Outsourcing Guide
Update, a new site I just put up which is about building call centers and what services that you should used, I’m branding it as Rudd approved, meaning the companies on the directories are services that I approve of.
The Guide of now back and has been updated with a couple extra pages, enjoy Beau
A Call Center in the Philippines Build out guide
This page will guide interested companies looking to offshore or outsource in the Philippines on the step-by-step procedures on how to build your own call center in the Philippines. What we have done is to make everything easy for you in order for your company to be up and operational as quickly as possible. The guide includes how to run your call center and what to look out in the Philippines.
Philippines Seat Leasing
The best way is to come over in the Philippines and learn the overview of the call center industry here. If you plan to venture in call center, the best way is to start off by Seat Leasing. This is the best way because you can test the water before you jump in. Unique Interaction, our sister company has many seats available for lease anytime. If you want to lease at Unique Interaction, there will be no deposit, everything is prepayment and it is only one week at a time. Once you feel comfortable with everything, you can then start building your call center and still have your current operations up and running at the same time. Upon completion of your new call center you will be able to move your agents easily. We will be with you every step of the way as your new center is being built to make sure everything is being done properly and coordinated correctly.
“I strongly suggest that you start out with Seat Leasing before you build your own call center in the Philippines.” Learn more about Philippines Call Center Seat Leasing
if you are interested and ready to build your own call center company.
Its has been about two years from the date that I wrote this guide now and I will tell you what if you are really looking at being here in the Philippines or what ever third world country make sure you that you are ready for it because there is allot of time and cost that goes into building and managing a call center. Like above seat leasing is the best way to go test the waters for at least 6 months to a year, once you have a proven model then great build.
Read on
It appears that I have laid everything out on the table and it is like telling you all my secrets. I have done all the research for you and there is no reason for you to look around. My goal of writing this guide is to give an overview about what call center industry is all about. Also, I want to help people out there who are interested in establishing a cheaper call center. The call center outsourcing market is a fast maturing industry that many now regard as a commodity business with many purchases now decided on cost alone. Because of the strong competition in the market, potential locators must identify where growth opportunities exist and the strategies needed to successfully target them. If you are really wanted to put up a business like this one, you seriously need to exert your effort and your dedication. You need to perform research on how this industry will benefit you from above competition.
I have heard that most of the companies are spending as much as USD7000 per agent’s station but there is much better way for you to lessen spending money if you want to start this business. Interestingly, focusing on the guide will benefit you from saving up to 80%. There is no reason for you to shell out huge amount of money in just one station. You can still deliver efficient service to your customers anytime without hassle. In order for you to save from huge amount of money, I can help you spend only USD1000 per station instead of USD7000.
“It’s all about productivity and infrastructure”
Accommodation in the Philippines
Learning the geographical features of the Philippines is important if you have the strong interest of creating your call center company. I suggest that you need to start planning your trip by contacting your travel agents in the near future. There is actually couple of choices where to stay in any hotels here, which offer world class facilities that for sure will make you feel comfortable and enjoyable stay. Hotel rates range from USD60 to USD100 per night, and if you plan of staying here for a while, the best place to stay is renting a condo, which many at Ortigas metro. The Filipino hospitality is also something that you will not be forgotten while you’re here. English is widely spoken next to Filipino/Tagalog, the nation’s national language. Learning the basic local phrases may come in handy. Over 111 local dialects are spoken in the country. If you want to look around, air-conditioned taxis should cost PhP25 on the meter. An extra PhP2 will be added for every 500 meters. The Philippine monetary unit is peso, which is generally preferred for financial transactions. Money-changing shops are available in key cities and towns. The total price of the hotel in monthly basis would be USD800 so you will save half on the price on a hotel.
My business partner and best pal Rommel Sarmiento just rented a new unit, which is about 5 minutes away from Ortigas. Rommel’s place situated near my house is only PhP17,000 or about USD414. The unit has three bed rooms, two bathrooms, and a patio. His pad is accessible to malls such as: SM Mega mall, St. Francis Square, Robinson’s Galleria, and the Podium. Rommel only paid two months deposit and one month advance which in the Philippines the payment scheme is three months deposit and three months advance. If you are interested, I am willing to help you searching for a unit near the business district of Ortigas. Again, if you are planning to be here for a while, it is cheaper if you are renting a unit rather than staying in a hotel.
If you are just looking at coming here for a couple of days here is a good hotel that don’t cost much in Ortigas Astoria Plazasuites
If your office is in ortigas then rent something in Ortigas, even though you can find some cheaper places about 5 minutes away, it’s more of a hasell to get to and from the office with taxies. If you are in Ortigas you can pretty much do what ever you want with out having to use a car, you can walk and its not far, there are 4 major malls arund here and they have everything that you could every need.
Incorporating in the Philippines
If you made up your decision to get started a call center business of your own, the first thing you need to do is to look for a Lawyer that will help you prepare your documents. Our counsel will initiate proper forum about the description of the business including the corporate profile of our company. Our lawyer has all the papers already prepared, and if everything is fine with you then we can enter into a formal agreement by signing a contract that will bind our partnership. This will cost you about USD1000 and with 30-day guarantee to completely set up your call center. One of the Lawyers below will be able to put that together for you.
Here is a lawyers that I work with
July +639175227254
ACR
If you are a foreign national, you need to apply for an Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR), which cost at USD600. The ACR I-Card Project automates the entire process of alien registration and integrates the issuance of various paper-based alien documentations into a microchip-based identification card called the ACR I-Card. You need to obtain the ACR I-Card from the Bureau of Immigration so that there will be no hassle in staying in the Philippines. The ACR I-Card is a microchip-based credit card-sized identification card issued to registered alien replacing the paper-based ACR. It has an embedded computer chip with biometric security features capable of data management and can be updated electronically. It is fraud and tamper-proof/resistant with the following data:
1. Personal information such as name, age, date of birth, place of birth, etc.
2.Photograph
3. Date and status of admission.
4. Visa type granted/date granted/date issued/expiry date
5. Biometric information (2 digitalized fingerprint templates)
6. Signature
7. ACR and ICR/NBCR/CRTV/CRTT/CRTS and CRPE numbers
8. Travel details
9. Payment of immigration fees details
The ACR I-Card likewise serves as the Emigration Clearance Certificate (ECC), Re-entry Permit (RP) and Special Return Certificate (SRC) of the holder upon payment of the required fees. I suggest that you need to visit the Bureau of Immigration here so that the BI’s alien control officer will brief you more about ACR. This is to make sure that you are not violating the rules and guidelines stipulated under the Bureau of Immigration.
“Or you can get married to someone out here”
Here is lawyer that I work with
July +639175227254
Lawyer
My lawyer is helping me maintaining my business smoothly and has been there for me in every way. He guided me on the things that I need to know especially on the coverage of the legal matters. Looking for a competent lawyer is something that you need to count on. Be sure that you have an open communication with your Lawyer and avoid creating conflict in order not to mess up your business. Your lawyer can handle two things you will need to install and do business here. A good friend of mine once told me that there is one person important in running your business, and this would be your Lawyer.
