Launch Your Business Nationwide With A Call Center

(OfficialWire)

NEW YORK, NY

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US Call Center's nationwide call center assists all kinds of businesses by providing all of your communication needs. From message taking to order taking, from faxing messages to paging emergency calls, our nationwide call center is at your service. At US Call Center, we answer your calls and forward your messages to the appropriate parties in your company. Your inbound calls come through our nationwide call center and your messages are efficiently delivered. US Call Center offers the use of a nationwide call center organization that has over 40 years experience in inbound and outbound call center services.

The size of your company, doesn't matter to us at all. We're your at your service. We maintain state of the art equipment and experienced live operators in our nationwide call center who answer all of your calls, even while you sleep! Our nationwide call center answers calls for all types of businesses, from doctors and lawyers, to building managers and funeral homes. If you use a phone to conduct your business we have experienced professional personnel here in our nationwide call center, answering your lines around the clock.

Our nationwide call center faxes or e-mails your messages on any schedule that you choose. We set up your account to transmit your messages in the form of emails, pages, and texts to your office or phone from our nationwide call center. You can retrieve them from anywhere through our nationwide call center. If your business is on the web, we take phone orders for your products all day and night long from our nationwide call center.

If you wish, as your nationwide call center, we answer your phones all day and text your messages to your phone. Whether you are a florist, concert hall, tree surgeon, auto glass repair---we answer your phone lines in our nationwide call center. Whether your business is in your home or in a large office building, as your nationwide call center we can be your virtual office without the burden of hiring additional employees and paying health insurance or overtime. At US Call Center, we pride ourselves in our ability to jump from one industry type to another with the confidence that only 40 years of experience as a nationwide call center provides.

Is your business growing faster than you are? Are you understaffed but can't afford to hire additional help? Are your phones ringing off the hook? Let us take the pressure off and answer your phones for you from our nationwide call center. Just think, while you are out with your clients your phones are answered by our nationwide call center and messages are going straight to your phone. Your clients will be impressed. You will never miss a call. Give US Call Center a ring. As your nationwide call center, we look forward to answering your phone.

Source: http://www.officialwire.com

US outsourcing firm forms RP unit; call center to serve Canada

AMERICAN OUTSOURCING firm Fusion BPO Services, Inc. has set up a local unit to oversee a planned 250-seat call center that will provide outbound and inbound services to customers in Canada.

The new firm, Fusion BPO Services Phils., Inc. has P10 million in authorized capital, P8.99 million of which were paid for by its American parent. Incorporators include Pankaj Dhanuka, Rajani Saraogi, Ritesh Charaborty and Gaurav Vimal, who hold one share each.

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the firm’s incorporation on Tuesday.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr. Vimal, senior manager of Fusion BPO Philippines, said the company is still looking for a location for its office, but would most likely put up operations in Ortigas, Pasig.

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300 jobs at call center

The TeleTech Holdings Inc. call center in Niagara Falls is seeking up to 300 temporary workers to assist customers seeking information about a specific plan offered under Medicare Part D—the prescription drug coverage portion of Medicare.

A job fair for those interested in applying is set for today and Thursday at 333 First St. in Niagara Falls. Interested candidates are encouraged to first apply for the positions online at www.hirepoint.com , before attending the job fair that will be open from 9 a. m. to 6 p. m. both days. TeleTech’s contract with a particular Medicare PartDprovider, which company spokesman declined to identify, is expected to keep the corps of workers busy through next February.

Wages for the positions will start at $10 for a four-week training process, which will begin Oct. 10, and $10.75 per hour thereafter. Shifts with different start times and different lengths will be available seven days a week. Applicants should have a high school diploma, strong computer skills and customer service experience.

TeleTech employs about 48,000 people in 77 centers in 17 countries. More information is available at www.teletech.com —George Pyle

Source: http://www.buffalonews.com/

‘Work-From-Home’ Plan for Call Center Agents

MANILA, Philippines – Call center agents working the graveyard shift are no strangers to crime.

A police report last June revealed that authorities arrested two suspects who allegedly held up a call center agent and took her mobile phones while she was on her way to work at around 11 p.m.

While police were able to arrest the suspects, they were unable to retrieve the mobile phones of the victim.

Another report said that a call center agent was mauled while robbers carted her valuables in Bacolod.

Aware of the risks call center agents face when they leave their homes at odd hours, a software firm is pushing for them to simply work from home, giving them the much-needed safety that they need from theft and other crimes.

“Let’s face it: if I have a daughter who will work the graveyard shift who will have to commute alone…there’s too much risk. And I think their concern is valid. The thing is, there’s still this pool of agents that we do not know about who has the aptitude, the skills, the knowledge, to be contact center agents but we cannot tap them because of these concerns,” said Edgar Doctolero, Avaya’s Country Director.

