Where To Locate Internationally?

[AlfaRomeoGTV]

Is it necessary to be global to be successful with today's technology? If so what countries should a technical support center have a presence in? We are now looking at Holland and wish to decide within 6 months. What looks good right now. PS we are NOT interested in India.

[Claus]

Hi,

I'm working as a consultant, implementing an improving callcenters in Denmark.

Depending on, what kind of customers you want to service in your helpdesk, you might consider establisment in the Region of "Øresund" (Copenhagen/Malmö) - one of the fastest growing industrial regions in northern Europe!

The CallCenter branch also devellops quite fast in the area - expecting a growth rate at 12% the next 12 month.

If my company IPTeams can be at any service in your considerations please do not hessitate to contact us.

Best regards

Claus Eriksen, Partner
IPTeams

[Gkoekemoer]

Hi Alfa,
This is a very interesting and fiery topic indeed.

The answer to your question is entirely up to your needs.

What I CAN say is, that investing in South Africa, would be a particularly good option. My reasons, besides the fact that I am South African are as follows:

-The Rand crumbles against foreign currencies; thus, the opex of a call centre run in South Africa, for a US company, would be a win-win situation. You will be saving money, and we could still make a substantially higher mark-up that that achieved with a local company.

-High Unemployement. South Africa currently sits with an unemployment problem. This solution would create a wealth of jobs in the well-educated and ever-eager market.

-Best-of-breed technology. Numerous companies in South Africa, just after their international re-instatement, invested $millions in new technology. Where countries overseas fall short, is that they are yet to realise their ammortisation and ROI from older technologies installed. South Africa bought the latest technology. This technology still stands.

-Outsource. Yes, outsource. Not only do I work in an outsourced environment, but I fully support the concept. Focus on your key strengths and outsource to someone who specialises in Customer Management. My company does that AND has the infrastructure to run international call-centres.

Should you wish to persue this further, please do not hesitate to contact me @ gerhard.koekemoer@za.didata.com.

-Gerhard Koekemoer

[ttw27]

Having set up one of the first multi-national call and fulfillment centers in Dublin in 1990 I'd have to say that it is important to offer support to customers in the language with which they are most comfortable. That being said, depending on the type of support, the type of product or services and the type of customers you may or may not need native speakers.

It is possible to set up support centers that give all the appearance of a "local" center however there are lots of considerations that need to be taken into account.

For the past 4 years I have been working as a consultant with companies who have either located or outsourced their customer support operations in The Netherlands.

A major consideration in regards to location must be the languages you want to support as well as the labor pool. Unfortunately the labor pool for native language speakers is getting tighter and tighter as more companies look at setting up or outsourcing multi-national/multi-language centers.

If you want to discuss in more detail, feel free to drop me a line.

Regards and good luck!

Teresa Tersol-Wiseman
Tersol & Associates
ttw@iname.com

[Gkoekemoer]

Hi Teresa,
Interesting and valid point you make, however, the situation in South Africa is that there are more unemployed white people (ie not native) and thus accent will not be an issue.

Gerhard

[jerry]

Hi,

You might be interested in outsourcing your call center operations here in Philippines. Call center is booming here right now and listed among the top 5 industries with potential growth. Most U.S. call center operations are being outsourced here today.

If my company can be at any service in your considerations please do not hessitate to contact us.

Best regards

Jerry Maog
DIGILINK Services, Inc.
Telefax : (632) 3734231
eMail : jerrym@axti.com

[mlik]

Well Alfa,
You seem to have shut down a big opportunity by opting out of India

[AlfaRomeoGTV]

Our company is not willing to risk the religious and political strifes in India and we mentioned this at the outset of our discovery process. Recent contemporary events have just served to justify our initial fears. We do not feel safe at the moment with all the fundamentalist issues and violence in and near Muslim countries e.g. Pakistan. So no India does not serve us but are gaining more interest in Belgium and Nederlands.

[JeffUrdan-Immequire]

Hi Alfa -

Given your aversion to India, I would suggest you take a good look at the Philippines.

We have been here for a year and a half and are very pleased.

The people are great: there is an abundant supply of hard-working, technically skilled staff. The accent is pretty neutral to the American ear, the culture here is very service-oriented, and labor rates are 1/10th what you pay in the US.

I am from Chicago, and spend most of my time in Manila. I find it very livable. There is some bad press about Al-Queda activity in the Philippines, but it is limited to a small island (1 of 7,000 that comprise the Philippines). If you are in Manila, it is sort of like having your HQ in New Orleans and worrying about "bad guys" in Cuba.

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in our experiences here: 800 549 2701 x 238 or call our Arlington, VA headquarters at 703 351 1351.

[etuwah]

Hi Alfa,

Take a look at Malaysia.

Forget what you hear on the news about this country the main reason why many companies (including their call centers) are established here is due to its political stability. Apart from it being cost efficient, highly competence work force.

Add it to your possible site list and see if it match your requuirement.