Makati opens call center training school

Makati City’s premiere academic institution has opened a call center training school, the first in the country to be run by a local government unit (LGU).

Mayor Jejomar Binay has announced that the University of Makati (Umak) now has a Call Center Academy (CCA), which can provide hands-on training for qualified city residents in a simulated call center setting with a system that can handle and route as many as 100 calls.

According to the mayor, scholarships would be offered by the city government to 100 residents that pass the screening.

"Makati has the largest number of call centers in the country and it is only logical that these companies should hire from Makati," Binay said. "We have the responsibility to provide residents with the skills and aptitude needed by these companies."

Umak, Binay revealed, has started screening applicants. Call center classes will start by the middle of the month.

For the training school, the city has formed a partnership with People Support, Q-interaction, Accenture, European IT Service Center, and e-Pacific.

University officials said another call center firm, Cisco, will be joining the city government in the program soon.

Umak officials said the training center, located at the ground floor of Building 3, can initially accommodate 30 trainees, but the city will expand the facility to 100 seats within the year.

Binay noted that with the CCA, the city government has given call center firms another good reason to locate in Makati, the country’s financial and business capital.

The locality, he said, houses more than 30 percent of all contact centers nationwide since firms have cited several advantages of locating in Makati including advanced information technology and telecoms infrastructure, uninterrupted power supply, security, 24-hour accessibility, and the availability of skilled and highly-trained manpower. — Michael Punongbayan