Here is a lawyer that I work with
July +639175227254
“Find a good Lawyer when you get here and it will pay off a lot”
Taxes
In the Philippines you always want to make sure you are covered. The answer to your question is to look for a tax consultant. Tax consultant will help you file all your taxes and make sure you save money and time. Also, your tax consultant is responsible for submitting all your employees’ benefits collected taxes to the government. This will not take long to set up and it will only cost you about USD100 dollars a month. Luz Amper is a tax consultant that I would not suggest to anyone, so if you hear the name better avoid dealing business with her. I would suggest getting a big tax accountant to support your books in the Philippines because of the way that taxes work here is unlike any other country that you would see.
Work with someone that ideally with knowledge about accounting and taxing.
“BIR Philippines is like the IRS in the US”
Once you set up a corporation in the Philippines, make sure that you also have a corporation in the country that you are in. The Philippines belongs to a Third World country in which corruption is prevalent. When you come out here to set up your company, you may think that the taxes law will be a problem but actually not. I suggest that you need to be knowledgeable of the laws and work with an accountant who can work efficiently. Do everything possible to have all the money send back to your bank account where you country is located. There are taxes laws in the Philippines in order to make sure that you don’t get charged twice. When I started in the Philippines, I thought I was going to get taxed two times. At this time, I’m going through resetting everything again and getting an accountant to take care of my books. Now what I’m going to do is make sure that all my clients’ payments will wire to my US bank account and all the cost associated with my call centers are going to be paid by my US Corporation. In this way, I’m not going to get hit by the BIR or hopefully they are not going to bug me because my money is going to be made abroad. I’m being audited by the BIR at this time because I worked with people who did not help me instead they took advantage on me. I suffered sleepless nights to make things better. I learned from my lawyer that I should never open my books to the BIR for any reason. If they (BIR personnel) are asking to settle then settle it them, if you open your books they will find anything that they can to get money from you. All of the auditors have a quota that they have to hit every year which is something around USD60, 000 a year and it must be met before every end of the year. By October to December is considered to be tough months, meaning they are conducting extensive auditing in these periods. Make sure to watch your back and do your best in the Philippines to make sure that you don’t make anyone mad.
Update
The BIR is not really attacking any companies in the Philippines and just because you are being audited is not because someone turned you in, it’s not that easy. I thought it was easy, if you knew someone connected to the BIR, you have all the papers work and proof to do something like this. So if someone did this to you, most likely it was someone that worked for you and had access to confidential papers. The best suggestion I can give is to get a tax consultant that has been in business for a long time. We suffered in the previous months; I admit that it was our fault because when one of the members of the BIR came in to inspect our office, one of our papers was not hanged on the wall which was grounds for auditing. Just makes sure that you have a good consultant to inspect your office and you need all the standards of the Philippines government.
“Long story short pay your Taxes”
Cayman Island Incorporating and Hong Kong Bank Account
When you are tax in the United States, there is a lot of time and money that goes into dealing with the IRS and the BIR. I’m just getting ready to stop dealing with them about 100% of my goal is to set up a Corporation in the Caymans and then setting up a bank account in Hong Kong. Couple of reasons from what I have been told but not 100% sure that all the information is correct other than what I have seen on the Internet and heard. In Cayman, you don’t have to pay taxes for 20 years, 100% guaranteed and you can have it extended up to 30 years. Next is the bank account in Hong Kong, one of the great things banking in Hong Kong is your money information is safe and “for your eyes only.” No person or government can ever force you to show them how much money you have. If I’m correct, I’m not going to pay any taxes but looking into it more before I jump. I have talked to many businessmen that have done this for many years and they swear by it. Cost is around $2,500 to $3,500 to set up and another $1,000 a year to maintain it.
Subic and Clark Freeport
Something new that I just found out about was setting up something in Clark or Subic here in the Philippines you only have to pay 5% corporate taxes but you do have to have some what of a small office there and in corporate which is only 500 dollar and your main office has to be set up there. From what I understand, you could have a office something like the size of 15 meters and you are good go and then you have all your expenses there. I would pick clark, from what I under stand or have been told Subic is some what corrupt but the only thing I know is all the people that I have meet when I was in Clark would never set anything up in Subic.
Corruption in the Philippines
Having stayed in the Philippines for a while, I learned by myself that this country is not as corrupt as I thought. The Philippines is like any other countries in the world in which corruption is a long-time problem. Just because you know someone “big time”
or someone with strong connection from the government, you still have to deal with the government practices in the Philippines. I met people from high ranking official but I still believe that it’s still good to have friends because they might help you and give you some advices. If you follow the rules and regulations like you did in your country then nothing will happen to you.
Location
Now, we got all the legal stuff sorted out and we are going to start looking for a good location. Ortigas Center is considered as the second most important commercial and business district (after Makati) in Metro Manila, Philippines. With an area of at least 100 hectares, the district is located at the boundary of Pasig City, Mandaluyong City, and Quezon City. It is governed by Ortigas Center Association, Inc. It is home to many shopping malls, skyscrapers, and nightlife bars and restaurants. Everyday, thousands of office workers commute to the center to work within the hundreds of companies housed within the area’s buildings.
There are a lot of buildings to choose from both new and old. Unique Interaction is located at the 17th floor of Strata 100 Building. It is not the new or oldest building in Ortigas but one of the cheapest centers for business with the rate of PhP275 per square meter or USD50 dollar’s per square foot. I had a meeting with a company a couple of weeks ago and they where talking about renting a 500-square meter office to seat about 12 employees, this is a huge over kill. If you are looking to start something off at about that number then you would only need an office about 90 meters which would give you more than enough room for expansion.
Update
I’m going to eat my words on this, try to set up your company’s game plan or goals on were you would like to be in a year. In addition, include in your plan to look for an office big enough for you but still keep in mind about the cost and size. If you don’t then you might have to end up looking for another location. Also, something to update everyone that Ortigas is getting full so if you want to get started, it’s going to be NOW though it will cost you an arm and a leg. Almost everything on Emerald Avenue, all buildings is getting fully occupied by other call center companies. Big warning when you are renting a place any where in the Philippines is to make sure that you ask them if they have annual maintenance on the power of the building, right now its Holy Week and some offices postponed their operations.
My point is they forget that call center companies are following the US holidays and not the Philippine holidays. When they are doing this electrical maintenance they shutdown two off for two full days, 48 hours and if you are running any kind of hourly or customer support that is 24/7 operations you can be down for two days, so this is what some of the call centers companies do. They rent a huge generator which is good for two days, which is enough to run their operations. However, the generator is going to cost like 5 to 10K USD within only two days. Make sure there is no electrical maintenance every year in the building you are renting.
You also want to make sure that you never go into a new building unless the whole until has power, true story I have a friend that set up a office about 8 hours ago and up to now he has no power, every month the promise him its going to be on but it never happens. Before you sign the contact going into a new building make sure the power is working.
