Lopez contact center subsidiary expands

Lopez-owned Customer Contact Center, Inc. (C3) has increased its number of working seats to 700 after securing several international outsource accounts that filled up current capacity in its newly-built call center at Eastwood City Cyberpark in Quezon City.

C3 president and chief executive officer Karen V. Batungbacal said the company has been providing contact center services to US-based giants Sony Electronics, Calvin Klein, Samsung, and Applica Consumer Products, manufacturer of Black and Decker household products, among other companies.

The call center’s international operation has been experiencing phenomenal growth since it started August last year, with manpower doubling in size at its Eastwood facility.

"Companies in North America have recognized the capability of Philippine-based call centers in managing contact center operations offshore. We expect to double total number of seats next year," Batungbacal said.

This growth is attributed to four competitive advantages that, according to Batungbacal, set C3 apart from its competitors. These are outsource call center expertise; a roster of blue chip clients; reliability due to multiple call center sites; and economies of sale, on account of having the largest network of call centers in the Philippines.

The company’s partnership with New Jersey-based Source One Communications brought in expertise in both call center management and operations. This augments the Lopez call center unit’s more than seven years experience in handling utilities.

C3 and Source One signed a joint venture agreement last Nov. 2001 to form a separate unit called Source One Asia, which now operates out of Manila handling accounts from North America. Calls coming from the US are currently being handled through Source One Asia by hundreds of Filipino customer service representatives at the Eastwood facility.

The call center also operates the largest network of call centers in the Philippines that ensures reliability and economies of scale. The Eastwood call center is its seventh facility, with others located in Manila, Cebu and San Francisco, California.

Aside from US-based outsource accounts, C3 also provides contact center services to Lopez group companies such as BayanTel, Skycable, ABS-CBN International, and Meralco. C3 manages close to 4.5 million customer relationships for these Lopez companies.