Thursday, July 2, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES [ BusinessWorld Online ]
DATA PROVIDER Thomson Reuters Corp. yesterday opened a customer service facility in Taguig that will serve as the company’s primary English-language support center for clients all over the world.
The new 500-seat customer support center at Megaworld Corp.’s McKinley Hill will provide 24-hour global support and serve as a "single point of contact to pre- and post-sales support."
"This will complement our non-English support centers in Geneva and Sydney. Also, our global head directing our technical support teams nationwide will [be based] here in Manila," Thomas Frossel, Thomson Reuters global head of customer service, told reporters.
More than 80 professionals have already been trained to man the call center.
"Having a background in finance and other business matters is an advantage but we also provide extensive training so that the quality of service is ensured," Mr. Frossel said.
The site started operations on May 25 with agents taking calls from businessmen, investors, and traders all over the world.
Thomson Reuters’ Philippine site operations manager Raoul Teh said the site is expected to be "fully maximized" in two years.
"We are currently coordinating with local universities such as the University of the Philippines, De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, and University of Santo Tomas for recruitment," Mr. Teh said.
"[Aside from this site] there are a lot in the pipeline, but we still cannot disclose details at this point. Manila has been the epicenter of foreign businesses in offshoring their services," Mr. Teh added.
Mr. Teh also said Thomson Reuters’ legal content operation training programs have started.
"There are roughly 50 people being trained for six to eight weeks and the facility for this project is expected to be opened around the third quarter of this year," he stated.
"Thomson Reuters is committed to having a long-term relationship with the Philippines and we will continue to roll out significant investments in terms of facilities, premises and training," Mr. Frossel said.
New York-based Thomson Reuters provides information to decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, scientific, health care, and media markets. The company employs more than 50,000 employees in 93 countries worldwide.
It has contact centers in Bangalore, Gdynia, Beijing, Geneva and Sydney.
Thomson Reuters reported $3.12 billion in revenues in the first quarter, with $224 million in profits from continuing operations. This was an increase from $1.8 billion and $193 million, respectively, in the same period last year.
The erstwhile Thomson Corp., the family-owned Canadian publisher, bought the British news service Reuters for $17.2 billion in 2007. — Jeremiah F. de Guzman
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