Good place I think to look at is Clark air force base, its about 2 hours away from Manila but its looking like it will be the next big thing because it is a free port.
ISP
The ISP (Internet service provider) is very important in making your business up and running. This will be a serious matter because having great ISP is a way of maintaining fast and easy monitoring of your potential clients elsewhere. ISP is a company that provides individuals and other companies’ access to the Internet and other related services such as website building and virtual hosting. An ISP has the equipment and the telecommunication line access required to have a point-of-presence on the Internet for the geographic area served. For my choice, ANC is the best company because I select it from the five other providers. There are two companies in the Philippines that have landing points — PLDT and ANC in which telecommunications companies such as Bayantel, Digitel and Fiber city are all renting lines from them. So if you purchase from them you are getting a shared connection from them, something like DSL. With ANC, I have a dedicated 2MB connection from them, which I am not sharing. I have a latency of about 180MS which is the best in the Philippines. The value cost is estimated at USD1400 and the time to set up is almost a month.
“If you are going to pick any company that you are going to work with as your ISP then choose ANC. I promise you that you will not regret it though it’s going to cost more but it will be well worth it”
Update
We are now just going to be testing a new tech-knowledge that is 4G wirelesses, something like a super cellphone that calms to have a 99.9 SLA which is pretty good. I will let everyone know what happens when we test it! Also, on a good note they only take 1 to 3 days to set up and the bandwidth is amazing, if you target to start with 512KPS and then move up to 1 to 2MB which is like making a phone call.
Another update
Why ANC is the best?
The following presentation below will help you understand about how ANC works effectively:
Pacific Internet cost is PhP80,000 for 4MB no advances or deposit, install time is about two weeks which is not bad. On the other hand, SLA is 99.5%
The newest happy communication cost for 2MB is PhP 65,000 and they will give you a free month if you sign up for 2MB but you have to pay for one month advance one month deposit. We are actually testing it now, however, I might look for another option in which I can save in terms expenses. I learned if we acquire this, it will take three days to install. SLA is still 99.5% I would not suggest that you use Happy, they are not good at all!
New WIMAX that just come out in the Philippines that looks really good, I have a friend that is getting ready to try it out today, hope it all goes well but from what I know it should work really well. Month to month contract and the prices look really good. Contac me if you want more information. beau@callcenterguy.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Cost
Set up $500
512 Kbps $500
1Mb $750
2Mb $900
4Mb $1400
Cisco
Cisco is a large supplier of networking hardware and software, including router and security products. In call center business, you will need a router that has a V35 interface and the best router you could buy would be a 2600 series. I can help you on where to find a cheaper person who offers about better router program. If you know how to set up the router, then great but if not, then we have a list of people that can help you. The cost range about USD600 dollars, time to set up is approximately 1 hour. Contact me if you need help finding a router. I think that Cisco is coming to a day and age where you might not need to use a lot of there hard where, the only thing I could say its like buying a BMW instead of a Honda. We have one Cisco router and switch in the office now, we are not using the router any more and I think the only reason that we have the managed switch is because of head of IT think it looks cool. Now days fast eather net and Asterisk is taking over.
Update
Now most of the ISP have came out with something called Fast Ethernet which means you don’t need a router but some companies recommend it. We have a Fast Ethernet connect which works very well. But what is great about it is that if I need more bandwidth, I just have to call them and they can make it to what I want like a flip of a switch.
Office layout
Making good concept of your office in housing your employees and clients is typically important. Lay outing your office is important because this will serve as the area of placing your state-of-the-art equipment and a workplace for your agents. In the server room, you are only going to need a space about a 6′ by 6′ (6×6-in feet) room, enough for a small desk so you will be able to manage your servers and then the rest for your rack and other equipment. This is what we did by closing the front entrance so we have one small room and a large room. After the renovation, we actually improved our office in terms of placing our employees. The reason I did this because in the past, we had the HR, Accounting and the agents all fit in one room, it was a mess and look unorganized. Now we have the admin and the agents in their own rooms and unless it is not time for your shift you are not allowed to enter in that room. The space that you are setting up for the agents is important in maximizing the space availability. I also have the chance to monitor the agents especially if they are taking calls. I also suggest that you need to choose for bright colors to serve as wallpapers in your office. Since call center operated 24/7, the importance of using bright colors will help the agents stay awake and fight the sleepiness and make them comfortable while they are on duty.
Update
Make sure you make a room for a server, entrance and small admin offices if you can. I own a call center and I still sit at a desk in the operations area because having more seats is more important but I wish now that I will have my own office.
Recently, we acquired a new office which also in Ortigas Center. Our new office is very convenient to our employees and clients. How you make sure office is going to be up to you, it really don’t matter, its all about what you want to spend, I would suggest not getting carpet because you will have to clean it all the time, the tile might give you some sounds but will save you money.
Networking
I decided having a company come in and setting up the network for you. This is not bad idea at all if you want something that is going to have a warranty on it. I had a company come in and set up 12 stations for me, a total of 24 nodes and that included power for each station. It was the fastest and most reliable way to do it. If you know something about networking then you can set it up for yourself. However, if problem may come I suggest paying someone who has technical knowledge about networking.
Networking is the practice of linking two or more computing devices together for the purpose of sharing data. Networks are built with a mix of computer hardware and computer software. Networks can be categorized in several different ways. One approach defines the type of network according to the geographic area it spans. Local area networks (LANs), for example, typically reach across a single home, whereas wide area networks (WANs), reach across cities, states, or even across the world. The Internet is the world’s largest public WAN. What I am doing right now is learning everything I can about networking. I was able to network my office myself or teach someone, but I also hired a great tech guy who can do it. By doing it by yourself or hiring someone, you will save a lot but you will not have any type of warranty. This cost including power is estimated at USD170 per station. Time of set up is about 7 days.
“If you want it done right away, let the professional tech guy handles the situation for you. Paying them of what they deserve is in exchange of better outcome of your company’s stable networking. Meanwhile, if you know what you are doing then do it by yourself just like a professional company had done it”
Best is to pay a little bit more on the networking stuff so you dont have to buy it two times.
Tables
Majority of call center companies are using cubicles, which cost too much. Here is a cheaper rout and looks just as good. If you shop around at any of the furniture shops, look for a desk that is measures about 5′ by 2.5’; this will be enough to hold two of your employees. The price would be USD80 per desk.
What do you use
I have been receiving complaints from my agents about working in our office. We actually used tables instead of cubicles with this complain I bought six cubicles to see what will happen. I would still suggest getting tables over cubicles because they are cheaper. I will let you know how it goes. I just had a friend build a new office and he made homemade cubicles and I think they work and look great also very cheap.
Just added
I have decided to use cubicles for the whole office now, they look good and space saving. The good thing is the tables I bought are covered with five-year warranty. If you are looking to save money for a start up tables are still cheaper by about 50%.
