Smaller call centers emerging

By Erwin Lemuel Oliva, INQ7.net

INDUSTRY experts in the Philippines said that smaller call center operations are emerging, thanks to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and expanding web-

based services.

Brian Silverman, president and chief executive officer of California-based Five9, cited industry analysts as saying that the average number of call center

seats are going down to 40, a measly number compared to thousands of seats operated by top call center firms like PeopleSupport, Convergys, and other big

players based in the Philippines.

Five9 is a call center solutions provider that aims to gradually grow its business in the country, as it offers turnkey solutions for startup call center

operations.

"The advent of VoIP and the outsourcing boom are driving average call center seats down. We never talked about small entrepreneurs being able to run a call

center before. Now, it is possible," Silverman added.

Eric de Gelder, JFK Center Foundation client relations and account manager, said bigger call center operations are under a lot of pressure to meet stricter "metrics" set by clients.

Involved in the US-based foundation's business process outsourcing training program in the Philippines, Gelder said that bigger call center operations are

faced with the challenge of sustaining revenues while they deal with other issues related to consolidation of operations and satisfying more demanding

clients.

A combined forecast of the Board of Investments, the Business Process Association of the Philippines, and the Commission on Information and Communications

Technology showed that the customer care industry, under which the call center industry falls, is still going to generate majority of the jobs for the local

outsourcing industry.

In 2006, the customer care industry is expected to generate 168,000 new jobs.

Rafy David, president of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), said that smaller call centers are indeed emerging.

"There is a growing trend that smaller operations are emerging. But the smaller call centers operate differently from the bigger ones. The level of

sophistication is different, as the bigger call center usually has a complete support staff, more comprehensive customer relations management solutions, more

in-bound operations, and so on," David said in an interview.

David said the local interest in setting up smaller call centers became evident during a CCAP-hosted forum on the topic, "Call center in a box," where more

than 100 people attended. "I was only expecting half of that number to come," he said.

Smaller call centers are likely to fall into a niche service, David said.

"For younger and smaller call centers, their main concern usually involves sustaining [the inflow of] projects. Projects come and go. There are well paying

contracts that don't take long," he said.

He said that bigger call centers now have a mix of projects. Some are long-term, some are short-term. However, he believes that smaller call centers will

likely thrive in telemarketing.