Call Center Set Up in the Philippines
The Philippines is home to more than 800 call centers and BPO service providers that have set up a presence in the country over the last 10 years. The year 2000 marked the birth of the Philippine call center and BPO industry. Today, roughly a decade later, the Philippines as the world’s leading offshore destination for English-speaking, voice-related call center services. Over the last years, the process of setting up a call center in the Philippines has become not only faster, cheaper but also a whole lot more convenient. In addition to the aforementioned, the options where to locate and/or set up a call center have also significantly increased. From the year 2000 to 2004 almost all call center set ups in the Philippines took place within the country’s two main business districts, namely Makati and Ortigas City. Companies considering a call center set up in the Philippines today have far more options. Some of the more popular locations for setting up a call center in the Philippines are Makati City, Ortigas City, Alabang, Eastwood, and Cebu City. Over the last 4 years large call center service providers such as TeleTech and Convergys have successfully set-up call centers facilities in more remote places such as IloIlo, Dumagette and Bacolod (just to name a few). The cost and availability of labor were the key drivers for their decision to set up offices in the aforementioned provinces.
Companies that are considering setting up a call center presence in the Philippines have multiple options to do so. Two of the most popular options are:
Option1: Call Center set up through facility lease
The Leasing of an entire, fully operational call center facility or a part of a call center facility in the Philippines is the first most popular option. By leasing a call center facility enterprises have the advantage that they can almost start operating immediately without having to wait several months for finding a suitable location and the physical call center facility build out. In addition to the aforementioned, the leasing of a call center facility also does not require a heavy upfront investment and is therefore the preferred option for companies (captive operators) or call centers alike.
Option 2: Placement of a foreign direct investment
The second option for companies considering to set up a call center presence in the Philippines is build a call center facility of their own form scratch. The advantage for this option is that companies have full control and ownership of pretty much all aspects in regards to the call center facility. Companies opting to build their own facilities have to be prepared to make a substantial investment. In addition to a heavy, upfront cash layout companies also need to consider that a call center facility build out can easily take several months to be completed. The more remote the location of the facility, the longer is the time needed to set-up the call center. It also needs to be mentioned, that companies opting to build their own center usually encounter numerous unexpected delays and often technological difficulties when starting the operation. Option 2 is therefore only advisable for large-sized call centers and/or captive operators that have significant experience in setting-up call centers and/or have the necessary funds to contract the country’s leading call center infrastructure providers.