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2006 Philippine Contact Centre Industry Benchmarking Report

Introduction

• The 2006 Contact Center Industry Benchmarking Report – The Philippines, is researched and published by callcentres.net.
• This report is part of a study of the contact center industries in six Asian countries: China, India, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• callcentres.net has produced the Asian Contact Center Industry Benchmarking Report since 1997.
• 67 telephone and online interviews with contact center managers and decision makers in The Philippines were conducted in November 2006.
• The total number of contact center seats included in this study is 45,285 which is estimated to be 43% of the total Philippines industry seat size. As such, this sample is sufficient to make generalisations of the results to the wider contact center industry in The Philippines.

Analysis

• All results in this report have been cross-tabulated by contact center size.
• Z-tests were conducted to test statistically significant differences between the subgroups. Where a difference is proven to be statistically significantly different these have been highlighted in orange in the relevant tables as shown below. 
  
  

  	< 20 seats	20-49 seats	50-99 seats	100+ seats
  Yes	33%	59%	38%	74%

  
  
       
   Indicates value is statistically significantly higher

Definitions of statistical terms:

• Mean (or average) – the sum of all values divided by the number of values.
• Median (or midpoint) – the number in a range of values that falls exactly in the middle so that 50% of the cases are above or below.
• Mode – the most frequently occurring value in a range of values.
• Statistically significant difference - there is a difference between the means of two groups that has a very low probability of having occurred by chance or error.

Sample

• In-house (captive) versus outsourced contact centers
• Industry Breakdown 
  
  70% of the respondents' contact centers in The Philippines are in-house (captive) centers. 
   

Market Profile

• Number of contact center seats in The Philippines and per organisation 
  
  The total number of contact center seats in The Philippines in 2006 is estimated to be 105,000. This number is projected to increase to 140,000 seats in 2007. This is a 33% growth rate. 
  
  Number of Seats Per Organisation 
  
  In The Philippines, the mean number of seats per organisation is 676. This is predicted to grow to a mean number of 798 seats in 2007. 
   
• Number of contact centers per organisation 
  
  51% of organisations have 1 contact center,
  15% have 2 centers and
  34% have 3 centers or more. 
   
• International versus Local Servicing 
  
  46% of contact centers in the Philippines service international markets. 
  
  There is a statistically significantly higher proportion of larger centers (100+ seats) and outsourced contact centers servicing international markets. 
   
• Countries serviced 
  
  78% of contact centers in The Philippines currently service the domestic market. 34% of contact centers service the USA and 13% service Singapore and the UK. 
   
• Languages spoken and required 
  
  % of Calls that Require Agents to Speak in a Language other than the National Language 
  On average, 49% of calls require agents to speak in a language other than the national language. 
  
  100% of contact centers in The Philippines require a proportion agents to speak English to customers. 81% also require proportion of agents to speak Tagalog to customers. 
   
• Opening days 
  
  Nearly half of contact centers in The Philippines operate 7 days per week and 31% operate 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. 
  
  There is a statistically significantly higher proportion of contact centers with 20 seats or more that open 7 days per week. 
  
  There is also a statistically significantly higher proportion of outsourced contact centers that open 7 days per week and 24 X 7. 
   

Contact Handling

• Customer contacts per channel 
  
  Over half of all contacts are handled over the phone by the customer care contact center. 
  
  There is a statistically significantly higher proportion of outsourced contact centers that handle customer contact over the phone by the contact center and a statistically significantly higher proportion of inhouse contact centers that handle customer contact through the branch/retail network and sales force. 
   
• Primary Activity at Contact Center 
  
  The primary activity at over half of contact centers in The Philippines is providing Customer Service / Customer Support. 
   
• Inbound vs. Outbound Functionality 
  
  The majority of contact centers in The Philippines have blended functionality. 
   
• Mean Weekly Transaction Volume per Center 
  
  Each contact center handles an average of 160,399 transactions per week. 
   
• Channel Volumes 
  
  The share of transactions through each channel shows a high reliance on agents. Agents handle 49% of all transactions that come through the contact center with no automation, plus an additional 18% of transactions after some functions have been handled by the IVR. 
   
