By Bobbit Mariano
03/18/2008 [ tribune.net.ph ]
Telecom New Zealand (Telecom) is all set to begin a four-month call center trial operation in Manila next month to see if it was “feasible” to move its contact center operations in the Philippines.
Answering Tribune’s inquiry, Ian Bonnar, media relations executive, said Telecom is expected to test the handling of some of the calls for its Mass Consumer Call Center in Manila in partnership with Teletech.
Bonnar said the trial will also incorporate 42 Manila-based employees, which is around 10 percent of the total number of staff employed by the Mass Consumer Call Center in New Zealand.
The purpose of the trial is to assess the customer reaction to the service they receive. Research will be collated over the duration of the four-month pilot program, and then use it to decide if some or all of the Mass Consumer Call Center is to be moved to Manila, by comparing it with customer satisfaction levels reported from the New Zealand contact center. The Mass Consumer Call Center deals with general customer inquiries, such as billing inquiries, Bonnar explained.
To date, there are about 1,500 staff employed in Telecom New Zealand call center operations overall. Telecom manages some of its own call center operations and outsources further call center operations to Teletech and SiTel. Currently around 300 frontline staff are based in Manila, Bonnar noted.
“We already have some contact center operations in Manila. Since 1998 Telecom has outsourced some of its contact center services to two international call center suppliers, SiTel and Teletech. But, Telecom NZ has only outsourced out of Manila since 2006. That means several of our outsourced contact centers already have representatives in Manila,” he said.
Asked why Telecom NZ chose the Philippines and not other countries for its contact center operation, Bonnar said: “We already have several contact centers running successfully in Manila so it was the logical choice to choose Manila for this latest pilot.”
The trial in the Philippines will be supported by trainers, team leaders and mentors from Hamilton NZ. It was reported more than 100 contact center jobs were lost in Palmerston North last year when the Yellow Pages group outsourced the work to the Philippines.
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