Call centres eye collections market
Published:Wednesday | July 21, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Call centres in Jamaica are ramping up operations in an area that has blossomed since the recession, bad debt collections.
Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) which operates from Montego Bay, is currently hunting for an operations manager whose job will be to "oversee and grow a successful collections department".
The new recruit, who will need exemplary coaching and motivational skills, and will operate from the company's Portmore centre in Naggo Head, St Catherine.
Requests for comment went answered, but collections appears to be a new venture for the company whose suite of services include back-office support in communications, education, financial services, health care, insurance and manufacturing industries.
Global Gateway Solutions (GGS), located in the Montego Bay Free Zone, is also expanding collections operations in Jamaica, having closed areas of its operations in Asia.
The company is currently doing interviews, but efforts to speak to local manager O'Neil Brown were not successful.
The company's website touts its collections unit.
Specialised function
"At GGS, we know that receivables management requires a lot more than a call center. It is a specialised collection-agency function. Our onshore, offshore collections operations are performed with this knowledge in mind," it says.
The company also promises to be as aggressive as the client wants it to be.
"Our clients have the power at GGS, as you dictate how you want the tactics we use in our operation, whether it is a courteous reminder or a more forceful demand for payment."
Internationally the collections market has expanded with lenders selling second mortgages and home-equity lines in default to collection agencies.
Credit-card collections is also a growing area, with companies using agencies to manage receivables.
ACS made its entry into the Jamaican market through the stateside acquisition of a firm which owned CFL, a local data entry and processing company.
In 2008, it acquired the Patrick Casserley-led e-Services Group International for US$85 million, providing ACS and its clients with an additional 4,000 English-speaking workforce, based in Jamaica and St Lucia.
ACS, in turn, was acquired by Xerox Corp in November 2009 for US$6.4 billion in cash and stock.
ACS Jamaica currently employs an approximate 5,000 workforce.