Philippine Call Centers: Reinventing E-commerce

If India is moving up in the outsourcing market, the Philippines is gaining a fair share in the customer-contact call center business.

It might be low-margin and low-end but it is still considered as an employment boom for the Philippines.

For the last five years, the call center business in Makati City, Philippines has grown 100-fold with as much as 200,000 workers; even BPO companies are looking for ways to double their work force.

In previous studies, India was still that best choice for American companies seeking outsourcing services.

However, those who are seeking cheaper options for more basic services have discovered the Philippines. With the long history of contact with the United States, the Philippines are far more attuned to Western culture than most Asian countries.

Employees at call centers not only find it easy to relate to Westerners but are also quick in adapting a variety of accents.

Additionally, most call center agents are intensively trained to achieve the accent of the country they will be calling.

Philippines have the lowest unit costs, highest quality and lowest attrition rates of any call centers in the world. The country is very well placed not only to compete but possibly to dominate in the sector.

The Training and Responsibilities

Although call centers in the Philippines began with simply providing e-mail responses and handling services, these aspects have developed to almost all types of customer interactions, including travel services, technical support, financial services, customer care, online business and business support.

Like most call centers, the calls handled by call center agents in the Philippines are categorized into outbound and inbound calls. Outbound services available include telemarketing, advisories, reactivation of accounts, loyalty program benefits, sales verification and more.

On the other hand, inbound services cover a broad range of services from all types of technical help, transcription, inquiries, complaints and billing.

Philippine call center agents adhere to a strict performance metrics and are typically assigned in graveyard shifts. They usually interact with customers from all around the globe mostly from the United States.

In addition, call center agents from the country have undergone training processes, which normally entail phone screening, initial interview, examination and a final interview.

Top Call Centers in the Philippines

In recent news, a major United States newspaper has outsourced customer care to the Philippines. MediaNews Group, one of the largest newspaper companies in the United States, has chosen the APAC Customer Services Inc. for the outsourcing of their customer care.

The call center employs about 4,000 college-educated, English-speaking Filipinos in many contact centers. The services will include subscriber retention, delivery, billing inquiries and fielding inbound customer calls.

Aside from the APAC Customer Services Inc., there are also other call centers in the Philippines that have gained global appeal. The LogicaCMG is one and is also a major international force in the business and IT services.

The company focuses on enabling the customers to build and maintain leadership positions through the use of deep industry knowledge.

Call center operations in the Philippines have been credited by several Global BPO providers based on the United States mainly due to its world-class productivity and the ample supply of highly cost-effective human resources. It is also projected that Philippine call centers will have over 300,000 seats, fully employ up to 500,000 Filipinos, and yield as much as $7.3 billion in annual revenues by 2010.