Broadband wins outsourcing contracts
-potential 100 jobs
Stabroek News
June 4, 2004
Broadband Inc, a local wireless internet service will soon be offering tele- marketing services to two US companies.
The Broadband In-corporated Call Centre, to be located at the company's offices in Alberttown and at another location yet to be identified, is expected to open in six weeks with an initial 20 employees. Owner Brian Yong says this could build to 100 by the end of the year.
"[This is] something I have always wanted to do," says Yong who was the proprietor of Subway on Water Street and now owns the new Palm Court.
For its first customer, the centre will be generating mortgage leads. This entails contacting potential customers who need mortgage refinancing. This is a huge industry. In 2002, roughly $2.24 trillion worth of home mortgages were financed, and nearly 60 per cent of those mortgages were refinancing. Meanwhile Broad-band is latching on to the growing trend in the US to outsource jobs to developing countries in particular, India. A BBC report states that by the end of 2005 some 830,000 US service jobs will have been exported overseas.
Yong did not give the name of his first customer but stated that it is located in Utah and has already invested over US$2M in gold mining operations in Guyana. Through an associate and by his own internet research, Yong was able to learn of the pending investment by the company and to make contact with them.
Before deciding to come to Guyana, Yong's first client had planned to use call centres in the Philippines.
While visiting his first client, Yong was introduced to his second - a software company.
This customer, which is a major US software company is asking for the centre to provide technical assistance for a new software programme.
For example, if a customer buys the new software but is experiencing problems they will be forwarded to the centre where they would receive the necessary advice.
This particular software enables the customer to build e-commerce websites.
Tele-marketers at the centre will be trained to service the software and will also be given one and two hour lessons via the phone on installing it.
Training in linguistics, how to develop mortgage leads and in the e-commerce software begins on Monday.
Yong says by this time next year he will have close to 200 employees since his first customer is asking for 10,000 mortgage leads per month. He says this target will be met since "failure is not an option."
He says Guyana has a future in call centres because it is English speaking, has the same time zone as North America and has a relatively skilled and available labour force.
"Within 10 years Guyana will be a hub for call centres," predicts Yong.
Meanwhile Broadband's Wireless Internet Service is now in its third year and is making it possible for miners, businesses and organisations in the interior to have internet access.
Some of their services include Internet Protocol Surveillance. This involves the installation of video cameras and vertical private networks which create a secure link between remote offices for easy transfer of data such as video conferencing or even surveillance footage.
Yong says customers based in the US but with homes in Guyana can monitor their homes in real time via the computer. Local businessmen can also see employees' activities while at home.
The company also provides off-site back-up of data which would be secure in the event of a fire or computer malfunction.