Of Call Center Outsourcing, Happiness, and Work

I have a friend working at a call center outsourcing center. He says that it is such a great place to work. I on the other hand am doing freelance right now and doing jobs where all I really need is a working personal computer and internet connection. I could do my job anywhere, that’s the perks of doing freelance work online.

Whatever one’s job is, it can get boring after some time. There is nothing that can stop this. It is just natural. People seldom love their work, that’s why it is called work. There is no need to be shy about it. But the more repetitive the work, the more hateful it can be. And also, the more restricted a job is, the more boring it can be. So if you want work that is enjoyable, then you better be sure that the job requires fieldwork.

Call center outsourcing companies require their agents to be stuck in a chair for a whole day while talking to either disinterested, irritated, or even angry people through the phone. This can of job can really test a person who seeks freedom. More so, if the person who works this way lacks a lot of other sources of happiness in his or her life, then it can be a problem.

But despite this, getting a job as an agent in a call center outsourcing company can still be quit rewarding. All that needs to be done is for one to find ways in order to keep oneself happy. This is why call center agents love to go out during the weekends or after work. There are also many benefits in getting a job in a call center. The pay is definitely competitive and the job, though repetitive, is relatively easy to do.

FHA Loans for Our Flooded House

Our family had to get refinancing through FHA loans programs recently. This was because there was a great flood in our area. It was such a horrible experience, something that will haunt me for some nights to come. Not only did I almost drown, my family was also in the brink of annihilation.

It all started one day. There was a storm warning but the weather report did not require us to take shelter somewhere high up. There was no flood warning. And I slept though the night. Turns out, it rained and rained through the whole night. I not home; I was sleeping in our condo near my college. When I woke up, I was surprised to see that the grounds of our condominium were already under water. The whole first floor was submerged. The water was a little higher than four feet. I was really scared. The good thing is that my room was in the second floor. Later we would discover that the storm dumped nearly two and a half week’s worth of rain water in just seven hours. Also, there was some trouble in the dam and it over flowed dumping a lot of water in the whole area. That was when I thought about my mother and little sister in our house. I quickly braved the floods and went as close to where our house was. And just as I have feared, the flood was very bad in our area. Our house was submerged. I used my binoculars and saw that my mother and sister were on the roof. I quickly called for help because the two of them did not know how to swim very well. Some rescuers even used surf boards just to reach them. Good thing we got them just in time.

So our house was in ruin. We had to fix a lot of things. That’s why we took an FHA loans refinancing and took some of our equity out to use for the repairs.

Call Center in the Philippines: The Worst Types of Callers

There are many annoying callers. When you work at a call center in the Philippines, you get to meet them all. But there are annoying customer callers, and then there are really bad callers. These are the types that you would dread to have.

The time Consumers
In every call center in the Philippines or anywhere else, there will always be a time limit set for the call center agent. Generally, each call should just amount to five to ten minutes each. When an agent takes to long to close calls that consumes time and money. It also means that the agent might not be that capable of handling explanations and what-not. But there are time consumers out there that just break one’s track record. Those callers who ask about everything, who are too chatty, or who are clueless and undecided are usually the culprits.

Lost in Translation
There are people who are lost in translation. This means that they either have very incomprehensibly thick accents, or they have very bad English, or both. This is one tough challenge for anybody who works in a call center. There is just almost no chance for an agent to make this call go smoothly.

Angry
This perhaps needs no explanation. A lot of callers call angry because those who are having problems with their product or service are the ones with the most reason to call.

Angry and Irrational
This is the deadliest combination of them all. This is very different from people who are merely angry. The angry people, you know have some reason why they are angry. However, those who are angry and irrational are just enough to make any agent from call center in the Philippines or anywhere else to want talk back. Imagine if a person yells and cusses you on the phone while spouting irrational statements. It is truly the worst type of caller.

Do you Have what it take to be a Philippines Call Center Agent?

A lot of Filipinos have already considered working in a Philippines call center. And this is perfectly acceptable. There is definitely a lot of perks when one decides to work in a Philippines call center. For one thing, you can be entry level or you do not even need have finished college to work in a Philippine call center. All that one needs is the right stuff and good English speaking skills and you will become a definite candidate to be accepted in a call center. However, this is actually a big misconception. Not all call center jobs are easy. And not everyone can get in. There are many other details that one needs to keep into account.

