The BIG ones VS. The small ones
I have been working in the call center Industry for almost 4 years now and I have been to several centers already specifically in Manila, Philippines
I have been to the BIG ones and to the small ones too but I started off small in a 50 seat center in Ortigas owned by an American, I was 18, young and just got off from my first few years in college and I had totally no Idea of what the call center industry is, as months passed by everything was running really smoothly not until I got rushed to the hospital for anxiety panic attack and has been restrained by my parents from working for the center and was forced to go back to school instead. A few years had past and here I am back into the Call Center Industry and this time I aimed for the BIG ones and luckily I did get in to one and to another one and another one and finally I went back to where I started the small one in Ortigas owned by an American.
So I’ve been there done that and these and here is how I see BIG ones VS. The small ones, of course this is opinionated:
BIG ones have extensive and complex structures of employees both in operations and management and I’d say are a lot more famous than the smaller ones because they have their dedicated team for marketing and all that. Job seeker also finds it more stable to stay and work with a BIG call center primarily because they feel more secured about their jobs if it’s a BIG company and indeed that was one factor that I myself considered when I applied in one on the BIG ones and indeed I got those security stuffs that I was wanting, a really promising salary, I had an HMO(Health Insurance), A term life insurance, free meals, nice BIG parties, Gym discounts and a lot more perks and privileges that a BIG center can give you. In short I drowned into it and loved it so much but as time goes by you will finally figure out the cons and the flaw of the BIG ones, too much stress and politics and pretty much a very lesser chance of leveraging your career standings because for once this BIG call centers have thousands of employees and pretty much just needs a few hundred supervisors, managers and trainers so for you to be able to step it up one more ladder up you are in for the greatest competition of your life and not to mention again the great and strong politics in the BIG ones. On the other hand working for the smaller centers isn’t the worst experience at all, although they lack some of the perks and privileges of the BIG ones there are still a lot more to love on to this centers, right now I am back in to the small ones primarily because I finally had enough of everything of the BIG ones, inhumane schedules, never ending schedule swaps and changes, raging politics and all that. Now I may not have my HMO(Health Insurance) or any of the said Grand perks and privileges and not even the Humongous amount of salary I used to have but at least with this small company I find less politics and mere peace and harmony with my fewer co-workers, a bit slacker rules, metrics and regulations than of the BIG ones which makes you feel more relaxed and stress free but still you get to be paid a nice and decent premium and most of all you still have a job and a paycheck per paycheck life just like with the BIG ones and most of all you can reach your goal position and ladder up your post in no time. In the end BIG or small what is most important is that you have your livelihood and that you are happy on what you do and that you do it BEST.
Philippine Call Centers VS. India Call Centers
The Philippines has officially overtook India in call centers and voice related work as of today, and how exactly did that happen?
· The Philippines was colonized by the Americans for roughly 48 years so there is a strong similarity and familiarity towards the American culture and many Filipinos now live in the USA as well.
· What is more, English is used in the education system and is widely spoken by Filipinos. And the Philippines Produces Hundreds of thousands of English Speaking College Graduates each year.
· Filipino officials visited India to See for themselves and study if why Call Centers Industry is such a big one in India. When they returned to the Philippines, they rationalized the approval process for the setting up of call centers and changed their rules to allow individual buildings to become special economic zones offering tax breaks, quick clearances for permits and exemptions from import duties for necessary IT and Telco equipment. In addition, a government-sponsored training program through TESDA was created to improve the English and communication skills of students who wish to work in the industry.
· Philippine senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said she would file a measure to further jump-start support for the BPO industry and its workers plus she urged other legislators to come up with laws that would support this so-called “booming sunshine industry” in the country.
· The Philippines has a lot more younger work force than those of in India.
