ICT group to expand RP operations

US-based ICT Group, a leading global provider of customer management and business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions, is planning to invest an additional P200 million to expand its call center operations in the country next year. The firm has just inaugurated its second call center at the Union Bank (Ortigas) building with an 850-seat capacity.

The ICT Group has invested a total of P500 million or $10 million for its first call center which opened on May 5, 2003 at RCBC Makati with just 250 seats and has since expanded to 750 seats.

With the opening of the Ortigas site, ICT Group now has 1,600 seats for its call center operations.

It is already planning to expand its call center operations here next year, adding another 500 seats.

The ICT Group provides customer sales and services support for clients across vertical industries supporting English-speaking markets in North America, Europe and Australia.

Among the services it provides include sales, customer retention, help desk/tech support, data base marketing, market research, contact center consulting and other CRM services and solutions.

According to John J. Brennan, ICT chairman and chief executive officer, ICT is expanding its operations in Manila because of cost-effectiveness, English language and educational skills of the workforce, and reliable telecommunications/IT infrastructure.

The ICT Group, Brennan also hinted, may further expand its current call center operation to business process outsourcing (BPO) services.

Trade and Industry Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, who graced the inauguration of ICT’s second call center, disclosed that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has stepped up the IT-Services promotion to gain a big share in the global BPO industry which is already earning in the hundreds of million and is expected to reach the trillion mark in the next few years.

Purisima said that the Philippines is positioning itself as the IT services center in the Asia-Pacific region to lure more companies that are in need of skilled professionals which the country has an abundance of.

"The Philippines graduates over 380,000 college students annually, especially in accounting, engineering and medical services. Apart from our graduates’ fluency in spoken and written English, the Philippines offers the most number of qualified accountants trained in the US GAAP rules," Purisima said.

The ICT Group is a publicly listed company in the US. It operates 47 contact centers and employs 11,000 employees in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, Mexico, Caribbean and the Philippines.

The ICT Group headquarters is located in Newtown, Pennsylvannia, USA.