I have a friend that just set up a 80 seat call center and its all tables, all hand made and they look really good, cost was like 10 dollars an agents station. So if you wanted to save a bunch of money on the set up there is a good way to go. So don buy premade just buy the 8 by 4 sheets and make them your self.
“If you have the extra cash you can stick to the cubicles.”
Some Campaigns will requaire bigger cublices but it depends on what they are doing but I would suggest a good size cubicle if you have the space the best thing is to charge more per hour to get your moneys worth.
Chairs
Previously, I have to deal with the problem of the chairs because I got four broken chairs out of the 16 chairs I bought. These chairs cost me about USD20 each. They appeared in good quality, but actually not. Providing durable chairs to your employees help their task easier. Sitting in the uncomfortable chairs make the agents tired talking with the customers. There are actually lots of factors to be considered to what makes a chair suitable. Many of these relate to the quality of the components used, which include the fabric and the foam. I highly recommend that using a good chair with proper back support will improve your posture and eliminate or reduce back pain and stiffness. This should have a good shape to it and reflect the natural posture of your body. Chairs need to be easily adjustable and comfortable to use.
Computers
Many call center owners invest their money in buying computers. The newest model of computer they are using connotes that their business sounds good. Today, everyone is buying new and powerful model with very high capacity type of computer. Most programs can run on a P3, 128MB, and 20 GB HDD. Now if you want to save an extra USD50 on the computer package you can get a big monitor but for USD50 more you can get is only LCD. I think the LCD because they are small look good and don’t give off as much heat as the large ones. You can get a total computer including mouse, keyboard, CPU and LCD for about USD230.
Update
I wrote this article after conducting a lot of research. Depending on what type of work your call center is going to do you don’t need LCD’s or high grade computers. If you are running an asterisk based dialer you are not going to need a P4 but if you are using a windows based dialer you are going to need a P4 because the dialer will require it. The last couple of weeks I have had the chance to walk into allot of call center and see how they are set up and I always thought is LCD’s high end computers but I was wrong. LCD’s are great but they are still over priced and you don’t need them, you could buy a CTR for 75% less, a 17” is going for about USD30. There are several ways you could set it up but it all depends on what you are going to do. I’m going to give you my secret company where I buy my computers PC broker the owner is a best friend of mine and all the clients that I have referred to him are all very happy. If anything happens to the computer and even thought it is past the warrant he will fix it for free. You must be a volume ordering customer to get this special type of treatment.
Here is the cheapest and best place that you can find new and used computers
Used computers
“Most of the clients looking to outsource to the Philippines are not looking for any type of high end computers so stick to something that is like a P3 with 256MBs of RAM and it will work fine”
We have some agents using P3 and some agents on P4 if you campaign is going to use more then one program best to get p4 with 1GB of ram.
Operating System
Here is a cool Linux Operating System that suites your needs and would replace Windows XP called Xandros. I suggest that you need to try Xandros 3.0 Open Circulation Edition and the good thing of this is for free. But if you want to check there products, visit there website www.xandros.com. This is the link where you could download the Xandros 3.0 OCEhttp://www.xandros.com/products/home/open_circulation/download_information.html. Just follow the instructions listed on that website and instantly you will have your own Xandros 3.0 OCE. Once you have this Operating System I am pretty sure will like it.
Once you have downloaded and saved it to your hard drive, you are going to start burning the image ISO. In downloading the ISO file, the set up time is about 15 to 20 minutes, it’s easy just follow the steps from 1 to 6 then your done with your operating system.
Now once you have down loaded and saved it to your hard drive, you are going to start burning the image ISO. This is only one ISO file and you can setup for about 15 to 20mins, its easy just follow the steps from 1 to 6 then you’re done with your OS.
Update
Here is a new Operating system that they just came out with and looks really great just as easy to install as windows. Just down load the software, something like 500MB and then Burn it onto a CD and then insert it into the computer that you want to install it on. http://www.mandriva.com/en/product/mandriva-linux-one
PBX
We use a very advance PBX which can do anything that all of the other major company can do like, NEC and Nortel. It is called Trix Box and it has got to be the best one I have seen and it is free. It is very easy to use and they are branding it as PBX in an hour. www.trixbox.org the easiest way to set up your own free Trix Box is to go to Trixbox set up guide .
These guys are great because they will teach you how to get trix box up and running in less then 30 minutes. You will also learn how the tri box and asterisk@home works. All you need to do is read the details on these sites and for sure you will learn a lot.
“It works just as well as all of the other PBXs but it is FREE”
Host Elastix
Everything seems to be working well with trixbox but we have ran into some small problems so we have been testing Elastix for about a week right now and it seems to be working pretty well and there is some extras in it that are easier to into then trixbox. Here is the site where you can down load the software http://www.elastix.org/ its just like trixbox, you have to burn it as an ISO image then just follow the step that are in the PDF guide on the site will make things very easy to set up. I just got done talking to my friend and he has been using Elastix for about 6 months and loves it, Im going to be changing over also to it but Im going to hose it in the US, here is a site that he gave me Hosted Elastix says it comes highly recommended.
One you have paid and set it up you will want to read this to get you going
www.elastixconnection.com/downloads/elastix_without_tears.pdf
Dialer
Most companies that found their way out here to the Philippines is usually did some type of outbound sale which requires a predictive dialer. There is lot of dialer to choose from but most the time the price is something like USD1000 per license and you still have to buy all the hardware. All of this commercial predictive dialer is over rated and cost way too much money. There are very hard to use and maintain.
We are operating an open source predictive dialer that has all the bells and whistles as the others with out the price tag. It is not a predictive dialer but a power dialer. It will do the same thing as all the major dialer out there if not better in my eyes and you will save about 50% on cost.
We offer to build this dialer for you for only USD200 per station we set it up on. You will have to purchase all the hardware, which will cost about USD3000 to run 30 seats.
If you would like more information about this Asterisk Predictive Dialer
“Open Source is the way you want to go, whether you can do it alone by following the information I have given or if you have to pay someone to build it then it is worth it”
Now one thing that you have to remember when you are getting into dialers that he can be a nightmare if you are not working with the right dialer or person managing it, if you can get away with using something like Trixbox or Elastix I would really suggest because its very easy to manage.
VOIP Providers
If you are looking for a good voip provider contact me beau@callcenterguy.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
VOIP hardware, what to use?
We have been using a lot of different devices along the years in running a call center and there has been some devices that works great and some that don’t work that well. One of which is Channel bank and Digium E1 Card whom I considered as the best devices. The Channel Bank is about USD200 and the E1 Card is about USD500. We have been using this in our office. These devices are working great with only minimal problems that can be fixed right away. Bad thing is if you ever want to have the station set up for another campaign or something you are not able to configure then changing the devices might bring complication. Also if it breaks, it’s a good idea to have a back up Channel bank and E1 card because sometimes it’s hard to find these devices in the market for replacement.
