worldcall call center

Answering the Call

Convergys has plans to expand to 14 contact centers in the Philippines.

Why the Philippines
hasn't yet reached
the saturation point.

by JOHN W. McCURRY
john.mccurry bounce@conway.com

R

obust contact center growth continues in the Philippines as more U.S. corporations turn there for outsourcing. Two major U.S. contact center outsourcing specialists, Sitel and Convergys, are both rapidly boosting their presence.
Nashville-based Sitel added 2,000 call center seats in the Philippines during 2008, bringing its total there to approximately 7,000 as of late November.
"The Philippines is one of the high growth areas in the world," says Kim Facer, Sitel's executive vice president, real estate. "We like the potential all over the Philippines. It's a very service-oriented economy. There are a lot of educated people with good English skills, real estate costs are reasonable and the communications infrastructure is good. Sometimes we have to develop the infrastructure there, but the government works well with us."
Facer doesn't agree with some industry observers who believe the Philippines is nearing contact center saturation. He says there is room for growth. Sitel was one of the first companies to look outside metro Manila for centers, and continues to look at options in the outlying provinces.

Sitel's latest location in the Philippines is this facility in metro Manila. The company added 2,000 seats in 2008.

Cincinnati-based Convergys has an even larger presence in the Philippines. It began with one contact center in 2003. Today, the company has 10, with plans to add four more. Six of the current sites are in metro Manila, three are in Cebu City and the newest is in Bacolod City. The company currently employs more than 15,000, and will grow to 20,000 with the opening of the new centers.
"Since we opened our first contact center in 2003, Convergys has experienced success in the area due to the support of the local government and the substantial labor pool," says Jomari Mercado, Convergys' director of business development in the Philippines. "The Philippines also continues to be a place that U.S. clients request for their business needs. The performance of several customer service programs in the Philippines has been very successful, with some programs actually posting the best performance for any center – including in-house – for the client worldwide."
Mercado says Convergys' primary site selection factors include client requirements, availability of trained labor, infrastructure, competition in the area and operating costs.
"Considering most of our agents work during the night in the Philippines, proximity of the site to where the agents live is paramount," Mercado says. "This is to ensure ease of access, as well as safety and security. This selection strategy has helped Convergys in the Philippines post consistently low attrition figures."
James Stinson is CEO of Global Sky, which operates one contact center in Manila with 211 seats. He says the English accent found in the Philippines is much more neutral than that found in India.
"In most of our clients' minds, the Philippines is No. 1 in terms of quality," Stinson says. "You still see call centers going to India, but my information is that it's kind of passé. Nobody in their right mind would go there to do voice. Back office operations are going there, but no voice. The economics of India have changed."