This is the third straight week I am writing about call centers. Every time I write about it something new crops up which I feel I should share with the readers.

Last week I suggested that: (a) call centers can provide employment to at least 1, 000 workers in the region and (b) we should tap companies other than Convergys to come over and set up their call centers.

During the past few days, two call center companies have come out in the papers which deserve our attention. These are eTelecare and Advanced Contact Solutions Inc. (ACS). eTelecare was ranked as third in the list of Top Ten offshore call center firms in the recent Annual Offshore Outsourcing Conference in New York City . It has four call centers in the Philippines .

ACS has tied up with the Ateneo Graduate School , put up the first call center institute and tied up with the North Luzon Growth Commission and State Universities and Colleges in Northern Luzon in sending their students to the firm's exclusive job fairs. ACS accepts as much as 95 percent of all those who pass their preliminary screening. It presently employs 2,700 “agents”. It can set up as many as 750 seats in just 45 days including training and fitting new office space.

The other news item is that business process outsourcing (which includes call centers) will provide revenues to firms located in the Philippines by as much $10 billion in 2010 from the 2004 level of $ 500 million.

What these all means is that this region can target a share of these revenues, and therefore a share of the employment that makes such targets reachable.

If we play our cards right, these call centers should be in the bag by end of 2006.