Meanwhile, Analog phone adapter cost is around USD50. This equipment is working great but a couple concerns: Only two lines and always needs a place to plug in for power and sometimes break after about a month and you have to restart it to make sure that the configuration is working. We are using this equipment in our entire operations. The advantage is, this equipment is small and when it breaks or you need to change configuration, this is very easy to change.
Update
one thing that I have learned of the last couple of years is less hardware less problems, I think that channel bank and El card have worked great for over three years now but I would suggest using the option below and then just have to Lan connects, one for the public and one for your private lan. Then you have less things to worry about breaking and I think it works a little better.
Soft phone and USB headsets
Previously, we’ve been using Soft phones. At first, I have the impression that I might not like this equipment but with our continuous testing, things are getting better using soft phone. The good thing is, you can get the software for free by visiting these websites: www.sjlabs.com and www.counterpath.com.
When it comes to USB headset, I prefer Plantronics headset about USD60 and they work great. Also, you have to make sure that your computer is at least a Pentium 4 (P4) with a capacity of at least 512RAM.If it’s not P4 then your computer is going to run a little bit slower but the quality of the phone call will still be ok.
We are now selling USB headset, go back to the home page and click Headseyt
We are now change everything over to soft phones and USB headsets because there are less problems to happen but you need a good computer for them to run on if you are running more then one program at a time but if only dialer and softphone on a P3 no problem.
Buy an existing call center
There are call centers going out of business every week. Last week, I heard that seven centers are reportedly going to shutdown. I just bought one and I got a super deal on it. In managing your own call center, you need to keep your eye open and ear always on the ground in order receive any update about the industry. One thing that you want to remember is there network and infrastructure, make sure its working, check allot before you buy.
Recruitment
Selecting your employees should always process in a stringent screening. This will help you choose the best applicants and others who can be trainable. There are many ways to market in the Philippines for people looking for jobs but there are also a lot of ways that you are just going to get a bunch of garbage. When I started my account, I worked with local online companies in selecting our employees. This is not a bad idea to start if you will hire someone who will in charge of monitoring the applicants coming in from the online job companies. I discouraged you advertising on Jobsdb or Jobstreet! Unless if you target to hire more than 100 employees which is part of your company’s expansion. You don’t want to advertise in the newspaper because of expensive advertising rate nowadays. The Internet adverting is over rated because you are going to get people from all over the Philippines by clicking on your ad and invite the short listed applicants to come for the interview. The best way to get employees is through referrals or banners in major areas where there are a lot of calls centers. Another good place to advertise are places where call center agents usually hang out or chat online like Friendster or online web forums in the Philippines. The referral program is effective in looking for the best employees. I am planning to give USD10 if they pass the training and 100 dollars if they work for your company for over six months. This will make your agents work really hard to find other agents and that they are good so they can get paid.
Website
Having your own website featuring the services and updates of your company can help you boost your business with the help of the Internet. Many clients will rely mostly with the information you posted on your website because this is one way of inviting interested clients to be part of your company. I have been paying about USD30 a month with a local company to build my website. I have also worked with an Indian company before and it was the same thing. A website is great and you don’t need anything with flash or a fancy design, your customer will not care about that. You want your website to look good and be full of useful information or something to sell them about your company and why they should outsource to you. Writing content is not easy too, as not all of us have the gift of writing, so you might want to look for someone who can write great articles. You want to find someone who can work part time to build your site and make changes on it when you need it.
Just Added
When are hiring a web designer make sure that you really check them out and if you are working with them better give them 50% down payment. Make sure that the website is 100% complete before giving the other half of the down payment.
“Do not give them the other 50% payment unless you love the website and you don’t want to make any more changes”
Here is a great site that a friend showed me, web master talk you can get stuff done on this site very cheap.
Marketing your website
I have spent hours and hours learning SEO (search engine optimization) and looking at other websites to see what they are doing to rank. Thanks to my friend Steve Flotmann, if it was not for him our site would not be where it is now. If you are a new call center company and looking to get out there on the Internet for something like call center Philippines it is going to take sometime and research but it is well worth because you are not going to have to spend any money and your time. Unique Interaction went from not being seen on Google to being on the second page but it took about 8 months to get there and a lot of hard work and research. But now, it is well worth it, we are getting about 100 visitors to our site a day and getting a lot more leads from the other companies looking to outsource. You have to research and research to find the path, I just looked at the top ranking sites for call center Philippines and did something like they did but on my own way. I would say the biggest mistakes that most new call center companies made is when they failed to exert effort to let the client comes. If you really want to make it as a new company in the Philippines, you need a website and you need to optimize very well. The secret is continuous research as much as you can and you will get leads for clients looking to outsource.
Here is a great site I found that has been a huge help for me
SEOCHAT or SEO CHECK LIST
“ For all your dummies that have been emailing me asking me for free leads lick my balls and do it your self”
Networking with People
Let me emphasize that I am not talking about cabling! In the Philippines, it is all about whom you know and how much money you make. If you do not drive a BMW that is fine the people here do not care, it is all about friendship and I know that is hard to believe but you will meet some of the best friends in the world. I’m not talking about people who are in the same business as you, but everyone because they will know someone to connect you. This means going out to bars, events and malls just get out and meet people. You will be surprised; this is not America, Austria or United Kingdom, this is Philippines. I will put it this way, if you are in a bar or restaurant and meet someone mayor or a senator. Our sister company Unique Interaction, we really have not done any marketing or advertising other than some small Internet stuff. Ninety percent of our business is through referral from people we have meet over the years.
“So get out there and meet people at any means you can to let them know what you do”.
”Networking is so important and here in the Philippines is easy because most of the People that you might out here own business that might be related to yours, it really don’t matter where you go but one of the places I have been going is to a friend place in Cark called yats wine club www.yilp.com now one thing you need to know about me is I don’t eat allot and I only drink beer but when I starting going here, wow changed me in some ways and I got to meet allot of people there and they are not fully of shit.
Straight Shooter
Just like any other business you want to have a good name and always up hold your word. “When you say you are going to accomplish something then do it”
It’s like Rommel Sarmiento’s father always said, “You only have your name once, once you destroy it you’re done.”
Even though the Philippines is composed of millions of people and the call center business is growing in this country this is like a good old small town.
Try your best not to burn any bridges no mater what the problem was, I know at times I have done this or said something about some body that got out but try your best just to keep your mouth shut. You could have business coming from them that you would have never thought of happening.
Business Cards
When you’re here be sure to have available business cards you will give to any people you are going to meet along the way. Your business card can be the most cost-effective and efficient method of marketing and packs a large punch in a small amount of space. The smaller size actually benefits you, as it allows for carrying tiny billboards in your pocket. If your mini-billboards are properly maintained and utilized, they can be an extremely profitable marketing tool. You need to remember to keep the information on the cards up to date and new. The returns gained when contacts are able to reach you through the contact information printed on the card far outweigh the inexpensive cost of ordering updated cards. If you change email addresses or phone numbers, have new cards printed with this information. I believe that your business cards can be extremely advantageous in bringing the future sales and referrals in your business.