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More Call-Center Jobs on the Way

Company adding 100 positions here as that job sector continues to grow

About 100 call-center jobs are coming to Columbus, adding to the region's solid base in that market sector.

"We're adding the jobs in the next two months," said iQor Inc. spokesman Robert Burke. Starting pay will top out at $13 an hour, plus bonuses.

The New York-based company has a call-center facility on the Northeast Side with about 800 employees.

The company has almost 11,000 employees worldwide, including 6,000 in several U.S. locations, and provides customer-service and -retention operations, as well as collection services, to a wide range of businesses.

Burke said confidentiality agreements prevent him from naming clients.

"For us, it's all about people," he said of the decision to expand the local center. "We go where the people are, and we've always found the labor force (in central Ohio) to be highly skilled and have a great work ethic."

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Iowa Call Center Becomes First To Accept Texts To 911

Got a problem and dialing the phone is completely out of the question? You're in luck... if you live in Waterloo, Iowa, or its immediate vicinity. Starting yesterday, the 911 emergency facility there became the first call center in the country to begin accepting text messages for emergency situations -- and they'll reply via text, too, when appropriate.

While the move may seem frivolous and even foolish -- since typing a text invariably takes longer than making a voice call -- this is actually a really positive development. It's easy to imagine emergency situations where voice calls just won't work, whether the caller is unable either to speak or hear due to a medical condition or injury, or the emergency involves, say, an intruder in the house while the victim is hiding somewhere inside and doesn't want to be heard. Just hope you have a quiet keypad on your phone....

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Call Center Company Raises Number Of Jobs

GLOVERSVILLE -- The company planning to open a massive call center in Gloversville has upped the number of people it plans to hire.

King TeleServices LLC Friday morning said it now plans to hire 1,200 part-time workers for the downtown center, which will occupy the former Frontier Communications space on Church Street.

The company declined to say whether the jobs would be temporary or permanent.

The announcement was well-received in Gloversville, a Fulton County city where at least one of every 10 workers is unemployed. Boosters also see the project as a boon for the city's downtown.

"It'll be really nice to have that kind of activity in the downtown again," said Chauncey McCormick, owner of Grandma Millie's bakery, which is just a few blocks from the call center site.

King says it hopes to have the call center open by fall, and the company has scheduled training sessions for late next month.

King has also scheduled a job fair for Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 60 Church St. And beginning next week, walk-in applications will be accepted on Mondays between 9 a.m. and noon and Fridays between 3 and 6 p.m.

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Vangent call center in Riverview to employ at least 600

Vangent Inc.’s new Tampa area customer service center will accept its first 1-800-Medicare telephone call Tuesday morning as dignitaries and television news reporters watch.

The company is hosting a 9 a.m. ceremony at 100 Legacy Park in Riverview, the 99,000-square-foot call center that Vangent has subleased from Home Depot Inc.

The Arlington, Va-based information technology management and outsourcing company has hired between 50 to 100 employees so far and expects to hire a total of 1,000 by Nov. 15, the start of Medicare’s open enrollment period. About 400 will be temporary employees and only work through Dec. 31.

Vangent, which primarily works for the federal government, has 6,000 employees who work in locations around the world, said Eileen Cassidy Rivera, vice president of communications and investor relations. It has other centers, including offices in Iowa, Kentucky, Arizona and Kansas, that also service 1-800-Medicare.

The company chose the Tampa site because of its turnkey operation and the large number of Hispanic workers who live in the region, Rivera said. There is a growing number of Spanish-speaking Medicare beneficiaries, and “it’s nice to help them in their native language,” she said.

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San Francisco Links 311 Call Center to Twitter

Listen up, San Francisco residents. Is there a leaky fire hydrant on the corner? A huge pothole on your street? Unsightly graffiti on your building? Starting today, you can contact city 311 officials via Twitter.

Mayor Gavin Newsom and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone on Tuesday announced that the city's non-emergency 311 information service will accept inquiries and complaints via the ubiquitous micro-blogging service.

To "tweet" into the SF 311 call center, visit sftwitter.sfgov.org. and click the "Follow Me" link to create a two-way follow. Users will then receive an email and/or direct message from the call center with the response, "How can I help you?"

Users who do not have a Twitter account will be asked to register, but they will only have to go through the sign-up process once. The city considered auto-follow, but found that "two way follow makes it easier to create requests."

Users can then write a direct message or Tweet to @SF311 from a browser or smartphone. You can also text complaints from regular cell phones. Address the text to "40404" and type "d sf311 [message]" in the body, remembering to include a space between the "d" and the "s".

Operators are manning 311 calls and inquiries 24 hours a day, though "the amount of time it takes for SF311 to receive the tweet will vary based on the response of the Twitter network," according to the city.

