Tim Searcy, CEO of the ATA, Addresses the Latin American Call Center Industry

To be successful, you can’t just think locally; you have to think internationally. The Latin American countries on the radar of the ATA and call centers everywhere include the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Colombia, Hondurus, Guatemala, El Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Brazil and Panama. In this podcast interview with Tim Searcy, CEO of the American Teleservices Association (ATA) hear an engaging account of what international issues you need to be aware of in order to keep your call center in check. Specifically, Searcy addresses the topics that will be explored in the International Mexican Teleservices Association’s (IMT) First Global Contact Forum taking place in Mexico City, March 8th-10th of this year.

The two groups team up to provide a forum for members to better understand regulatory issues on an international basis. Because of current labor conditions in the United States the ATA designed itself to be in a collaborative relationship to understand regulatory issues on a national basis. Searcy feels the ATA members have jurisdictional issues and need to start collaborating to share cross-border relationships. ATA members are extremely involved in the Latin American markets, and at the IMT event attendees and speakers will share best practices.

This year specifically the First Global Contact forum will address key call center realities including the emerging middle class and the demand for in-country call centers. The in-country call center provides a beach head for international companies. You don’t have the United States standing out ahead—the gap has closed dramatically. Because of the internet and VOIP there is a determining factor between developed nations and less developed nations. Many U.S. companies are going to Latin America for specifically English-speaking or Spanish-speaking call centers.

Another regulatory issue affecting call centers includes a potential TARP 2. The stimulus package will be unlike TARP 1. Did you know that any call center that takes stimulus funds will have to locate their call center in the United States?

The ATA and IMT communities will be sharing best practices from different countries that are not endemic to one particular country. Find out from Searcy more of what to expect from the IMT’s First Global Contact Forum in this podcast interview.