“When getting your cards made, make sure you have a nice design and good strong paper”
Outbound Accounts
If you are looking to take what you have started in other county and duplicate it in the Philippines then don’t worry about that, but if you are starting a new outsourcing company and have never done it before then, this is something you need to look at. NEVER take anything on performance or a pay presale, if the person you are working with is so confident in their project, it is better to tell them you will do hourly plus performance. I have seen company after company who thinks that call center in the Philippines is a gold rush and lost everything in a matter of months because they did this. I suggest if you are looking for something that is going to last that you do this, it will be good for you and your customer, if it take time to get the campaign going then the customer is not paying full price and you are not losing money but once the campaign is working both sides are making money.
“There is a lot of money to be made from outbound sales and most of the business you get is going to be outbound but it is going to be one of the hardest things to manage because sales are ups and downs”
Inbound Call Center Accounts
This is where you want to be, catering inbound service. It may not be the highest paying campaigns in the world but you will always be paid the same and most of the companies who are outsourcing inbound campaigns are stable companies. Still you want to be safe, make sure the clients will pay you in advance every month no matter what and if they don’t “stop calling.” When you start working with the big boys you have to remember that they play at another level to some smaller companies. Don’t follow the mistake I made thinking that once you have an inbound account. Just be safe and treat them as they were another customer but make sure that they get looked after.
“This is going to be the hardest account you are to make. But when you are getting familiar with the account, then this would be easy to deal every problem that it may come in the future.”
Payment
Payment is very important in your business. Always make sure that when you deal with your clients, they should at least pay deposit which is part of the agreement stipulated under the contract. Payment is everything and if you don’t get paid then you might go out of business. Always get prepayment from your customers no matter what happen even though he is one of your best friends. I learned my mistakes previously and I don’t want to engage myself in this trouble again. This friend of mine assured me for the prepayment but four weeks later the payment obligation I need to collect reached at USD15000.
“If they don’t want to pay then it is better to stop calling and shut the phone system down. Otherwise, you can negotiate again with your clients to make sure that they will pay their rental obligation.”
”I think that this is going to be one of the hardest decisions that you will have to make put I had a drunk Japanse man tell me its better to lose a client then to lose a client and lose money”
On a good note if your client is paying you by Paypal then there is no charge backs because its not a product but a service.
Brokers
I have worked with several brokers in the past and most of them are incompetent. Stay away from them as much as possible because their only intention is to hold the money and not pay it with you. I have worked with some brokers that are very good but they are hard to find. If you are going to work with a broker in the call center in the Philippines then you need to check out their location where they are brokering their campaign. This is part of knowing that these people engage in brokering jobs are honest and not fooling you.
“Most of them can talk the talk but can’t walk the walk”
”If his name is Steve Ferand then you are good to go I trust him”
Performance based programs
There are many small call centers who bend over backwards to service their brokers or owners of the performance-based programs. I have worked with a lot of different ones when it comes to performance but I learned that they need you more than you need them. Don’t worry about their reports or request unless it is in your best interest or it is just going to cost you extra money. You are the one who is spending all the money to generate the sale not them, so why would you spend the time and money to help them? If you have a performance program which is making money then great give them what they want but if you are not making money then don’t waste your time. There are so many programs that are very complicated, you do not want to run them unless they have proofs in the footings or you will lose a lot of money. If you are running something like this make sure you tour the other centers that are running it. If they are making money and you have good agents and management then you are fine.
“If they are paying you to do the job and you are making money then that’s great. But if it’s not then dump them”
”You are going to run into some performance campaign that might work but you really got to know who you are working with”
Consultants
Some call center companies are hiring a consultant in order to see where their business may go. Hiring consultant may be advantage in your business because these people are expert of what is the industry is all about. However, you have to make sure that your consultant is knowledgeable enough about your business. There are many consultants in the Philippines whom you can tap if you seriously considered of hiring them.
Making sure your consultant is doing things right
You are not required to use overpriced or expensive servers. This is something that you will just work, unless you have the money and clients that can support your business. Most of the consultants offer high rate about how great the call center is but make sure you are letting it go in one ear and out the other. There are so many ways for you to save money while on this business. If you have a consultant then your consultant will make sure your call center is set up right and the lowest price you can get because that is what you are paying them for.
“Talk…Talk…Talk is all they will do, make sure they know what they are talking about and come highly recommended”
”Or ask me”
Police and Government
Security and good governance is also important maintaining this industry. If the local and national politicians are uniting with each other then it only means that the nation is on the right track. In addition, the continuous random check points conducted by the men in uniform will scare away the bad elements especially most of the employees of the contact centers are deployed on the wee hours. When you arrived in the Philippines, you will have the impression to get scared but you will get used to everything you will start to think you are bullet proof. The security measures in this country are in place and the support from the government is amazing. When you get here, always try to follow the rules and regulations implemented by the Philippine Government. Simply following the laws will assure your protection and your business as well.
“If you are attending a party together with your friends staying out from trouble is the best thing you need to do. Be friendly to others and try to be polite with people whom you will meet around,”
Food and Water
The Philippines is blessed with great gifts from the Mother Nature. The lifestyle here is totally different in terms of the food they eat and the water they drink. Any foreigners who visit this country surely enjoy the hospitality from the Filipino people. You don’t need to worry if what type of food would you like to eat because all types of foods are available here. The mouth watering food made by the Filipino and international chefs surely entice the visitors. The foods are clean and safe to eat. Likewise, the water is also healthy to take with no worries at all. If you decided to come here be sure to sample the endless variety of native delicacies and local cuisine, which differ in every region. The Philippines is made up of 7,107 different flavors that you will want to take home with you.
Entertainment
If you think that there’s no nightlife in the Philippines then you are wrong. Life in the Philippines is full of hope and glory. The entertainment here is fabulous because people here continue to give time for themselves to enjoy despite their busy schedules at work. If you are planning to bar hopping, you can meet friendly people who can be with you and accompany you anytime. However, always make sure that you know how to choose people whom you can be trusted. Meeting strangers are not a problem at all but make sure that you not be blinded with what you see. You are in a foreign land so you have to take full responsibility of yourself. If you apply this you are having fun at the same time, you are safe and sound here. In addition, if you are having fun in the Philippines always respect the welfare of others and avoid engaging yourself from trouble.
“Be smart, don’t do anything stupid and you will be fine, like I said above stay in a area that you know”
“Going to jail in the Philippines from what I know is not one of the funniest places you can stay and it would not be cheap if you wanted to be safe.”
