The Cincinnati, Ohio-headquartered company is a member of the S&P 500 and the Forbes Platinum 500. For the third year in a row, Convergys has been listed by Fortune among its "Most Admired Companies."
Convergys Customer Management Group president Jack Freker recently flew in for the launch of the company’s Philippine operations. In this Q&A, he shares some insights on a booming industry that the country is well prepared to meet.
Q: What made you decide on the Philippines as your second Asia location?
Freker: Its people power. Excellent English communication skills, high literacy rate, hospitable customer service and orientation with the North American culture.
Its highly deregulated infrastructure. Telecommunications connectivity cost is one of the lowest in the world. The quality of telco infrastructure is comparable to what is available in North America. Communication facilities are state-of-the art with adequate, uninterrupted power supply.
Business-friendly policies. The Philippines has redefined government’s role through privatization and deregulation of its industries. Attractive incentives are available to qualified enterprises in the country’s numerous special economic zones. We are particularly appreciative of the strong pro-business policies of President Arroyo and Trade and Industry Secretary Mar Roxas.
Q: Are you exploring other locations in Asia?
Freker: Convergys has just signed a lease for a third contact center – a build-to-suit three-story building at the Northgate Cyberzone in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, which is 20 kilometers south of Makati. We continue to view the Philippines and India as very attractive locations for future growth of English language support. Expansion to other Asian locations is predicated on client demand for multi-lingual support.
As the global leader in customer relationship management, we strive to meet the needs of existing and future clients wherever that may take us in the world. To the extent possible, we honor client requests with respect to where they want their customer management operations handled.
Q: Based on current demand, how many contact centers are you planning to establish here?
Freker: Convergys is launching two new call centers in Metro Manila – the Enterprise Center in Makati and the Robinsons Equitable center in Pasig. We also announced today our newest location in Alabang in 2004. As we continue our success in Manila, it’s natural for us to continue to look for new opportunities. Opening additional locations depends on the needs of our clients. We are poised to provide our clients with worldwide options and solutions to meet their individual business needs.
Q: What kind of infrastructure or resources do you consider in a location?
Freker: Political stability, communications, power, labor demographics, transportation, roads and public transport, security, real estate options/availability, and English speaking, well-educated and abundant human resources.
Q: What is the manpower complement of Convergys in the Philippines?
Freker: The total manpower complement of CPS is about 500 and growing. The headcount by gender: 59 percent female, and 41 percent male. The age range mix: 80 percent of the staffers are below 30 years old. And the experience mix: 69 percent customer service, tech support and sales; six percent telecom and IT services; five percent education/training; three percent financial services; and 17 percent others.
Q: Convergys has made $110 million in R&D investments alone. What kind of technology solutions for customer management have you developed?
Freker: Innovation is a key driver of our success. Our commitment to technical excellence has resulted in a wide range of products and services recognized around the world as best in class: speech recognition, e-learning, Web-based reporting tools, automated agent performance management, intelligent call routing, knowledge management analysis, and contact center productivity tools.
Q: What kind of hardware and software has gone into Convergys locations here?
Freker: Convergys has the Global Reach Gateway, which allows us to utilize our own technology, which is connected and maintained from our US/European operations. This also provides business continuity for our clients in the event of a crisis. Our clients benefit from our ability to leverage our existing technology. One change instantly impacts our system worldwide and allows our clients the opportunity for complete redundancy.
Q: What will Convergys Philippines be like two years from now? Five years from now?
Freker: We will have the best available intellectual resources and talent the Philippine market can provide. We should have harnessed the collective strengths of our employees to create the competitive advantage in the global market. We will be considered the top BPO operations in the Philippines and the overall employer of choice. We will strengthen our position as the leader in the customer management market.
Q: What are the forecasts for the call center industry?
Freker: According to Yankee Group Research, the call center industry is huge ($180 billion) and growing at a rate of 12.3 percent worldwide. Only 10 percent of the market is outsourced. This is a huge opportunity for Convergys.