London, ON – October 30, 2008 – The combination of low call center costs, a solid telecommunications infrastructure, and an educated workforce has made the Philippines an attractive option for North American companies struggling to reduce costs in a challenging economy, a new study from Info-Tech Research Group reveals. While India maintains a small lead in call center outsourcing having attracted $US 4.7 billion in revenue in fiscal 2008, the Philippines captured $US 4 billion making it the second largest call center outsourcing player globally.
"The continuing upsurge of call centers in the Philippines is attributed to high quality service delivered by educated English-speaking agents with accents similar to their North American callers,” said Howard Kiewe, senior research analyst with Info-Tech Research Group. “This lesser known call center hub is a key contender for many international corporations attempting to lower their costs through outsourcing their call centers.”
Enterprises that have already opened call centers in the Philippines include Dell, Citibank, AOL, HSBC, Convergys, Sykes, and Telus. According to Kiewe’s research note “Contact Center Offshoring: Philippines, the Next Big Destination?” published in September, most of these enterprises are continuing to expand their offshore call centers despite the economic troubles in North America. The Info-Tech Research Group study was based on data from field research conducted in the Philippines that included site visits and interviews of contact center executives, their workers and other industry leaders.
Some study respondents expressed concern for India’s capacity to support more call centers without incurring higher costs and lower quality of service. The Philippines makes a strong alternative with plenty of positives related to opening a corporate call center, but Kiewe cautions that corporations should not blindly sign on the dotted line without a 360° business scan to properly investigate if any offshore market is best suited to their call center needs.
“Optimal results from offshore call centers, in any geography, will only come from smart decision-makers making smart decisions,” stated Kiewe. “Evaluating the current costs, comparing competitors and assessing prospective vendors to ensure quality service are important stages when making the best decision for the enterprise.”
About Info-Tech Research Group
With a paid membership of over 23,000 worldwide, Info-Tech Research Group (www.infotech.com) is the global leader in providing tactical, practical Information Technology research and analysis. Info-Tech has been delivering quality IT research for more than 10 years, and is one of North America's fastest growing full-service IT analyst firms.