4/20/09

Weight Problems in Call Centers

A lot of people working in call centers, medical transcription companies and other outsourcing facilities have weight problems. Not that they are all fat but the irregular work hours plus all the free sugar (coffee and instant fruit juice machines) are making them gain plenty of weight. Because of that people are tempted to take appetite suppressants in order to control their weight. That, in my opinion, is not safe. One should not try to lose weight by not balancing their food intake. Consult a doctor!

Outsourcing to Historians/ Anthropologists

In the Philippines, there are historic hotels but one is set apart from the rest due to the fact that World War 2 hero General Douglas MacArthur stayed and used it as an office for a long time. However, I have the opinion that visiting the grand hotel nowadays is a bit thrilling from the driveway only up to the lobby. Beyond that, the place looks like a second rate among the first class hotels. I suggest that the management consults or even outsource the restoration of the place to people who specializes in historical matters.

4/19/09

Bigotry in Call Centers?

While reading phenphedrine reviews, I can’t help but be saddened by the fact that there’s still a lot of bigotry in this world. A few years ago, an airline company closed its ticket reservation call centers in the Philippines allegedly due to customer complaints that the call center agents in that country do not understand the business quite well. Just recently, an American carrier also closed its call centers in India supposedly for the same reason. In my opinion, understanding the intricacies of ticket reservations are not that difficult and should there be mistakes made by foreign call center agents, the blame should be on those who trained them. It has nothing to do with race and location.

I strongly suspect that customer complaints were largely because those making the reservations simply detested the foreign accents of those who answered the phones.

Back To Work!

Bored, I tinkered with the TV wall mount and quite admirably, kit did not fall. Two weeks ago, kit was a bit boring. The predominantly catholic Philippines commemorated the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the country was on holiday of about five days. Having decided not to leave the city and just quietly wait for the coming work week, I realized that there wasn’t much to do in the city and it would have been much better if I went to the beach, meditated in silence and worked on my tan, just a bit.

4/15/09

OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND IN THE BPO SECTOR

Despite reports of economic slowdown, the future looks bright for the BPO sector in general.

MANILA, Philippines — With a continued boom in business process outsourcing (BPO), Convergys said Monday it was constructing two new sites in the Philippines and open them within the year.

The company said it remained committed to an expansion plan, announced last year, which would provide as many as 7,000 new jobs.

The company will formally open this Wednesday three new sites: Cebu Asiatown i3 in Cebu City in the central Philippines, University of the Philippines-Ayala Land TechnoHub in Quezon City, and Nuvali TechnoHub in Sta. Rosa City, outside Manila. These will bring to 12 the number of Convergys’ operational contact center facilities in the Philippines. The company now has around 16,000 employees.


Full story

4/6/09

Asset Acquisitions

In an article published at tmc.net, Keith Dawson writes about instances when outsourcers go a step further and buys part of its clients' businesses. The author writes that while it may seem odd, the new arrangement actually presents huge advantages for both parties like huge costs savings for the clients.

Of course, there are also disadvantages to such a system. All of that is adequately presented in the linked article.

Outsourcing Public Service

One of the most notable outsourcing businesses is drug rehab. Governments all over are inadequate in addressing the global drug problem and the private sector’s entry into such type of public service is heartwarming and worthy of praise. Of course, the companies engaged in such business are primarily out to make money but in a big way, they are helping people get back to their feet and for me, such is a public service that makes money and yet very notable.

Work Hazards

Reading about Mesothelioma, I am most thankful that our present day workers are not in danger of Asbestos exposure. Outsourcing companies are normally housed in huge facilities and air conditioning is a major expenditure for most of such firms. Asbestos when used as roofing is good in keeping warehouses and huge facilities cool but the long term health effect of direct contact with it is very bad. I pity those people who had to work in contact with asbestos not knowing that they will become very ill from it in the long run. I hope that modern science will be able to cure such ailments at least cost to the effected people. I have the impression that most of those who got into direct contact with asbestos are those that were engaged in manual labor and therefore, has lesser ability to pay for their long term, medical bills.