STI-Cebu to start call center operation end of May

By end of May this year, System Technology Institute (STI) Cebu will open a 100-seat call center in Cebu, as part of the 4,000 call center seats to be opened in the next few months.

STI has entered into the call center business converting its campus based in Makati City in Manila as its pilot project.

"In Cebu we are looking at starting the call center operation by the end of May this year," said STI executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO) Peter Fernandez in an interview.

In the next few months, 80 of STI campuses will be converted into call centers at night that would allow an operation of 4,000 seats, Fernandez said.

These campuses will function as schools and training institution during daytime, and call center operations will take place at night.

The Cebu STI call center operation will be the first regional area to open, Fernandez said.

STI's move to join the call center industry affirms the school's confidence in the strength of the Philippines as a hub of the US$100-billion global customer care operations. According to Fernandez with the help of some STI board members who are heads of the country's big Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms like Bong Borja of People Support and Ernest Cu of SPI Technologies, STI will be able to effectively take advantage of the multi-billion dollar call center business.

STI recently had a partnership with the California-based solutions provider Five9 and John F. Kennedy (JFK) Center Foundation to provide world-class training to Filipino students wanting to work in contact or call centers. The long-term goal is to turn the Philippines into a global-customer care capital of the world next to India. The support of Five9 and JFK puts STI in the best position to provide the infrastructure and human resources in developing the call-center business as a cottage industry in the provinces.

Under the agreement, 80 centers will be put up in STI facilities, each with a minimum of 50 seats, with Five9 providing the technology and JFK the training of STI graduates prior to their employment as call center agents. The plan to open call centers, is consistent with the school's "enrollment-to-employment" vision, wherein students are fully prepared for actual working conditions to ensure their chances of getting hired.

Rigoberto Tiglao, Philippine Ambassador to Greece and former Presidential Management Staff chief said the partnership was forged to develop 400 to 500 small to medium-sized call center in the countryside that will generate an additional 88,000 jobs by 2008. The Jobs Generations Office, under the Office of the President, signed a memorandum of agreement with Five9, JFK Center Foundation-Philippines and STI to drive employment activities in the ICT sector. Under the agreement, the government will provide the policy environment; Five9, the technology; JFK, the training; and STI, the infrastructure and manpower.