Call centre agents for call centres in the Philippines grow up learning American English in their schools but when they have Australian or British client companies and consumers to work with they do receive the necessary individual training to make sure that they can speak appropriately and understand what their consumers are saying.  It’s never a long term problem.

One of the reason why call centres in the Philippines find it so easy to work with clients in any English speaking country is because many, if not most, of the products and services sold are the same.  Filipinos grow up seeing most of these products and services sold in the stores where they shop in the Philippines and they actually enjoy selling them or giving customer support to companies who sell them.

Consumers in the UK and Australia are getting more and more accustomed to dealing with call centre agents in the Philippines too.  Very often they’ll barely be able to detect any non native-speaker accent.  If the customer does ask, they’re often surprised and curious to be able to talk to somebody from the Philippines.  Conversely, it’s not unusual for the call centres agent in the Philippines to have been to the country they’re calling.

Regardless of what country the call centres in the Philippines are dialing for, the process actually changes very little.  The same high standards of quality and value apply and their services are valued equally in every country.  Whether call centres in the Philippines are dialing for clients in Australia or the UK, they’re still saving them a lot of money (30-60%) and giving them excellent ROI on the fees they charge.

No doubt about it, call centres in the Philippines are very much appreciated by their UK and Australian clients.

UK and Australian companies are under the same expense/income pressures as are the US companies that are increasingly using offshore outsourced call centres in the Philippines to lower their cost of sales and increase revenue.  From their call centres in the Philippines, they get a 30-60% reduction in telemarketing costs (in comparison to similar locally sourced services).

In some cases they’re reallocating money they’re presently spending on telemarketing and/or customer support.  Whether they’ve been doing it ‘in house’ or have been outsourcing, they still save a lot of money when they start to use outsourced call centres in the Philippines.

And they love the service they get from their Filipino call center agents too.  The British have a very polite, ‘proper’ manner of speaking and that’s very consistent with Filipino custom too.  They’re not as casual and informal as the Americans and (to some extent) the Aussies are.

The Filipinos learn English in school usually along the American English model.  So, they do have to do some re-training and accent familiarization in training before they start to work on any programs for UK or Aussie clients.  But this is the level of service provided by call centres in the Philippines.  They’re happy to have the business and do whatever it takes to make the client happy.

Many of the products and services being sold to UK residents by call centres in the Philippines are the same or similar products that American consumers buy.  And…..most business customs are the same.  This means that experienced agents in call centres in the Philippines can easily transfer most of their skills when they start working on UK or Aussie accounts.

Filipino call center agents like helping UK and Aussie customers too…..especially the Aussie ones.  In the Philippines, it’s not common for people to be as ‘open’ to complete strangers as it is in the US and other Western countries.  That means that the agents in the call centres in the Philippines often feel like they’ve made a new friend after they talk with somebody on the phone at work.  They view call centres work in the Philippines as just another way to make friends.

Looking at the call centres in the Philippines, you can conclude that there is more business coming in than going out. The sunshine industry, dubbed by the local government because of its massive expansion in the last 10 years, has remained stable constructing more call centres Philippines in other key areas like Cebu and Davao.

According to the latest industry reports of the Philippines, there are over 600,000 employees working in call centers Philippines. The call centres have also started to venture out of the metropolitan cities like Metro Manila. You can now see call centres in the Philippines in locations such as Bacolod, Batangas, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro. This means that the potential and opportunities brought about by the call centre industry in the Philippines is spreading out to regional locations and are not just concentrated on specific key areas.

Studies show that outside of the metropolitan cities in the country, there are several locations that can provide the same quality and standards suitable for constructing call centres in the Philippines. One can still have access to a large pool of workforce with good English communication skills, developed IT and IT-enabled service provides as well as reliable telecommunication infrastructures.

One of the main contributing factors that gave way to the expansion of call centres Philippines in regional areas is the high quality, low cost real estate in said areas. With overhead expenses like utilities and construction cost being lower compared to main cities like Makati, Alabang or Ortigas, these areas are seen to be prime spots for call centres. The support of the each city’s local government has also given way to the increase in call centres in these areas. However, some think that crossing to other regions in the Philippines may decrease the number of quality labour force since the competition to get the best may increase as well.

Aside from several locations that are opening its doors to the industry, another factor that will keep the Philippines in the game is its expansion to other knowledge-base services including medical, legal and accounting services. One can see call centres Philippines not just providing customer services like email handling, IT support or customer care. There are now call centres that provide legal and medical support as well.

However, to remain in the lead in terms of the call centre industry, the Philippines should also be able to enhance its ICT. A big portion of the success of call centres is its information and communication technology. No company in their right mind would invest millions of dollars in a location where ICT is unreliable. That being said, the Philippines’ ICT industry has seen this need and has made several adjustments and developments to meet this need.

In regards to cost, companies can expect to pay anywhere between £ 5-7 per agent hour for an medium-sized, experienced and quality call centre service provider. For companies in the UK and Australia this translates into a cost saving of approx. 50-70% vs. on-shore rates. The hourly per agent cost of a call centre highly depends on program type (in-or outbound), program size (5 agents or 50 agents) as well as the importance of the company as a future client reference. Large or global outsourcing providers usually charge anywhere between £ 7-9 per agent hour. The average operational hourly cost of medium-sized, call centres in the Philippines ranges between £ 5-7  per agent hour.