From Awful Events:Teletech Call Center Robbery: The dumb thing that gets more dumb

I'm sure all of you call center agents have already heard about it. The Teletech Call Center robbery was a shame to all robbers, if you ask me. Do they need to arm themselves with high-powered guns and two getaway vehicles to take home a few secondhand cellphones and a few cash that won't even amount to more than 4k US dollars?

Call centers receive their funds from foreign countries for allocations to the different departments, most of which goes to the employee's salary thru their bank accounts.

More of awful events in a call center, click here.

After 10,000 years, Philippine Call Centers: Urged to hire home-based workers

Being a mother, and a household to manage, I have been searching on the web for call centers offering home-based jobs for quite some time. Unfortunately, big call centers offer home-based jobs in the US only. So you can imagine how my eyes just opened wide when I read this news written by Jesus F. Llanto of NewsBreak.

During the Annual Call Center Expo 2008, an expert on business process outsourcing (BPO) urge Philippine call center companies to hire work-at-home agents or home-based employees to solve the high turnover rate in the industry.

William Dieu, senior research analyst from callcentres.net, said that companies can lower attrition rate and foster high agent satisfaction if they will allow home-based operations.

"The Philippines should think about the benefits of hiring home-based agents," Dieu said. He added that working from home also allows employees to save on transportation cost, especially now when prices of fuel are soaring.

Dieu said that only nine percent of the companies here allow working from home and he warned that "it is not expected to increase" in the succeeding months.

Benedict Hernandez, senior vice president and general manager for Philippines of eTelecare, said technological factors hamper the development of this kind of job.

"It has not really taken off," said Hernandez. "There are many things to consider. We are not as wired as the United States."

John Langford, executive vice president of ICT group, said it will take time before this system is adapted. "The industry has been in the United States but this set-up has been used only in the last five years.

Big sector

Call centers are the biggest sector in the Philippine BPO industry. It generates the biggest revenue and employs the most workers. In 2007, contact centers accounted for 73 percent of the industry’s US$4.8 billion revenue and its employees accounted for 60 percent of the 300,000 BPO workers.

"The industry will grow at a healthy clip this year," said Dan Reyes, president of Sitel and director of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP).

CCAP estimates that this year, contact centers are expected to earn US$4.3 billion dollars, or around 30 percent increase from last year’s US$3.3 billion. Around 50,000 additional jobs are also expected this year.

Call Centers in the Asia-Pacific region, said Dieu citing data from consulting firm Frost and Sullivan, generated US$665 million revenue in 2007 and is expected to earn US$13 in the next seven years. (abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak)

Seek No More: JOBSolutely Cool Glorietta 2008

Seek No More: JOBSolutely Cool Glorietta 2008

Hey..Call Center job aspirants..There's a job fair coming at the Festival Supermall on August 29-30. Call Centers are joining to search for their future team players. For more details, click here.

And do remember to be prepared for that job interview. Be sure that you understand the job position that you are applying for and you have a background of the call center company you aim to join.

A BACKGROUND OF CALL CENTRES IN THE PHILIPPINES

If you are living in the United States and calling Dell, IBM, Charter, AT&T, or Vonage, chances are, you will be speaking to someone from a Philippine Call Center Company.

Following India, Philippines is now rising to be another best alternative for outsourcing solutions of major companies in the United States, English-speaking European countries, and Australia.

With a long history of contact with the United States, including several decades of American colonial rule, Filipinos are more attuned to Western culture than most Asians. Call center employees not only find it easy to relate to Westerners but are also quick to adapt to a variety of accents. Most call center employees receive intensive training to acquire the accent of the country that they will be calling.

CALL CENTER IN THE PHILIPPINES: ON ITS WAY UP

Another Boost To The Call Centre Industry In the Philippines

Teletech, one of the biggest player in the call centre industry in the Philippines just signed a contract with Telstra (Australia). The company confirmed that they would use Teletech to temporarily support existing Telstra staff. They have assured though, that their current staff are safe with their jobs despite their plan to outsource their call centre in the Philippines.

According to Martin Barr, Telstra's spokesman, on an interview with Business Daily:

"Teletech is providing us with additional resources while our credit management staff undertake training so we can manage peak call volumes as we move to new billing systems," he said.

"The number of people will vary depending on the training program and call volumes. Our priority is to ensure we maintain our service to customers."

The company mentioned that all their customers will be on a new billing system by the end of June. They will be engaging with Teletech on a temporary and transitional basis with jobs offshored to the Philippines.

A number of Australian telcos are using Teletech, which is based in Denver, Colorado, for their customer support and administrative data entry jobs.

AAPT will be signing up a three month contract which will be based in Manila for their call centre.

Source

Cylynx Bets On The Philippines

Why the Philippines?

CyLynx's Customer Interaction Center in Manila, Philippines

A frequently asked question from

clients is why CyLynx chooses to locate

its base of operations in the Philippines.

Powerful U.S. based companies like

America Online, Accenture, and Proctor

and Gamble have all realized the

incredible benefits of outsourcing

back-office functions to the Philippines.

Advances in communications

technology have enabled CyLynx to set

up its Customer Interaction Center in

Manila, where we have extra resources

to provide higher levels of service.

Top Five Benefits of

Locating in the Philippines

• Cost Structure

Labor rates in the Philippines for skilled IT

professionals are among the most competitive

in Asia.

• English Proficiency

Although Filipino is the national language of the

country, English is widely used in education and

business. The Philippines is the third-largest

English-speaking country in the world.

Universities

CyLynx recruits its employees from some of

the top universities in Asia, located in

the Philippines.

• IT Proliferation

The Philippines has an advanced

telecommunications and Internet infrastructure,

especially in Manila, the country's capital city,

and the location of CyLynx's office.

Americanized Culture

The Philippines was an American colony until

after World War II, leading to a very

Americanized culture. As a result, conducting

business from the Philippines seems natural

and the Filipinos are acquainted with

American lifestyles.

“Put simply, the cost benefits of setting up

remote or shared services centers in the

Philippines are enormous, according to many

already in the country. Wage costs for whitecollar

employees are estimated at 10%-20%

of those in the United States, while the

Philippine workforce is highly educated,

proficient in English and easily adaptable -

all important pluses in a rapidly changing

global economy.”

“The Philippines as aRegional Center for Shared Services”

A combined paper by Peter Wallace, EIU Philippines, Inc. and

Nigel Lucas, Colliers Jardine

"The Philippines, with its educated and highly

skilled English-speaking workforce and its

strategic location between Japan, China and

Southeast Asia, now enjoys both political

stability and sustained economic growth,

and the government continues to provide

institutional and infrastructure support."

Doing Business Guide: Philippines

Pricewaterhouse Coopers

24-7 INTouch: Creating its own name in the Philippine Call Center Industry

The word 24-7 was like a buzz that I got to hear every now and then. But since I wasn't interested in moving out, I didn't pay much attention to it. Until a colleague bid goodbye one day, saying that it was her last day. She's moving in to 24-7 Intouch. A call center located in Makati. Apparently, the offer is at least 30% higher than what we are receiving right now with the same job on the same field but with different and more popular client.

So, for those who's feeling the burn..check it out!