World’s biggest contact center event in Cebu

Cebu will be placed in the global spotlight as an ideal destination for outsourcing in the International Contact Center Conference and Expo on Aug. 28-30.

The “who’s who” of the contact center world will gather here for what was dubbed as the world’s largest trade event for contact center professionals.

“Cebu is a bright star in the call center industry with about 95,000 employees. Cebu is very interesting and the gathering of these global leaders here will bring attention to Cebu even more,” said Benedict Hernandez, president of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) in a news conference yesterday.

This is the first time CCAP is holding the international conference, its flagship event, outside Manila.

Day one will open in the Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort and Spa with a report on the state of the industry and CCAP’s forecast for the year during a plenary session.

The second day will be at the Radisson Blu Hotel with workshops, “master classes” and a CEO Forum.

At least 62 chief executive officers of top contact center companies in the world are attending the conference. The third day will end in Shangri-La with a “call to action” by the CCAP.

About 2,500 delegates are expected, with 900 slots already signed up by foreign and Manila-based participants.

The fast-growing contact center industry employed close to 500,000 Philippine workers by the end of 2012.

It registered a growth of 19 percent from 2011 level and generated revenues of $8.9 billion, also a 19 percent growth, said Fernandez.

“We will continue to push for the industry and Cebu is one way to show the world what we offer,” he said.

CCAP projects the workforce to grow to 802,000 employees by 2016 which is achievable given the still large untapped global market, said CCAP chairman Raffy S. David.

Jojo J. Uligan, CCAP executive director, said there was still growth expected in markets of Europe, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia to make up for traditional markets like the United States.

Call centers still dominate the landscape making up two-thirds of the industry, Hernandez said.

“Among the services, healthcare is on a fast growth fueled by the Healthcare Act in the US as well as back office processes and accounting,” Hernandez said.

Conference topics will include effects of currency fluctuations on business competitiveness and how they are mitigated, emerging geo-political forces and its effects on the industry, risk-proofing growth plans and strategies, formulating sustainable manpower sourcing plans, and integrated social media, big data, analytics and mobile computing into more comprehensive and effective customer relation management strategies.

The CEO roundtable is a new feature this year.

Hernandez said this was a good opportunity to learn, network, and share best practices with other global industry leaders.

CCAP has 91 member call center companies while there are about 800 outsourcing companies in the country today.