Philippine call center industry foresees continuous growth, new study says

First collaborative study reveals the resiliency of the Philippine contact center industry amid the global economic downturn and its future growth.

The contact center industry in the Philippines is expected to grow more than ever in the coming years with revenues and manpower also growing significantly, according to this year's business survey organized by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The survey is the first official benchmarking study in partnership between CCAP, the largest association of outsourced call centers and PwC, one of the world's professional service firms. This report is aimed at providing a very clear understanding of the country's competitive measures required to keep its BPO industry ahead of the game.

Of the 60+ CCAP members, 31 participated in the survey including Magellan Solutions Outsourcing Inc., a dynamic Philippines-based call center with more than 250 employees. The center to date offers a wide range of service to the emerging small and medium businesses globally. "We believe that by participating in this survey, we can benchmark our competitiveness not only with our peers but more importantly, as an industry," said Fred Chua, Magellan's chief executive officer.

In the CCAP study, the United States remains the largest source of clients with 90% share of the market, followed by the United Kingdom at 76% and Australia, 74%. While the call center firms primarily focus on servicing the English-speaking markets, the survey reveals other spaces emerging as potential areas for expansion. These are the Spanish language services and the European market. All respondents are presently offering services in English handling inbound, outbound and blended type calls.

On the type of services offered by the respondents, complaints handling top the list followed by account and product questions, help desk or technical support, order taking and confirmation, and telecollection. "These services only confirm the caliber of Filipino call center professionals in handling customer concerns which make us attractive to international clients," Chua said. Over 80% of firms according to the survey cater to telecommunication clients, followed by the financial services, technology, business services, consumer packaged goods, healthcare, hospitality and leisure and media industries.

In spite of the challenging global environment, the contact center industry in the Philippines remains confident it will surpass its expectations next year, receiving a much-deserved reputation as the "Sunshine Industry." "There is no stopping the Philippine contact center industry in eyeing positive growth because of the competencies we bring as world-class Filipino Knowledge Professionals. As a call center offering high-quality contact center services to small and medium businesses, we are sure that they can reap in the major advantages of outsourcing in the years to come," Chua said.

For more information about Magellan Solutions Outsourcing Inc. and the services it provides to small and medium businesses, go to http://www.magellan-solutions.com.