Pinoy Call Center Agents Jobs Blog

Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) will be hosting the second International Outsourcing Summit (IOS) in Manila.  The event will be attended by the executives of top outsourcing firms and shared services units of major global brands. The key executives, delegates, sponsors, speakers, and panelists will hold discussions on trends for the industry and its expanding client base.

According to Oscar Sañez, BPAP President and CEO, the industry has expanded in many significant ways since last year’s summit. Despite tremendous growth both in terms of revenues and in types of services offered, critical issues for growth and sustainability remain. This summit aims to bring together key opinion leaders, executives, and analysts to address emerging issues that will determine the future the industry.

The outsourcing summit, which will take place at the Sofitel Plaza Hotel October 26 & 27, will also welcome delegates from 15 countries from Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Africa.

Among the leading outsourcing and shared services firms that will be represented at IOS are Accenture, Aegis PeopleSupport, Chevron Holdings Inc., Convergys, Dell International Service Philippines, Inc., Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., HSBC Global Resourcing, IBM, Infosys BPO, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Manulife Business Processing Services, Procter & Gamble Business Services, SPi Technologies, Sykes Asia Inc., Teletech, TELUS International Philippines, Inc., Thomson Reuters, and StarTek, Inc.

Top outsourcing executives, allied industry leaders, and prominent analysts will be sharing their insights on key issues and opportunities for the industry. Key speakers include Armand Angeli, Cofounder & President, European Outsourcing Association (EOA); Alfredo Ayala, Chair, BPAP; Maulik Parekh, CEO, SPi Global; Jack Jones, Global Solutions Head, JP Morgan Chase & Co.; Aparup Sengupta, MD & Global CEO, Aegis Limited; Nikhil Rajpal, Principal, Everest Group; Oscar Sanez, President & CEO, BPAP; Raju Bhatnagar, VP for BPO Initiatives, NASSCOM; and Swaminathan Dandapani, CEO & MD, Infosys BPO Ltd.

With the theme, “Global Leaders Addressing Global Issues,” the second annual IOS will feature in-depth discussions on the next phase of growth for the BPO industry, outsourcing locations, challenges for growth, education, telecommunication service provision, and new technologies. Key emerging verticals such as retail, health, business development, banking and finance, marketing, and human resources (HR) outsourcing will be the subject of break-out sessions.

Aside from top BPO and shared services players, companies, associations, and government agencies that serve as industry enablers and otherwise provide support for service delivery will be represented at the two-day summit. They include SGV & Company, Ayala Land Inc., SM Land, Globe Telecom, PLDT, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, and the American Chamber of Commerce.

“This active participation of key industry players and allied industries is testament to the industry’s shared vision to further enhance the delivery of outsourcing and shared services, as well as the Philippines’ position as a top global destination for these services,” added Sañez.

Through a press briefing with TELUS International President Jeff Puritt, BPO and Call Center Company Telus International Philippines Inc. said it would expand its operations by 800 seats next year. This would mean additional call center jobs for Filipinos.

The company is keen in identifying their next facilities in Manila that would be established by 2011 and will soon have some provincial facilities by 2012. The company remains positive toward Philippine human capital resources. At present, Telus Philippines has facilities in the cities of Pasig, Taguig, and Quezon, employing almost 9,000 individuals.

Javier Infante, Telus Philippines president and CEO, who was also in the press briefing, said that the company will soon open opportunities for its workforce toward completing undergraduate and postgraduate degrees via the Telus International University. He said that some 40 percent Telus Philippines employees were “forced to enter into the workforce” before completing their undergraduate studies because of economic reasons.

Because of this, the company will offer CHED-recognized degrees in business management, entrepreneurship, and information technology in Quezon City and Taguig through its tie up with the top universities in Manila. This move is expected to improve the employee-retention rate of Telus Philippines. Telus Philippines is now in talks with at least five Manila-based universities on the education and training of student-employees.

Some 50 students are already lined up to start the program who have proven their “merit and tenure” in the contact center company. Infante said it will support interested team members through a subsidized loan program. “We can subsidize close to 50 percent of their education expenses,” said Puritt. He also said that immediate family members of employees may also take advantage of the education program on “discounted” terms. The company will invest millions of pesos annually to support this trendsetting project.

TELUS is known in the industry for providing unique and rewarding benefits to its employees that is being copied later on by other companies. Incidentally, TELUS Philippines won the ICCT’s BPO Employer of the Year award for 2009.

Convergys Corp., a global company focusing on relationship management, recently announced that it has signed a contract with Alltel Wireless for a BSS solution to include Service Activation Manager, Customer Service Manager, Rating and Billing Manager, Real-Time Convergent Charging Solution and Active Mediation, as well as Convergys Dynamic Decisioning Solution.

According to a press release, Convergys solutions will replace Alltel’s in-house legacy system to reinforce its position of customer advocacy.

“Efficiencies, differentiation in the market place, and long term partnership viability are the key aspects to our B/OSS platform decision,” said Lewis Langston, CIO, Alltel Wireless. “We felt through our evaluation process that we had the best relationship fit with Convergys.”

“Alltel Wireless has a clear vision of how it wants to treat its customers and Convergys’ solutions will help Alltel realize that vision,” said Bob Lento, President, Information Management, Convergys. “With easy-to-use BSS interfaces, Alltel Wireless can respond quickly to changes in the competitive landscape, designing and launching new and compelling offers to its customers.

“Recent Convergys research indicates that loyal customers are 25 percent more receptive and responsive to proactive customer care and messaging. With the Dynamic Decisioning Solution, Alltel can further satisfy its customers with proactive personalized messages tailored to their specific needs,” continued Lento.

Allied Wireless Communications Corp., doing business as Alltel Wireless, is a wireless telecommunications provider.