Susan Gordon, Staff Reporter
An aerial view of Montego Bay Freezone, the hub of Jamaica's call centre industry, with the construction under way of Factory 8 (to the left) and Data Entry Building # 2 (to the right).
JAMAICA HAS lost it position as the leading regional call centre hub of the Caribbean, says Philip Peters, chief executive officer of Miami-based research company Zagada Markets Inc.
He said an interim survey done in 2005 by the company showed that Jamaica slipped to second place as it recorded a fall in the total number of call centres for year 2005. Call centres are centralised offices which receive and transmit a large volumes of requests by telephone. A call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Outgoing calls for telemarketing, clientele, and debt collection are also made with the manufacturing and delivery of service. They manage the care delivery process.
FIRST PLACE
The Dominican Republic has now assumed first place in the region with its increase of call centres by 45 per cent. At present, the Spanish speaking island has approximately 12,000 agents working in call centres, compared to Jamaica's approximate 10,000.
Mr. Peters told Wednesday Business in an interview yesterday that the major reason for Jamaica's slip in ranking is its office capacity constraint. He said while the Jamaican Government is just beginning to act on the matter, with plans to build additional space, the Dominican Republic is aggressively marketing itself and expanding its office capacity.
In year 2004, Zagada indicated in its biennial survey report that Jamaica was leading with a growth from 3,200 agents to just over 8,000 agents, while the Dominican Republic had approximately 7,000 agents. This was in spite of the fact that the Dominican Republic had 30 call centres in contrast to Jamaica's 16.
"It's not that Jamaica is becoming less favourable but it does not have enough space. Lack of adequate office capacity constrains Jamaica's growth in call centres," said Mr. Peters. "The Dominican Republic did much better by adding office capacity in their freezone," he outlined.
"Deals might be in the pipeline but if you don't have the office space then the companies will go to other markets," he continued, noting that the Dominican Republic will continue to accelerate.
Jamaica has 600,000 square feet of available space for call centres. The Government through the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology plans to add 200,000 square feet in office space this year. However, Mr. Peters believe there may be a lag for another 12 months before Jamaica reaps the benefit of this additional space. "Jamaica will need five times that capacity to regain ground," explained Mr. Peters.
He said if Jamaica addresses its space constraints, plus issues such as education, crime, training, business processes and other hidden social infrastructure issues, growth in this area will occur more rapidly. Sourcing office space in Kingston is primarily retarded by some of these social factors.
COMPELLING OFFER
The Jamaican picture is still a good one, noted Mr. Peters. The fact that Delta has signed a deal with E-services, an indigenous Jamaican service, shows that the country has a compelling offer in terms of quality.
Furthermore, he believes Jamaica has a much better diffusion or mix of business in this area, as indigenous companies, along with Verizon International Teleservices Jamaica Limited are driving the development of the sector.
"Close to 50,000 agents is where the Caribbean should be," he told Wednesday Business, informing that the figure now stands at 34,000. He said when the business hits the 50,000 mark it could be earning in excess of US$1billion per annum.
In addition to a call centre, collective handling of letters, faxes, and emails at one location is known as a contact centre.
