CALL CENTER

A call center is a centralized office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. A call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers.

 The Inbound Call

 The Out Bound call

An outbound call center is one in which call center agents make outbound calls to customers on behalf of a business or client. Calls made from the center can include telemarketing, sales or fund-raising calls, as well as calls for contact list updating, surveys or verification services.

An inbound call is one that a customer initiates to a call center or contact center. A help desk handles inbound calls as well, although calls may be made from employees rather than customers. A call center may handle either inbound or outbound calls exclusively or might deal with a combination of the two.

Who works in a call center?

A call center or a CSR is the person who handles incoming and outgoing customer calls for a business. A call center agent might handle account inquiries, customer complaints or support issues.

The other name for a call center agents

 customer service representative(CSR)  Attendant, associate operator, account

executive or team member.  A call center agents take more than 80 phone calls a day. This actually dependent on each call. The average call would last to 3 to 4 minutes.

Common Call Center Recruitment & Training Process

The recruitment process for a new call center agents may include (but is not limited) to the following:
 Phone screening this stage determines the

voice quality over the phone and how the applicant responds to the call.  Examination - this include attitude tests, computer-based call simulations and emotional quality(EQ)  Final interview to assess customer service, technical or sales skills.

Philippine and The Call Center Industry

In 2004, the Philippines already captured 20 % of the total world market share in contact center services. The Philippine government estimates the Philippines could capture 50 % of the total world English-speaking market in 2008. This industry, aside from contributing 12 % into the Philippines gross national product, is also the fastest-growing job provider for Filipino college graduates. The Information and Communications Technology division of the BOI reported that the call center industry experienced a growth rate of 70 % in 2005 making it the most dynamic of all sectors in the Philippine information technology industry. According to industry forecasts, more than a million Filipinos would be employed in the call center industry, with more than US$12 billion in revenues in the year 2010.

Why Philippines?
 The Philippines is also considered as location

of choice due to its less expensive operational and labor costs.  The country offers 24/7 multilingual and multimedia supported premium services for marketing, sales, customer care, crisis management, investor relations and other key business applications. The reasons cited for the bullish outlook towards the Philippines have been, among others, due to lower operating costs, English language proficiency and high ICT skills yet low-cost workforce.

Call Center Job Creation & Displacement(2008)

Job Creation by Geographic Region