• Contact Center Transactions 
  
  There is a statistically significantly higher proportion of outsourced contact centers handling transactions by phone (agent after IVR). 
  
  There is also a statistically significantly higher proportion of in-house contact centers that handle transactions by email and fax. 
   
• Inbound and Outbound % of Total Calls 
  
  66% of total calls handled by contact centers in The Philippines are inbound. 
   
• Agent Call Handling - no. of calls per agent per shift 
  
  Philippine inbound, outbound and blended agents all handle between 60 - 70 calls per shift per day. 
  
  Inbound only agents in outsourced contact centers handle a statistically significantly higher number of calls than inbound only agents in in-house contact centers. 
   
• % of Contact Centers that Report an Up or Cross-Selling Opportunities from Inbound Calls 
  
  71% of contact centers in The Philippines report opportunities to up or cross-sell from inbound calls. 
   
• Mean % of Total Inbound Calls that Present an Up or Cross-Selling Opportunity 
  
  Of those contact centers in The Philippines that report opportunities to up or cross-sell from total inbound, on average, 52% of all inbound calls present an opportunity to up or cross sell. 
   

Budgets and Costs

• Budget allocation 
  
  On average, 46% of the total contact center budget in The Philippines is allocated to labor related expenses. 20% of budget is allocated to technology expenses and 19% is allocated to telecommunications. 
   
• Cost per seat and optimised cost per transaction 
  
  In the Philippines, the annual cost per seat is US$18,086.
  Hourly cost per seat is US$4.83
  Cost per transaction is US$0.40 
  
  * Please note these calculations are based on one seat operating 12 hours a day, 6 days a week (3,744 hours per annum). The seat on average handles 12 contacts per hour (44,928 contacts per annum), with an average call duration of 3 minutes and an average wrap time of 1 minute. The occupancy rate of this seat is averaged at 80%. The transaction cost is an estimate of what an optimally performing contact center in should cost given these conditions. 
   

Human Resources

• Agent gender and age 
  
  Agent gender in contact centers in The Philippines is fairly evenly split. 42% are male and 58% are female. 
  
  Agents in The Philippines are predominantly aged between 18-34 years. 
   
• Staff salary 
  
  Full-time agents in The Philippines are paid on average PHP 164,848 per year, with a median of PHP 150,000. 
  
  Part-time agents are paid on average PHP 69 per hour, with a median of PHP 45. 
  
  The average annual salary for a contact center manager is PHP 475,878 (median = PHP 420,000). 
  
  Team Leaders / Supervisors receive an average of PHP 269,296 per year (median = PHP 240,000). 
   
• Staff ratios 
  
  On average, in The Philippines, the ratio of Contact Center Manager / Supervisor to Agent is 1:8. 
   
• Agent training 
  
  New recruits in The Philippines receive on average 20 days training before starting work in the contact center. 
  
  Experienced agents receive on average 7 days of external / internal classroom training per year. Experienced agents also receive on average 10 days on the job training per year and 5 days of e-learning training per year. 
  
  New recruits in contact centers with 100+ seats receive a statistically significantly higher number of external/internal classroom training days. 
  
  Experienced agents in contact centers with 100+ seats receive a statistically significantly higher number of external/internal classroom training days. 
  
  Experienced agents in outsourced contact centers receive a statistically significantly higher number of external/internal classroom training days. 
   
• Agent telework and sick leave 
  
  6% of all contact centers allow their agents to telework. In centers that allow agents to telework, on average, 1% of agents do. 
  
  On average, in The Philippines each agent takes approximately 11 days of sick leave per annum. 
   
• Staff attrition and tenure 
  
  In The Philippines, the mean attrition rate of fulltime agents is 18%. The mean attrition rate of part-time agents is 24%. 
  
  There is a statistically significantly higher proportion of in-house contact centers with no (0%) full-time and part-time agent attrition. 
  
  There is a statistically significantly higher proportion of contact centers with less than 50 seats with no (0%) full-time and part-time agent attrition. 
  
  51% of agents who leave contact centers in The Philippines have done so by resigning. 23% of those who have left transferred to other parts of the business. One in ten agents who leave are dismissed or retrenched and one in ten did not renew their contract. 
  
