Study finds Iloilo City attractive to call center business
Iloilo City is one of the cities in the country identified as "hot spot area" for business process outsourcing (BPO) or call centers as reflected in a multi-million dollar study funded by the Association of Call Centers in the Philippines. The city is in the league of Metro Manila and Cebu City.
Mayor Jerry Treñas said he was informed by officials of the Diversified Technology Solutions International Inc. (DTSI) regarding the result of the study. He believes the study was done extensively as the funding cost reached 1.5 million US dollars. The same study was purposely conducted to check the viability of call center business and the availability of workers as well as the infrastructure.
DTSI is a leading onshore and offshore systems integrator and technology solutions and services provider. They have offices in the United States and Asia. In Iloilo City, DTSI leased the second floor of the Amigo Terrace Hotel for a call center business, initially, with 80 seats.
Treñas said a copy of the study that was compiled into a book costs $US500. He is trying to get a free copy of the book from Mitch Locsin, an Ilonggo who has been part of the group that made the study on the call centers in the Philippines.
According to the study, Iloilo has qualified graduates fitted to work in the call center and has necessary infrastructure. The availability of fiber-optic communication is also one of the considerations of putting up a call center. The telecommunication companies operating in the city are using fiber-optics technology, said Treñas.
Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending light through an optical fiber. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information.
Treñas also congratulated the different universities and colleges in the city for producing quality graduates who are qualified to work as call center agents. The good education in the city makes Iloilo City stand out from the rest of the cities eyed for call center operations, Treñas said.
Based on the study, the city is capable of supplying 20,000 call center agents in the future operations of call centers other than those already operational. The city can give more than 20,000 call center agents with the improvement of educational system employed by different colleges and universities, said Treñas.
At present, three call centers are operating in Iloilo City creating employment to more than a thousand call center agents.