RP, India ideal locations for contact centers

The Philippines and India have emerged as ideal locations for contact centers in Asia, according to two papers published by Jones Lang LaSalle. The papers, which analyze the growth trends of the contact center industry in these two Asian countries and the factors that have contributed to their growth, also look at their outlook and growth potential.

The Philippines

Similar to India, the Philippines has also emerged as a competitive and ideal destination for contact centers. The contact centers here have been servicing major global firms from the United States, Europe, Australia and Singapore. There are currently 28 contact centers in the Philippines and this figure is expected to increase in the future as existing players are prompted to further expand their operations in the country and new players come on board.

The Philippines also rank high in terms of cost optimization and value addition requirements. Some of the factors that have contributed to the growth of the contract center industry here include:

• A highly educated populace: literacy rate stands at 94.6 percent and the Philippines is considered the third largest English-speaking country in the world.

• A skilled labor force: 20 percent of annual graduates are from IT/ Computer Science related disciplines.

• A competitive operating cost structure: able to generate 25 to 40 percent estimated savings.

• A reliable infrastructure: route and vendor redundancy is available in most locations and buildings.

Jeremy Smith, Country Head for Jones Lang La Salle, Philippines says, "The trend of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), which includes outsourcing customer service as in a contact centre, has gained widespread acceptance worldwide. Central to the philosophy of BPO is that non core, yet critical and resource-consuming processes can be outsourced to a central office, which can manage these processes in a competent and cost effective manner and this is where the Philippines has its advantages. The country has enjoyed a stable economy and with the current leadership established this trend looks set to continue. Its large, educated workforce provides potential investors with a wealth of talent that, when harnessed, can provide exceptional value from a cost and productivity perspective."

"In addition, the Philippines possesses all the essential qualities that make it an attractive location for setting up contact centre services such as a fairly skilled and fluent English-speaking workforce, good quality telecom infrastructure and a competitive wage structure of contact center personnel," Mr. Smith adds.

India

It is estimated that by mid 2003, the top five firms in the contact center industry in India will have a total of 12,000 -14,000 seats among themselves – which translates into 36,000. Customer Service Agents (CSAs), occupying an estimated 1.2 million sq. ft. of space, by conservative estimates.