Analyst Sanchez: Almost no competition
By Narayan Ammachchi
When they flew to the Caribbean islands back in 2004, the founders of Columbus Communications had only a few million dollars in the bank. But in the world of telecoms (an industry renowned for mega-wealth, think Carlos Slim, and mega-losers like Bernie Ebbers), fortunes can be created in surprisingly short periods of time. Fast forward nearly eight years and Columbus is a carrier that is flying high across the Caribbean and now into Central America. Just about every telecom carrier in the region is a client and Columbus is now worth an estimated $2 billion.
Commentary and Video: “The Whole World Should Pay Attention to Haiti”
February 8th, 2013
Commentary: Haiti – for many Americans – has sadly fallen off the ‘radar’ once again. The country remains in miserable shape, and it doesn’t take a Ph.D to recognize that there is no medicine to cure the deep suffering experienced by huge swaths of Haitian society or enough funding and leadership to fix all the systemic flaws in governance and rule of law. Yet, for those of us who have built our lives and careers around the thriving Nearshore outsourcing industry, we do possess important value to the people of this uniquely needy country.
Cloud and Mobile Become Major Influencers in the Contact Center
February 6th, 2013By Clayton Browne
The contact center industry is starting to experiment with new business models and customer interaction methods which could profoundly change the way outsourcers delivery services to clients. The economic slowdown of the last few years actually accelerated this process, as contact centers discovered the potential of software-based data analytics to maintain their margins and deliver improved brand management. The fact is that transitioning to cloud-based operations, developing mobile customer service capabilities and implementing robust workforce optimization suites have all moved from the back burner to front and center in 2013.
Site Visit: A New Model for the Next Generation Delivery Center?
January 28th, 2013By Tarun George
When you ask a call center agent what they like most about their job, and one of their answers is “the management team”, you know that this is not an ordinary Nearshore delivery center. Agents at Laurus International’s contact center in the Dominican Republic are loyal and it shows. How did the leadership team at Laurus manage to create such a committed workforce?
By Dan Berthiaume
Desktop virtualization has been having a strong impact on all types of businesses across the globe, and the large nearshore call center services industry is no exception. Nearshore Americas recently consulted with two experts – Fernando Belfort, Team Leader – Latin America of Frost & Sullivan and Raymond Valentine, CTO of KM2 Solutions LLC – about the current and future state of desktop virtualization on nearshore call center services.
KM2 Solutions Claims Caribbean’s Best Contact Center of the Year Award
December 19th, 2012BY STAFF REPORT
United States’ BPO firm KM2 Solutions has been voted the Caribbean’s best ‘Contact Center of the Year’.
The award, commissioned by Caribbean Business Awards (CBA), recognizes the US company’s strategic vision and execution of the call center service in the Caribbean region.
David Kreiss, founder and CEO of KM2, said he would credit the award to his staff in the Caribbean. CBA’s Janice Sutherland said KM2 had won the award beating out several other contestants, but she did not name the other contested companies.
Tony Jennings, KM2’s Caribbean Regional VP, praised his employees, saying ‘strategic vision and execution amount to little if an organization does not have the right people to execute that vision.’
KM2 has three contact centers in the Caribbean: the largest center in St. Lucia, a center in Bridgetown, Barbados, and a third in Grenville, Grenada.
The company also has a presence in Latin America with another large …
Telus Contact Center Generates 180 New jobs in Jamaica
December 17th, 2012By STAFF REPORT
A new contact center set up jointly by LIME and Telus International in Jamaica’s Montego Bay is going to create 180 new jobs, announced Sharon Folkes-Abrahams, Jamaica’s Junior Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce.
The Minister praised the partnership agreement, saying such joint ventures would ultimately help Jamaica sharpen its technological know-how and provide employment to more number of people in the days to come.
“Sharing experiences and expertise will certainly serve to enhance the development of our telecommunication industry,” reported Jamaica Observer quoting the Minister as saying.
Yoni Epstein, chairman of the recently established Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIA), said the outsourcing industry was heading in the right direction generating lot of jobs for the country’s educated youths.
The Minister says that 26 information technology (IT) companies had created 13,000 jobs in Jamaica in the past few years making the country “a leading contact center destination in …
Exclusive: Why Did Convergys Change Course on Jamaica?
November 30th, 2012
Jerking Jamaica? A year ago, Helena Lawson Brooks of Convergys talked of opening in Mo Bay and Kingston.
By Luke Bujarski
Convergys has officially postponed its 1,000 seat expansion into Montego Bay, approximately one year after officials – from both Jamaica and Convergys – publicly announced the project. According to local and U.S. sources, the decision was based on a combination of factors, both internal on the part of Convergys, as well as Jamaica’s immediate infrastructure readiness to host the multinational IT/BPO services vendor.
Minacs Partners With Qualfon to Launch Mexico Center
November 28th, 2012BY STAFF REPORT
India’s outsourcing firm, Aditya Birla Minacs, has partnered with Qualfon to launch a new call center operation in Mexico City, Mexico.
Minacs says it has set up a 600-seat center that will provide customer support services to its clients in North America. Senior Minacs executives will oversee the operation.
Qualfon, on its part, will supply with agents capable of speaking both English and Spanish. Founded in 1996, Qualfon has more than 10,000 call center agents working in many countries including Philippines, Guyana, Mexico and Costa Rica.
“With this new center, we are strengthening our LatAm presence and services offering. The Mexican center will add to Minacs’ presence in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. This enables our clients to be even closer to their customers,” said Anil Bhalla, Minac’s COO for North America and Europe.
“Minacs’ customized client solutions based on its deep domain expertise in its focus industries, …
Exclusive: As India’s Minacs Goes Global, It’s a Full Speed Entrance into Latin America
November 9th, 2012
CEO Patel: Office space is secured and ready to go in Mexico City.
By Narayan Ammachchi
Aditya Birla Minacs has embarked on a rapid expansion drive into Latin America, as the India’s sixth largest BPO provider presses ahead to get closer – literally – to its North American clients. Minacs made its first foray into CALA when it opened a delivery center in Jamaica, a few years ago, through a partnership with Global Gateway Solutions. Now the BPO provider says it is launching three more delivery centers in Mexico over the next six months.
