Nearshore Americas has learned that global contact center giant Convergys, which serves half of the Fortune 50, is setting up a BPO  service center  in Bogota after receiving clearance to operate in a new free trade zone in the northern part of Bogota.

As many as 2,500 seats will occupied at the center within three years, according to two reliable sources. The center, which should be operational in June, will also offer financial back-office support services.

Colombia is without question one of the hottest outsourcing destinations in Latin America, and its transformation has been one of the biggest stories to hit the headlines in the Nearshore community in the last several months.

Convergys spokesperson John Pratt declined to comment late today on our report.

“This does not come as a surprise, really,” says lead BPO and call center analyst Peter Ryan, of DataMonitor, commenting on the development. “There is a lot of capacity in Colombia and the country has the potential to become the next big thing in South America,” said Ryan, comparing its rise to Chile and Argentina, which have become globally recognized outsourcing centers.

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Congratulations. You’ve survived 2009, the most challenging year for business since the Great Depression. DMG expects 2010 to be a better year, and the economic indicators show that the recession has bottomed out, but we don’t expect significant improvement for contact centers until Q4 2010. This is because, unfortunately, most contact centers are still cost centers and therefore less likely to benefit from quick budget relief and incremental investment dollars. The profit centers will come first, as they should.

The continuing challenges in 2010 will present contact center managers with opportunities to offer assistance beyond their departmental borders to sales, marketing and other operating areas. (Contact centers are positioned to help these groups with deep insights into customer needs, wants and issues.) The need to achieve corporate revenue, retention and cost savings goals will open doors. Contact center managers should find out what their corporation’s top five goals are for 2010 …

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