“I suggest that you can unwind in these places in Ortigas I mentioned: Aruba Metro Walk or Richmond, you will see me a couple times a week at Aruba”
English only
The Philippines is the home of largest contact centers in the world. This country was under the American colonial for many long years, it means that English is considered as priority language. Today, the country is the home of the largest call center companies because of the advanced English skills of every Filipino. These call center companies are strictly implementing the English only policy in order to equip the people to consider the language as the first medium of instruction since most of the clients are coming from the United States. If you ever visit a center in the Philippines, you will notice that English is spoken inside the company’s premises. The people behind this program are to allow their workers to think English which will bring them to a better future. Call center is a highly regulated company which always reinforce American setting environment. If your agents are speaking English this will be a great advantage for your company because they can deal with their clients with no hassle and no language barrier. Sometimes bad English is the major concerns of the client why they are upset if the problem is not given immediate solution. The production will go up over time because the agents will understand their customers better. As the head of the company, you need to make sure that your employees are speaking English all the time instead of Tagalog.
“Implementing the English only policy will eliminate the Tagalog background which your customers might here.”
“If you hear agents are speaking Tagalog then fine them PhP500. We have been doing this for a while and it helps a lot to improve the communication skills of our employees.”
Operations manager
Setting up your call center will require you to hire an Operations Manager which is responsible to oversee the entire operations of your company. There are many people out there who are competent enough to hire and handle this very tough job. The job description is detailed including the salary you are going to offer with your hired operations manager. This person will lead the agents, stand as leader to all the managers, and someone whom you can trust regarding the outcome of your business. This position offers great package in choosing for someone fit on this job especially if you are handling an outbound account. The operations manager will stand as motivator among your employees that there are good plans intended for them if they exert their effort.
“Just like what said by the God Father never tell anyone what you’re thinking. This is true; you never know what someone will do or say from what you have told them because there are rumor-mongers out there who will not bring good fortune to your business anyway.”
Running a call center in the Philippines
Running a call center is no joke. This is not going to be easy because you really need to exert 100% of your commitment if you want your business to succeed. One of the biggest problems you might encounter is handling your agents. You may notice sooner or later that some of your agents are slacking off on the floor which they failed to perform their duties and obligations while they are on calls. It is better that you will hire people who will monitor their behavior and track down their respective progress on a daily basis. Also, with your presence you can help them motivate and strive hard to reach the supervisory level. If you work hard, your effort will pay off for sure.
“If you’re not serious in running your call center then this is not for you. Discipline, patience and hard work will give you the opportunity to shine on this lucrative industry.”
Other opportunities
As time goes by, there will be a lot of opportunities that will come along the way in venturing in call center. Maybe you can re-sell Telco, hardware or software. These opportunities will give you a chance to make extra money other than your business which will be a big help. So keep your eyes and mind open for something that might come your way. If you can, you can start thinking of other business which you think will going to succeed in the Philippines.
Two many chiefs and not enough Indians
This is a common situation in the Philippines, as you will see two people doing one job at a time. If you are reading this then you might have a problem on setting up your account. Start small, slow and as low cost as you can. Once you have good clients then you can start buying newer and better stuff. If you are going to start with a 10-man team then you doesn’t need all the extra fat, like the HR, Quality Analyst (QA) or Trainer. For something like this you would need a good operations manager and team leaders to man your people.
“Do it your self”
Outsourcing jobs
Outsourcing industry is a fantastic opportunity for everyone. If you are interested on this, try to think of better ideas which are easy to acknowledge by everybody. You can make your company stable like your Accounting, Payroll and the HR. The cost will only be a little cheaper but it will be a lot less headaches for you and no commitments.
“There are many companies here that do things like this for very cheap and they do a good job”
What is it going to cost for agents?
Inbound agent – USD220 plus commission
Outbound agent – USD220 plus commission
Data entry – USD160 plus commission
Chat support – USD220 plus commission
What is it going to cost for Managers?
Team leader – USD300 plus commission
The price of a Team Leader will depend on the experience in the call center industry. If the performance showed by your team leader totally satisfies you then you can give great salary package for them. It is really hard to find efficient team leader or else you can monitor the performance of your agents and see what will happen. I have done this and brought someone from an agent to a COO (chief operations officer) soon to be a CEO in the past two years.
What is it going to cost for an Operations manager?
Operations Manager – USD800 plus commission
What is it going to cost for Quality Control?
QC – USD300 plus commission
What is it going to cost for a Tech guy?
Tech guy – USD300
What is it going to cost for an Accountant?
Accountant – USD600 plus commission
What is it going to cost for a Janitor?
Janitor – USD140
What is it going to cost for a driver?
Driver – USD140
What is a security guard cost?
Body Guard – USD300
You get what you pay for and now days staff are costing allot more then a couple of years ago, If you think that your campaign or project is going to be a little bit harder you are going to have to pay more for your staff then what is above.
What is all this commission stuff above?
What you want to do is pay the agents and others as little as possible if they are not performing.
Women employees
I had so many problems with male employees. If you can, I would only suggest hiring females because they are more responsible than males. I really don’t know but for me, females do a better job. When you start mixing boys and girls they start to get to know each other and then some become boyfriends and girlfriends. This is something that I can’t stand because it drives me nuts, which is why I will do everything to have only women in my office. I don’t want to worry about girls or guys falling for each other but if you only hire girls and gays then you are OK. Now some of you will say gays. They are some of the best agents that you will get. They already out of the closet so they don’t care about what other people think. There are a lot of male employees that are hard workers but most are hard to find and most of the guys in the Philippines are different from other countries because of the culture. Even if you hire male employees and you think that he is the greatest in the world changes. Still your male employee can still do something wrong. When you have both men and women in the office and they are working together closely for along time then they will become one.
Trust in employees
You always have to watch your back because you can’t trust anyone. You are going to meet a lot of people in the Philippines which you think you can trust and most of them are working for you. There are many factors behind all these matters. I guess this is like any other country, but happiness and money is everything. If your employees are not happy they will leave no matter how much money you offer to them. I have been through this many times and offered attractive package to my employees but still they were not happy and they left me. You can’t trust anyone here, other than your close friends, and still this is going to be a gamble because you don’t know what they are going to do. I would say that I have been blessed because I made some good friends here that I would trust. All of my friends I worked with are from China, Korea, Australia, United Kingdom and the Philippines.
I trust all the hired management people that work for me. However, I do monitoring on them secretly to see to it that they are doing their job and diligently fulfill their responsibilities. Only trust the one close to you. Trust yourself only. I have a story to tell, I had a friend that got hit by one of his managers that shut them down and then the manager took the clients to another center at a lower price, so you really got to watch this.
Labor Courts
Here is one of the fun parts of running or owning a business in the Philippines, the labor courts. One thing that you have to remember is that the Philippines is pro labor and they will really stand by the people, no matter what. Make sure when you fire or tel go of some one that its done correct, training fire no problem just make sure you have a training contract with the agent, probationer is where it starts to getting a little sticky, I should suggest probationer contract with the agent and if you are going to let them go still follow the three memos and your out and then make sure you file it, most times you will get away with not memo just firing but better to safe, once the agent is regularized them you have to follow the rules or you will get fucked. If you are in a case with someone that worked for you the best way to handle is to keep your first up and never stop fighting, don’t show any fear or like a dog they will attack.
