FEATURE
4 . Taxes : VoIP taxes and surcharges are major parts of any operating cost evaluation , and they vary significantly from city to city .
5 . Social policy – an important factor – however , companies can find some kind of ESG and Social Impact platform to embrace in most U . S . or Canadian cities today .
A recent project of ours in the Pacific Northwest , e . g ., - a center designed to serve California , other Pacific Time Zone states as well as British Columbia , Canada – focused on the small market community of Othello , in Eastern Washington State -- that is leveraging these trends .
That center and project also includes the community ’ s large Spanish-speaking workforce that has developed there due to the region ’ s large agricultural and food processing industries .
A further examination of Othello revealed to us that it had some of the lowest taxes and surcharges on VoIP telecommunications in the Pacific Northwest .
These taxes are significant and greatly differentiate one candidate contact center site from another as VoIP rates from carriers are constant by geography but state and local taxes on these telecommunications services vary greatly .
WHAT ARE THE KEY FACTORS IN DECIDING ON WHERE TO LOCATE CONTACT CENTERS AND HAVE THEY CHANGED SINCE BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND WHY ?
A :
1 . Labor availability and cost : new mandated minimum wages by a number of states as well as competition from the booming warehouse sector are having an inflationary impact on contact center wages overall .
2 . Disaster risk - continuity of operations – some 24 / 7 , 365 days in the year – is fundamental for successful contact center operations .
It is not just recent hurricanes in Florida that are of growing concern . Localized flooding in many parts of the East and Midwest – including historic flood disruptions in New York City - requires a heightened level of due diligence on site-specifics and a contact center ’ s exposures to flooding from local rivers and streams .
All of this in the backdrop of global warming issues have raised the stakes in disaster risk assessments .
3 . Crime – “ urban doom loops ” like San Francisco , Philadelphia , and Chicago – are proving themselves to be inhospitable to not only major retailers but also contact centers . Cities where unsafe public transit is a preferred mode of transit for employees .
10 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE
" FOR ON-PREMISE WE EXPECT THE ' GO SMALL , YOUNG MAN ' SITE SELECTION MANTRA TO GAIN STEAM IN THE MONTHS AND YEARS AHEAD ..."
WHAT ARE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONTACT CENTERS DECIDING HOW AND WHERE TO LOCATE THEIR OPERATIONS ( ON-PREMISE VERSUS WFH , ONSHORING , NEARSHORING , AND OFFSHORING )?)
A : From 30,000 ft . – and keep in mind that all contact center site selection projects are different--we like the WFH template for onshore / reshore since it brings so much to the table . Namely cost savings , maintenance of productivity levels , and expanding our clients ’ recruiting horizons .
For on-premise we expect the “ Go Small , Young Man ” site selection mantra to gain steam in the months and years ahead for the reasons expressed previously .
As for nearshoring , the contact center field , we also see Mexico gaining in influence as a nearshoring location . Particularly the Mexico City environs where our BNP Paribas banking client has successful contact center operations .
Other clients with successful nearshoring operations include HP in Costa Rica , Marriott in Colombia , and KPMG in Jamaica . Also in the Caribbean , Trinidad and Tobago where IQor has recently expanded operations is increasingly on short lists .
Peru ’ s capital of Lima is also gaining in stature where our clients Dell and AT & T and Spanish contact center giant Atento all have large and successful operations .
If you would like to contact Jack Boyd , you can reach him at jhb @ theboydcompany . com
Brendan Read is Editor of Contact Center Pipeline . He has been covering and working in customer service and sales and for contact center companies for most of his career . Brendan has edited and written for leading industry publications and has been an industry analyst . He also has authored and co-authored books on contact center design , customer support , and working from home . Brendan can be reached at brendan @ contactcenterpipeline . com .