  As a percentage of total attrition, there is a statistically significantly higher proportion of agents in in-house contact centers who resigned and agents who transferred to other parts of the business. 
  
  There is a statistically significantly higher proportion of agents who did not renew their contract in outsourced contact centers. 
  
  The average tenure of those full-time staff leaving contact centers in The Philippines is 18 months, with an average of 6 months or part-time agents. Team leaders stay for around 1.5 years and contact center managers stay longer at just under 4 years 
  
  Full-time agents and contact center managers in in-house contact centers have a statistically significantly longer length of tenure. 
  
  Team leaders / Supervisors in outsourced contact centers have a statistically significantly longer length of tenure. 
   

Technology

• Technology Implemented 
  
  The top three most commonly implemented technologies in The Philippines are Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) [60%], Customer Relationship Management (CRM) [58%] and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) [40%]. Other commonly used technologies include Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony [37%], Call Recording System [36%], Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) [34%], Workforce Management Software [30%], and Speech Recognition Software [27%] 
  
  The large (100+ seats) offshore contact centers in The Philippines appear to be the innovators of the contact center industry in terms of implementation of technologies. 
  
  Outsourced contact centers have statistically significantly higher levels of technology adoption. 
   
• Technology Purchase 
  
  In The Philippines, in the next 12 months, the key contact center technologies likely to be purchased include Voice & Data Recording and QMS, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and E-Learning systems. 
   

Disaster Recovery

• Disaster Recovery Planning 
  
  58% of contact centers currently in The Philippines have a disaster recovery plan in place. 42% do not. 
  
  There is a statistically significantly higher proportion of contact centers with 100+ seats and outsourced contact centers with a disaster recovery plan. 
   

Key Performance Indicators

• Average Abandonment Rate - 10%
• Average Inbound Talk Time (Seconds) - 329
• First Call Resolution - 73%
• Average Speed of Answer (Seconds) - 26
• Occupancy Rate - 75%
• Average Outbound Talk Time (Seconds) - 300
• Current Service Level Targets 
  
  90% calls in 10 sec - 32%
  90% calls in 20 sec - 13%
  80% calls in 20 sec - 10%
  No target - 23%
  Mean % of calls answered within service level target - 77% 
   
• Call Quality Measures Used 
  
  69% of all contact centers use Call Monitoring by Supervisors. Nearly half of all contact centers use Call-Back Surveys and 40% use Random Surveys by Agents. 24% of contact centers do not use any call quality measures. 
  
  There is a statistically significantly higher proportion of contact centers with 100+ seats using quality call measures. 
  
  There is a statistically significantly higher proportion of contact centers with less than 100 seats not using any quality call measures. 
  
  There is a statistically significantly higher proportion of in-house contact centers not using any quality call measures. 
   
• % of Contact Centers that have Quality Accreditation 
  
  32% of contact centers have ISO-9000 quality accreditation, 19% have COPC quality accreditation and 57% of contact centers do not have quality accreditation. 
   

Outsourcing of Contact Centre Functionality

• % of Organisations Currently Outsourcing some of their Contact Center Functionality - 22%
• % of Contact Center Functionality Currently Outsourced - 50%
• Current Outsource Locations 
  
  Of those contact centers in The Philippines currently outsourcing some of their contact center functionality, 70% of centers currently outsource to The Philippines. A smaller percentage also outsource to a number of other countries. 
   
• Organisations Planning to Outsource Any / Any Additional Contact Center Functionality in Next 12 Months 
  
  17% of contact centers in The Philippines plan to outsource some contact center functionality within the next 12 months. 
   
• Planned Outsourced Locations 
  
  Of those contact centers planning to outsource some contact center functionality in the next 12 months, 75% plan to outsource to The Philippines. A smaller percentage also plan to outsource to a number of other countries. 
   

Management Challenges

• Significant Challenges Facing Contact Centers in the Next 12 Months 
  
  Respondents in The Philippines believe that the top three major challenges facing contact centers over the next 12 months are Human Resource Management, Customer Service and Technology.

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