The Global Association for Contact Center Best Practices & Networking

September 4, 2010 -- President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Friday vowed to strengthen the country’s business process outsourcing (BPO) sector by reducing power cost, increasing power availability and upgrading technology.

President Aquino led the inauguration of the new facility of top BPO firm Convergys at Vertex One Building in San Lazaro area of Manila’s Santa Cruz district.
Also present during the event was Mayor Alfredo Lim of Manila.

In his speech, the President said he ordered Chairman Ivan Uy of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology to ensure that telecommunication companies upgrade their technologies to expand bandwidth available to the BPO sector without resulting in prohibitive data costs.
"Our administration has also committed to shortening the amount of time and paperwork necessary to start a business, sparing our investors from agonizing lines and costly red tape in securing government permits," Mr. Aquino added.

He said that the BPO sector in the country plays a "stellar role" in the economy, noting that 80 percent of the total outsourcing business are call centers, which provides jobs for 557,000 Filipinos.

"The duties and taxes you contribute to the national account redound to more funds the government can use to build more schools and in providing basic health care to our people," the President added.

"As other nations reeled from the effects of recession during the global financial crisis, our nation viewed the BPO industry as a beacon of opportunity in grim economic times," he said.

The President described Convergys as "an exemplar of high standards" and that the opening of its new center at San Lazaro offers opportunities for students to be financially independent.

"This is a reflection of your dedication, not just to providing service to your clients, but in opening up opportunities for young Filipinos," he said.
The San Lazaro contact center boasts of a recruitment arm, executive and administrative offices, training rooms, conference rooms and employee lounges.

It has an area of 139,000 square feet  and can hold 2,400 employees.
Within seven years, Convergys has grown, its workforce reaching 22,000 in 12 contact center facilities in the country—seven in Metro Manila, three in Cebu City, one in Bacolod City and one in Santa Rosa City, Laguna.

It will open three more facilities at the end of the year.

The San Lazaro center services Convergys’ global customers, including 25 clients belonging to Fortune 50 companies, via telephone, e-mail and web chat.

"We continue to experience a high client demand, specifically for customer service support in the Philippines," Marife Zamora, Convergys Philippines country manager and managing director for Asia-Pacific/EMEA, said in a statement.

The local BPO sector this year expects revenues to reach about $9 billion, about 25-percent higher than last year’s.
Total industry employment is projected to reach up to 600,000 by yearend.

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.manilatimes.net

About Convergys:
Convergys Corporation is a global provider in relationship management. We provide solutions that drive more value from the relationships our clients have with their customers and employees. Convergys turns these everyday interactions into a source of profit and strategic advantage for our clients. For more than 30 years, our unique combination of domain expertise, operational excellence, and innovative technologies has delivered process improvement and actionable business insight to clients that now span more than 70 countries and 35 languages. Convergys, a Fortune Most Admired Company for nine consecutive years, has approximately 70,000 employees in 82 customer contact centers and other facilities in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and our global headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.