The idea came about after Newsom visited Twitter headquarters several weeks ago and mentioned that a constituent had sent him a Twitter message about a pothole. He and Stone then started talking about "how we can get Twitter to be involved in advancing, streamlining, and supporting the governance of cities," Newsom said at a press conference that was broadcast online.

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Social networking boom drives call center evolution

Evolution appears to have come to the contact center business, driven by the popularity of social networking sites which have been tapped by enterprises for various marketing purposes.

As a result, many companies are now thinking of ways to connect their key customer service resource--the contact center--to social networks, according to online research firm Datamonitor.

In its latest report entitled: "The Rise of Social Networking and Emerging Channels in Customer Service," Datamonitor examines the potential market for customer service provided through online social networking and how that might be expanded to formal contact centers.

Ian Jacobs, senior analyst for customer interaction technologies at Datamonitor, explained that corporate presence on social networks has led to service interactions between companies and customers, noting enterprises of different types have started to look for ways to market their brands in social networks.

"Given the boom in popularity of social networks, enterprises of all stripes have started to look for ways to market their brands to potential customers through these services," Jacobs said. "Whether it is through online contests, coupon and discount offers, or just an extended presence to shine positive light on brands, social networking has become a darling of the marketing world,"

Jacobs reported the increased corporate presence on social networks has also led to service interactions between company and customer, wherein some of these interactions result from a direct contact from a customer to a company (akin to a phone call into a contact center).

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Philippine Call Centers Ring Up Business

MANILA -- The Philippines and other smaller countries are gaining on what used to be the sole superpower in the global call-center business, India.

The Philippines' share of the industry -- the business of helping people rectify computer problems, pitching magazine subscriptions and other time-consuming tasks -- has risen from virtually zero a decade ago to 15% today, the No. 2 spot, according to Dallas-based Everest Research Institute.

Meanwhile, India's share of the global business-processing market, while growing in value, has fallen to 40% from about 80% in 2004 as the industry spreads to other parts of the world.

This shift isn't because of a sudden aversion to India. India-based call centers still lead the industry, racking up $11 billion in revenue last year, according to the New Delhi-based National Association of Software and Services Companies, compared with the $6.8 billion earned by Philippines-based providers. India's $29 billion-a-year sector for information-technology services dwarfs other contenders.

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HSBC to cut jobs in call center restructuring

The HSBC call center in Chesapeake is undergoing a "restructuring" of its operations that will involve some job losses.

HSBC Card Services Inc., on Kristina Way in the Greenbrier area of the city, handles customer calls from and to HSBC credit card holders. The office employs 1,200 people, said Steven Wright, Chesapeake's economic development director.

Officials of HSBC, an international bank based in London, confirmed Friday the restructuring but would not disclose layoff numbers.

The company announced the changes to workers on Thursday but is still in discussions with them, and some workers will be offered other HSBC jobs, said Cindy Savio, a spokeswoman at HSBC's North American headquarters in Mettawa, Ill.

"It's a certain number of positions that are being impacted," Savio said. "We're discontinuing some of the functions.

"It's too early to say what the number is," she said.

Affected employees were given 30-days notice of the changes in their jobs, Savio said.

Wright said he has heard about possible job cuts at HSBC and his office has contacted the company to find out the status. "We have not been able to verify that they are indeed doing layoffs," he said.

The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires employers in some circumstances to notify those losing their jobs and state officials 60 days in advance.

Most employers with at least 100 full-time workers must file the notification when they close an office or operating unit with 50 or more full-time workers; lay off 50 to 499 full-time workers that represent at least a third of their work force at that site; or lay off 500 or more full-timers at a single site. Savio said HSBC won't file a WARN notice but didn't say why.

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Four More Tips to Improve Call Center Management

In these challenging economic times, call center managers are under intense pressure to keep their centers running efficiently while at the same time providing excellent customer service.

It’s been well-established that software and systems help call center managers achieve this goal. Workforce management software, in particular, is now being viewed as essential to effective call center management.

Offered on a hosted or on-premises basis, these systems not only help call center managers ensure that agents are properly adhering to the schedule, they also ensure, through their forecasting capabilities, that the right number of agents are on hand to field incoming contacts.

Paradoxically, companies are now starting to cut back on IT investments -- which in some cases can limit the efficacy of call center manager. Many of these companies fail to see that by upgrading their systems, they can reduce operating costs and achieve ROI while at the same time improving service levels.

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Call Center Scheduling Solutions Challenge Spreadsheets for Dominance

Spreadsheets can be a wonderful thing, designed to make tracking and reconciliation a streamlined process. In the call center, spreadsheets have long helped managers to schedule agents according to forecasted needs. While moving to computerized spreadsheets was a smart move years ago, automated call center scheduling solutions are now making spreadsheets look cumbersome and time consuming by comparison.