First of all, just because one can speak fluent English, it does not mean that one is already a good Philippines call center candidate. One also needs to be able to process English speaking skills quite well. This means that one must be an excellent communicator who can quickly comprehend what the caller needs and issues are. One also needs to have a neutral English accent. Those who speak with a heavy accent and with bad pronunciation will have a difficult time getting into a call center. This is because it may get in the way of the communication process. Fortunate for us Filipinos, our English accent is a lot more neutral as compared to other countries. And this can also be developed and improved through training.

Secondly not all call center accounts are the same. This means that there are different skills that are required per project. One might have to do a lot of computations in some accounts. Computer literacy is a must as well as typing skills for any Philippines call center agent. Some accounts such as trouble shooting accounts also really on technical knowledge.

Moving from India to the Philippines: Asian Call Center

Our company was one of the first of those who first ventured into the call center industry. At first we set up one of the first call centers in India way back in 1997. Indian call centers were very busy. I did however never get used to the bad smell. It was everywhere, the body odor was overpowering. And the streets also smelled because they had a lot of cows and animals using the streets. Then our company noticed a change in the scene. Several large companies were closing down their Indian operations and were moving to the Philippines. Then all major companies started moving half or more than half of their operations to the Philippines for some reason.

This exodus was followed by our company. We then set up our own contact center operations in the newest fastest growing Asian call center location in the business. The Philippines was a very good choice. For one thing, the horrible body odor-like smell that permeated the whole of India including its cuisine was gone. In fact it’s quite the opposite. Filipinos it seems love to take baths. They take two baths a day in fact. And everyone was very courteous and friendly as opposed to India where you can’t walk in the streets without getting pissed of at some rude passerby giving you the look. It is a cultural thing. Filipinos are known internationally for their warmth and hospitality. I definitely prefer setting up shop there. Eventually we erected two buildings in a couple of the business parks in Manila.

The best part in having a contact center in the Philippines is that the agents were all so easy to train. They teach English there from kindergarten to college. No Filipino graduates without having an intimate knowledge of the English language. This is the edge of the country. Also, they have such a close cultural affinity with the U.S.

Philippine Call Center - English Only Policy

Working in the call center in the Philippines is extraordinary because of their strict English only policy replicated in the entire working force of the company. The company imposed this policy to further enhance the English communication skill of their people.

Call center agents are required to speak the international language while inside the premises of the company. The employees are prohibited to speak their native dialect especially if they're on call and staying inside the company. The English only policy is created not to demerit the Philippines national language. The call center workers should understand that they are working in a highly regulated management in response to the high demand in the booming business process outsourcing industry. Any agent who caught speaking in Tagalog is subject for verbal and written warning. The English only policy is often misunderstood in per say that it is a violation.

Call center employees are trained efficiently in handling their customers. The policy will give them adept understanding in applying the American culture in a unique working environment. Whether you like it or not, the agents are willfully advised to speak English all the time because speaking English does not mean replacing or degrading your native language. The success of the company also depends on how effective the agents in handling customers support inquiries. Oftentimes, the customers are complaining because of the language barrier and the accent of the agents. If the agent failed to satisfy their customers, this might affect the reputation of the company. American consumers like to criticize the quality and the productivity of the products, which also include criticizing the customer support service of the company. If the support center isn't effective, the output of the customers' satisfaction is also a failure.

If you try to analyze, the source of the problem is due to the very simple language barrier which was not given immediate solution. This will not happen if the agents were trained properly of what's the product information. Product knowledge will serve as guidance and window of opportunity to allow the agents to help their valued customers all the time. Accurate details and advises are needed by the clients to help them understand before and after buying the products. Making the customers happy is an achievement not only by the agents but also with the company.

