Call Center Establishment Philippines

Over the last decade, the Philippines has emerged as one of the world’s largest and leading offshore call center outsourcing destinations. What started in the year 2000 with less then 10 call centers has grown to more than 800 CRM and BPO companies today. Some of the first call center service providers that established a presence in the Philippines were Sykes, C3, eTelecare (now: Stream International), Ambergris Solutions (now: Telus International) and People Support (now: Aegis). Approximately two years after these call centers established their presence in the Philippines, the world’s larger CRM providers such as Convergys began to establish their first call center in the country. In the early days almost all call center establishments in the Philippines place in Makati and Ortigas Center, a large number of new call center establishments today are actually being set up outside of Metro Manila. The main drivers behind the incredible growth of the Philippine call center industry is the country’s close cultural affinity to the US, excellent English language proficiency as well as the country’s outstanding IT and telco infrastructure. The number of foreign call center establishments in the Philippines has experienced a 30% increase over the last five years alone. Today, 60 % of all call centers in the country are foreign owned and/or operated.

Call Center Establishment Options for Foreign-based Companies

Foreign-based companies that are looking into the possibility of establishing a call center presence in the Philippines have the following market entry options:

1) Option 1: Call Center Facility Lease

The lease of an entire call center facility or a small number of seats within an existing call center facility is an option that allows companies to almost immediately operate in the country without having to shoulder a heavy cash layout for a building and maintain a new call center facility. This option is ideal for small- to medium-sized companies.

Option 2: Foreign Direct Investment Philippines

Medium to large sized corporations and third party outsourcers also have the option to establish their own call center facilities in the Philippines. This option, however, requires a heavy, upfront investment and usually takes anywhere between three to six months to complete. The advantage of this option is that the company maintains full control and ownership of the call center facility. This option is advisable for enterprises with a high level of liquidity and/or for companies that have decided to stay in the Philippines for the long-term.

Over the last five years, the process of establishing a call center presence in the Philippines has not only become a lot faster and easier but also cheaper. For example, the cost of broadband connections has dropped by more than 40% over the last few years alone .

Over the last two years, the leasing of fully furnished and equipped call center facilities has become extremely popular. Even some of the world’s largest providers are now making use of the call center facility lease option to support their growth.