It can be argued that smaller call centers are better managed with a spreadsheet approach, as fewer agents can be easily scheduled with this process. On paper, that could appear to be true, but consider these facts:

• The behavior of individual agents has a greater impact on the overall call center performance
• Fewer agents means increased need to multi-task, making skill-based scheduling more complex
• With fewer agents, it is more difficult to correct the schedule once it has been upset by unexpected events

Staffing has proven to be the most expensive resource in the entire call center budget, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of overall costs. As a result, even a one percent increase in productivity can have a significant impact on the bottom line. Therefore, an automated call center scheduling solution can give the manager more time, streamline the scheduling process and improve overall operating costs of the call center.

Monet Software is one provider of call center scheduling solutions that are designed to deliver a far superior scheduling experience as compared to the spreadsheet method. When evaluating flexibility, use of call history, skill-based routing and scheduling; tracking schedule adherence; staff expectations and desires; administrative time and the bottom line, there really is no comparison. Here are the key points that differentiate spreadsheets from call center scheduling solutions:

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OKI's IP Contact Center System Chosen for Large Call Center in China

Tangram Customer Interaction Center, a call center outsourcing service company in China, is the operator of s a 400-seat call center in Shanghai.

With competition and market projections for outsourcing in China increasing, more and more companies are looking to outsourced call centers to handle phone sales, conduct surveys or to expand their sales channels and succeed.

In response to the rapidly growing market, Tangram realized it needed to expand and built a new the HuaQiao International Service Business Park in Kunshan City. This new 5,000-seat capacity outsourcing call center will be one of the largest outsourcing call centers in China according to the company. Initially the center will operate 300 seats in April and continuously expand to reach the intended 5,000 seats once the call center park is completed in 2010.

To provide communications support for this new center, the company chose OKI Networks, a subsidiary of OKI (News - Alert) Electric Industry for their IP contact center system based on CTstage Chinese Version (CTstage).

The IP technology offering will help Tangram to improve efficiency at the operations by allowing agents to input customer data while also answering the phones right form their PCs. In addition they will be provided with enhanced reporting capabilities as well as management by customer features and other value-added services.

"We are pleased to offer our CTstage for one of the largest call centers in China. With a track record of having the No. 1 market share in Japan, the system offers easy customization and excellent expandability. We are confident it will help improve business efficiency for Tangram," said Masasuke Kishi, President of OKI Networks.

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Using the Contact Center To Provide Knowledge

The most reliable data in market research is gathered through telephone-based call centers because no other method eliminates the pitfalls of self-selection inherent in online, mail and Internet-based alternatives. The ability to aim for that specific potential respondent is vital in ensuring that survey opinions reflect all views.

Surveys are an indispensable tool for evaluating a host of strategic issues to maximize value and minimize risk. They can be used for brand positioning and segmentation, to enhance customer satisfaction and acquisition and even to increase retention of valuable employees -- the list is nearly endless.

Yet businesses significantly underutilize surveying, typically for two reasons: 1) implementing a survey is thought to be expensive and cumbersome, and 2) developing a survey and translating raw data tables into actionable recommendations that yield positive business outcomes can be daunting challenges. Finding solutions to these issues can enable businesses that use Contact Center resources to assess their brands, products, target markets and internal alignment and identify ways of generating growth from loyal customers, ex-customers who can be "won-back," prospects in new markets, and employees. Managing the Expense

As with many expenses, technology can be leveraged to mitigate the costs of implementing surveying and research -- especially the costs of training and guiding agents on surveying. Contact Centers are already familiar with the technologies and concepts required to develop and implement effective surveys and to do it cost effectively. Speech automated or even DTMF FVRs are the engine for presenting the questions and collecting the answers. Agent productivity and monitoring tools are used to monitor samples, responses, and progress of the survey. Reporting tools can take the raw data and translate it into actionable information and knowledge.
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Call centre business booming

Farouk Mentz' good fortune on the job front rings loud and clear.

In July, after a year of occasional unemployment, he was hired by the Sitel call centre on Ontario Street.

"You look at the amount of people that are hiring," said Mentz, 29.

"And you think it's amazing in times like we are in now, companies like this can continue to hire and hire and hire and not have to worry about it."

"Everybody's always happy to put a meal on the table," said the St. Catharines resident, who ensures standards are met in technical support calls.

Despite Niagara's slumping employment numbers, the St. Catharines call centre sector stands tall.

That's despite more than 400 call centre jobs lost last July at TRG Customer Solutions on St. Paul Street.

And in a touch of irony, it's the recession that's helping many of them.

"Yes, we're in a pretty good spot," said Phil Madden, Sitel's site director.

The inbound centre employs more than 1,100-- 150 more than a year ago. In February, it needs about 60 new hires. Some new jobs are in collections, technical support and customer care and sales.

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