Undoubtedly, Filipino customer service has strong communication skills because of their culture and recognizing English as one of their primary language. There customers will understand them better because of their capability to blend with the American way. The success of the call center industry in the Philippines is attributed with the magnificent workers. Filipino customer service representatives are trained to be efficient in understanding their customers. The English only policy is very helpful in improving their accent, their intonation, and speaking like in an American music. No wonder that any call center in the Philippines is improving and gives outstanding service with their clients worldwide. Potential locators who want to invest in the Philippines continue to believe that there's future on their business if they partnered with the Filipinos. Meanwhile, any school institutions in the Philippines implement the English policy in order to boost the international language and help the students overcome problem in communicating with their friends in English. This is inline with the success of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the world today, which fuel the country's economy.

To date, you notice how really good are these people from communicating in English because of their training background and their school institution they came from. In the next following years, the outsourcing industry will provide millions of job to every Filipino eliminating poverty and other economic crisis.

Rewards of Choosing Philippine Call Center Providers

Difficult economic situations also make the offshore call center business a very welcome option for most Filipinos. With higher-than-average rates in comparison to most other occupations, especially at the entry level, being a call center agent can truly alleviate one's financial burdens in the Philippines. Also, as mentioned earlier, Filipinos are adept at English so they are easily trained to become excellent customer support representatives.

Being a call center agent is also a popular 'transitional' job for Filipino college graduates. With the economic crisis, it is becoming harder and harder to find a job that is related to one's course in college. However, most call centers are willing to accept anyone who finished any degree. With call centers almost always in constant hiring, graduates who are still looking for jobs, deciding their career path, or wanting to make money to use in setting up a business of their own turn to call centers for solutions to their own problems.

Today, the Philippines has become one of the major outsourcing hubs of the world. As more firms realize the importance of concentrating on their core competencies, they are turning to Philippine off-shore call center providers to manage their important but non-core functions. This strategy helps them strengthen their brands and better manage their reactions to changing market dynamics.

Philippine call centers offer a vast range of services that suit diverse customer needs. Whether you want to offshore the management of customer inquiries or are looking for a call center that acts as a technical helpdesk, Philippine call center companies can provide a solution that takes care of your exact needs.


What can you outsource to the Philippines?

Philippine call centers offer various kinds of back-office services including: Phone support services like customer service, sales, tech support; telemarketing; email support services; chat support services; and many others.

Which call center company should I choose?

There are numerous call center companies in the Philippines. How do you know who to trust? Some are more well-established than others, but depending solely on the brand name and the firm's length of stay isn't always reliable. You should also look at the level of technology the company uses, the list of services it offers, employees' experience, and of course, value for your money. It will almost always be guaranteed, however, that whatever your decision is, your demands will be more than satisfactorily met.

Philippines Call Center - BPO Capital of the World

The growth of the Information Technology sector coupled with the steadily rising need for faster and efficient customer service by major service and manufacturing companies has prompted the rise of Philippines call center companies to meet their stringent client demands. Instead of adding company resources to meet their after market service, major companies now turn to specialized third parties like the call center companies from the Philippines.

Philippines call center services includes inbound customer service, outbound telemarketing, lead generation, customer contact services, finance and accounting, legal and medical transcription, logistics, administration, technical support, web development, software development, language training and human resources management. In the demand of quality customer service, these companies are now major players across the globe.

Recent technological advancements has even made it much more easier for Philippine call centers to work effectively even cross over borders and countries, of which opened up doors for the establishment of small and medium outsourcing companies in Philippines not only for United States clients but also for United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Companies from these countries are now eyeing the Philippines as the premiere resource for the workforce. Small and medium companies have 100 to 500 call agents while the renowned call center has 1000 to 5000 call agents across the country. This is primarily due to the effectiveness of business pattern which is cost-efficient, quality and quantity leads and most of all professional competence among the call center agents.

Knowing Philippines Business Process Outsourcing as an economic arm, the Philippine government also lent its support by allocating appropriate places and aiding BPO companies both local and foreign managed companies prepares their requirements in putting their facilities in the country. Hence today, BPO park can be seen sprouting in places such as Manila, Makati, Pasig, Alabang, Cebu City and Bacolod with Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Angeles, Dagupan, Davao, Dumaguete, Lipa, Ilo-ilo, and Legazpi City also being put in the limelight for optimized offshore operations.