Employees that are pirated or resign
This is something that hit me really hard about a year and a half ago and that is why I decided to write this because I gave up running the call center and started just seat leasing. I was wrong and stupid! This is how the story went: I separated from Global Sky to start my own company because of indifferences with my partner. When we separated I took some accounts and my partner managed some of our accounts. Six months later, the agents were not happy for whatever reason and started looking for another job. These agents applied at Global Sky in which I was notified by ex-business partner that these people are applying for job at them. I replied not to hire them because it is inappropriate. In spite of my appeal, my ex-partner hired these people. I was shocked from what my ex-business partner said and told him that I would not hire anyone from his company. I was very upset and constantly talked to my former partner asking him not to hire my agents. This hurt really bad but the funny thing is he took all these agents. At that time, I was really worried and thought it was going to affect my business. Surprisingly, all the agents who worked for Global Sky left the company. I have heard that these people tried to do dirty work like take clients and set up there own call center or abuse the phones by making phone calls to all over the world. There was also an instance that I fired one of my managers in which most of the agents go with her because of the job she promised to offer. It happened again I could not believe it because they left without even saying goodbye or getting their 13 month pay. Now this manager I fired have kissed and made up and presently leasing seats from me running her own account.
Enough is enough
Your client is the lifeblood of your company. The partnership with your client should always combine with interest and respect. Your clients expect the best services from your company. If you know how to offer the services they want then it is pretty much sure that you are going to have wonderful partnership with them. If the clients are telling you what to do better follow their command and always make sure to maintain good posture and strengthen the business atmosphere with them. I have worked with some of the greatest the good and worst clients in my entire existence in this industry. If ever your clients are complaining of the poor services make sure to boost your equipment to avoid trouble from your clients.
Moving forward
Now if you decide to stay and live in the Philippines which many of you will, now its time to get established.
Renting a house or condo
You can get a two-bedroom house in the Philippines for like USD150 a month, it’s not going to be the best place in the world but still something that is going to work. If you are looking for something a little nicer than you are going to be looking at something around USD800 a month but this would be a nice house or condo in a nice area next to your office. All depends on the size and where it is at.
Buying a car
Buying a car is totally different compared in the US. If you are buying second hand car make sure the quality is still the best. You can buy cars anytime here as long as you have the money for it. Having your own car will save you from money and time in reaching your appointment with no hassle at all. If you are buying a new car, the price may range from USD40,000 USD for a Honda SUV. If you like look at second hand or used, you can get something nice for around 8,000 USD, there are used car places every where or use the internet.
www.adpost.com/ph
www.ebay.com.ph
www.buyandsellph.com
www.sulit.com.ph I love this one
Buying a place to live
When you are hunting a house or a condo, thus might be pretty hard because you need to have available fund intended for your house to stay in the Philippines. You might want to look at a condo, which is totally furnished for you to live your life better in this country. Really just depends on what you want and the cash that you have. I have started to look a house in the Philippines that’s about 20 minutes away from Ortigas. The house cost me at USD100,000 to build and buy the lot. If you are planning to stay longer in this country, consider of looking for a place for you to stay without much spending your money from paying it to the hotel and the like. Be wise enough because there are nice and cheaper prices you can rent or purchase depends on your plans of stay here.
About the Author
Beau Rudd is the chief executive officer of Unique Interaction Asia, Inc. This company is an American-owned call center company, which he dreamed to establish when he the young age of 17. Rudd discovered his interest in customer service when he worked as a car wash in a pumping gas station company. There he met a customer owning a dazzling Chevy Taho model car. He approached this customer how he managed to purchase this expensive car at the very young age. This customer shared to Rudd that his job on selling over the telephone. He asked the customer if there’s a way for him to do sales over the phone. His skilled and ambition led him to be one of the successful young entrepreneurs in his homeland. Rudd managed to start his call center career with passion and dedication when he passed the interview. He was surprised about the improvement brought into his life because of the job he wanted for. Rudd did not mind the hardship and trials he encountered in dealing with customers. He even worked for this company for a about a year then he was pirated by another company to work with the same job description.
When his uncle died in 2004, at this point Rudd decided to leave his profession and changed his career path. So he decided to work with his father as a carpenter but it did not work eventually. After that, he decided to go back to his call center job selling a predictive dialer. He dealt with difficult clients because of the account he had. But his will and motivation took part in expanding the program called Auction University, it started slow but it began to grow. When this company started to grow, it then started to outsource in India and the Philippines. The owner of the company decided to do business in the Philippines because of the good English.
In addition, Rudd began his journey to the Philippines embarking on something that he could ever imagine in which there were many events that he would never think of.
When he arrived here, he was first appointed as project manager for three different call centers in the Philippines. Six months later, he was overseeing different call centers with three other managers, controlling everything that was going on. Like before it took some time to train all the agents and mangers but he was able to get everything running successful with in six months. In eight months, he decided to venture into his own call center company but was not sure at first what type of services he will offer. In order to get started, he contacted his friend who was based in India at that time running a web design company there. His friend decided to abort the operations in India and decided to move to the Philippines to venture into a new business together with Rudd. Rudd and his friend James Stinson planned of putting up their own company and manage it carefully.
This was how Global Sky was transformed. Global Sky started with only 2 agents handling only one client at that time. Sooner or later, the previous two agents went to 50 agents in the span of one year. However, the two decided to split and started to build their own respective companies. Stinson handed 50% of the company and Rudd took the other 50%. The business agreement is that Stinson should keep the call center name and website. The former retained all of the inbound accounts while Rudd retained all the outbound accounts which in the end proved to be in long-term.
When Rudd is totally independent, he formed his company naming it Unique Interaction, which coined after his father’s company Unique Home located in St. George, Utah. Unique Interaction started with very few agents like that of Global Sky. Rudd specialized in seat leasing helping interested investors to venture in call center business. After one year, their 12 stations expanded to 62 stations. Presently, Unique Interaction is not only catering seat leasing, it also offers inbound and outbound services, chat support, web content writing, among others. The company also started to sell predictive dialer within six months in which one of his clients was his Stinson.
Meanwhile, Rudd appointed Rommel Sarmiento as the chief operations officer of the company. Sarmiento started as an agent but because of his outstanding skills in customer service, his effort paid off differently from becoming one of the respected personnel at Unique Interaction.
To date, Unique Interaction continues to provide employment to the Filipino job seekers. The opportunities and the reality of achieving your dream is what aimed by the company to share the blessing to the entire Filipino men.
Update
As of now Unique Interaction has over 110 agents using their stations. If you are looking at setting up a call center in the Philippines this is the way to do it. Trust our talents and skills in helping your company to grow like we did in our company.
New websites
www.beaurudd.com
www.callcenterguy.com
www.callcenterscream.com
www.callcenterphilippinesblog.com
www.lostguy.com
www.badcallcenter.com
www.callcenteroutsourcingblog.com
Update, a new site I just put up which is about building call centers and what services that you should used, I’m branding it as Rudd approved, meaning the companies on the directories are services that I approve of.
