3
Baguio City	8
Cabanatuan City	1
Cagayan De Oro	3
Metro Cebu	44
Metro Davao	10
Eastwood City	30
Iloilo	7|
La Union	1
Laguna	12
Las Pinas City	9
Makati City	274
Mandaluyong City	32
Manila City	38
Muntinlupa City	24
Ortigas Center	141
Pampanga	18
Pasig City	27
Quezon City	77
Rizal	4
San Juan City	13

[edit] Outsourcing Business During Global Recession

Call center managers require graduates who are extremely fluent in English and (for technical accounts) above par IT skills. Due to the economic downturn in United States (where the outsourcing industry's revenue came from), only few potential investors are surveying for outsourcing sites.^[8]

In spite of this condition, a very well known US outsourcing giant declared recent plans for five new customer contact centers in the Philippines which signifies jobs for at least 7,000 people. In 2006, 160,000 people were employed in a US$2 billion (S$3 billion) business.

The recession also prompted the significant loss of jobs for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). This prompted the Philippine government to provide Filipino domestic helpers government-sponsored training for the OFWs to become call center agents^[9]. The program, funded by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), is part of the government's vocational scholarship program of OWWA and reintegration for OFWs.

The new project will sharpen English proficiency of applicants and provide call center training for 40 hours at $700 per student which the Philippine government has shouldered. This would hopefully give options to the OFWs to shift careers.

[edit] Trivia

• In the Philippines, the Call Center industry has been tagged as the Sunshine Industry^[10][11] by the government because of its massive expansion over the last 10 years. It is considered as one of the fastest growing sectors within the economy.

[edit] See also

• Philippine Cyber Corridor
• Business process outsourcing in the Philippines
• Cyberservices
• Business process outsourcing
• Call center
• Medical transcription
• Offshoring
• Outsourcing

[edit] References