To summarize, The Philippines has formally overtaken the Call Center crown from India by adopting through a lot of things and by still curving literacy through the industry as we speak. But in the contrary we are still far behind by a few aspects by India Including IT and software related jobs since India produces about nearly half a million IT graduates each year. In short The Philippines has overtaken India in call centers, however it remains far behind in more sophisticated outsourcing services.
CALL CENTER AGENT LIFE IN THE PHILIPPINES
Working in a call center firm is very decisive much more to those operators. On the part of workers like me and anybody else we know that this is not a lifetime career for us but because of the sudden job popularity, people here are encouraged to work instead of working outside boarder. On the other hand, for those operators who are investing time, effort and patience to run a business like this, they need to provide everything to keep it effective, sensible and profitable of course.
More often than usual, call center contribute or supply larger amount of employment almost every quarter of the year. The main reason why entrepreneurs chose to outsource here in the Philippines, because both big and small business centers are into job seekers for the reason that employment here is somewhat available. Filipinos wants to broaden their skills and knowledge and that could only mean that we can do multi tasking job.
Call Center life here in the Philippines is measured as the practical work these days. When it comes to accessibility, Filipinos are highly capable because of being flexible. There are people working even part time for this kind of job while studying. Reasons why foreign countries want to outsource here because they believed on the talents , intelligence and lifestyles of some Asian countries especially here in the Philippines.
Everyday you will see numbers of applicants here in Ortigas looking for job, job that could possibly give them wondrous experiences. The moment you get into this kind of work you will see for yourself the different changes that could happen. Late at night hangouts, taking advantage of spiffs and commissions, new colleagues, and interesting working environment are some of those changes. For people spend their time to this kind of profession, some find it motivating for them for their personal growth.
CALL CENTERS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Putting up of whichever kind of company, especially call center business, it is very essential to have enough understanding on how to run this kind of business. If you will notice here in the Philippines, basically on some recognized cities, there are offices rents here lower than the other foreign cities. If you have in mind of putting up one, by choosing lower cost of rental you can take advantage of it to have minimal operating expense.
Of course when you want to begin or set up any kind of business, you will need people to work for you. You should have at least these following factors to think with reference to capital, location, and price. Money matters as I was trying to say. Certainly, you would want to earn when you invest, Right? And it will take time for you to achieve them. That is why you need to take quality as your initial consideration. You will need quality people that can provide you quality service in order for you to do it.
Obviously, call centers in the Philippines is highly in demand for the fact that it is less expensive when it comes to renting offices, by terms of employment availability here, that is why other businessman will definitely wanted to expand or outsource their business here in the Philippines.
It may be said that the Filipinos are patient and hardworking. Being on the phone for the total of 7-8 hours a day is not that easy if you’re not patient as much as necessary. It has often said that for the succeeding years, call center jobs here in the Philippines will still be the favored employment instead of working overseas
Philippines Call Center Cost Going up?
Over the last year the cost to operate in the Philippines has gone up about 30% mostly because of the staff are requesting more pay, because the quality of employees in the Philippines is getting allot better in both sales and customer service. There are some call centers in the Philippines that are offering very low rates, but at the end of the day you are not going to get some one working for you that you are going to be happy with, like the cost for the higher level staff are not going to take the low wages that these call centers are asking for.
The quality of the agents here in Philippines compared to all other countries is much better, because of the influence of America over the last 100 years, the agents that are requesting more money is because they don’t have an accent, unlike some of the other agents other call centers are offering at packages like 700 or 900 dollars a month.
Two things that most companies are looking at when they are looking for a Philippines call center is the quality and price which one is more important to you?
I’m not talking about prices like $20 or even $12 dollars an hour, much lower than that compared to allot of the lager companies requesting that amount, and not even talking about the advances or the deposits.
One of the most important things when you are doing outsourcing, is making sure that the agents that are working for you have a good American accent and they understand what your customers are asking when they have a question.
You get what you pay for, Or if you do decide to work with a call center in the Philippines that has a very low rate then at least make sure you can pick your agent before they start.
