News

US firms hail Philippine call-center operations

News Release from the Office of Rep. Joseph A. Santiago

Global business process outsourcing providers based in the US have complimented their Philippine operations as among the most productive worldwide, and bared plans to expand their cost-effective call-centers here.

Catanduanes Rep. Joseph Santiago, a promoter of the country’s technology-enabled service industries, disclosed this based on information obtained from webcasts of the quarterly earnings releases of two publicly traded US firms -- Deerfield, Illinois-based APAC Customer Services Inc. and Newton, Pennsylvania-based ICT Group Inc.

In its July 27 webcast, Santiago said ICT Group, which has 3,300 college-educated Filipinos handling a total of 2,360 seats in three call centers in Makati City, Pasig City and Marikina City, credited its Philippine operations for the company’s higher earnings.

John Brennan, ICT Group chief executive officer, said: "Total call volume we handled increased 17 percent from 3.8 million hours in the second quarter of 2005 to 4.4 million hours in the second quarter of 2006. Call volume handled at offshore operations, predominantly the Philippines, increased 77 percent year over year, and accounted for 24 percent of the Group’s total call volume in this year's second quarter, compared to 16 percent in the second quarter of 2005."

"Our solid revenue and earnings performance in the second quarter reflected strong demand for our domestic and international services and the increasing growth of our offshore operations," Brennan added.

ICT Group is a global provider of customer management and outsourcing solutions. The firm provides customer care/retention, acquisition, up-selling/cross-selling, technical support, market research and database marketing as well as e-mail management, data entry/collections, claims processing and document management services.

Meanwhile, Santiago said APAC, which has 2,310 college-educated Filipinos handling 1,650 seats in two call centers in Muntinlupa City, also cited its Philippine operations for the company’s improved financial performance.

"In the second quarter, we made solid progress against our 2006 strategic objectives of improving the operational efficiency of our US business and expanding our offshore capacity," said Bob Keller, APAC chief executive officer, during the firm’s webcast, also on July 27.

"In June, we further expanded our offshore capacity, opening our second facility in the Philippines. This brings our total offshore capacity to more than 1,650 seats, all of which have been committed to by customers. We are in the process of training staff and expect to bring the second center into full production later this year. Construction recently began on our third leased facility in the Philippines, which will ultimately include an additional 2,000 seats," Keller added.

APAC is a global provider of customer care services and solutions for clients in healthcare, financial services, publishing, business services, travel and entertainment, and communications industries.

Philippine call centers are projected to have 300,000 seats, fully engage 506,500 Filipinos and yield up to $7.3 billion in annual revenues by 2010, according to an industry group.