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Contact Centers

The Colombian contact center industry is one of the largest and most developed in Latin America. The quality of the available human resources and infrastructure make Bogota one of the most attractive cities in the region for this industry.


What Investors are Saying

"Colombia is a country where it is possible to offer quality services. There are highly professional managers and it is possible to serve the U.S market”.
Luis del Olmo, General Director of Avanza.

"(...) The key is to offer added value to our customers, assuring that no other latitude could do a better job than Colombia. That was IBM’s goal in 2005 when it decided to centralize in Bogota the ibm.com Sales Center, which would serve Latin America's Spanish-speaking clients. Today, with more than 200 people, Bogota is one of 12 regional IBM sales centers in the world, offering added values ranging from sales to consulting. Colombia has an extraordinary technological infrastructure in telecommunications, convenient time zone, and privileged geographical location which, in addition to the country's positive economic development and the existing labor regulations, make it an excellent alternative to consolidate an international operation in one place in an efficient way".
Daniel Ramirez, Sales Director IBM Center Spanish-Speaking Latin America.


Why Locate in Bogota?

  • Bogota has a population of 7.3 million; including the metropolitan area, the population amounts to 9.4 million, allowing the scalability of any BPO or contact center operation
  • Every year 67,000 higher education graduates are added to the 3.8 million strong workforce
  • Bogota is located on a sophisticated telecommunications node and has sufficient office and work space available at competitive prices
  • Bogota has top quality human resources, telecommunications and IT services
  • Bogota has a complete offering of professional services for the contact center industry including a robust IT value chain
  • Colombia and Bogota offer tax incentives for investments, such as the Special and Permanent Free Trade Zones with a preferential corporate tax rate of 15%


The Contact Center Sector in Bogota

  • Both the city and the country have a consolidated contact center industry, with more than 15 years of experience and still a large potential for growth
  • Colombian contact centers process close to three million calls a day, of which 62% are in-bound
  • In 2009, the colombian call center industry generated more than US$474 million in revenues, and employed more than 58,000 agents in 43,000 seats
  • In Bogota, there are specific training programs, designed to meet the needs of companies in the outsourcing industry
  • Bogota offers “Talk to the World”, an intensive English language training program (600 hours/ 14 months duration) designed specifically for students and employees from the offshore services sector

Colombia’s Contact Center Revenues and Work Stations (2001-2009)

Colombia’s Contact Center Revenues and Work Stations (2001-2008). Source: Invest in Bogota, Colombian Call Center and BPO Association.
Source: Invest in Bogota, Colombian Call Center and BPO Association





Direct annual operating cost* per FTE** for Spanish Contact Center services, 2008

 Direct annual operating cost* per FTE** for Spanish Contact Center services, 2008. Source: Everest Research Institute, 2009.
* Ongoing costs only: excludes margins/markups, centralized corporate overhead, initial investments, set-up costs and travel costs
** FTE: Full time employee

Source: Everest Research Institute, 2009 

 
 

Major Players Located in Bogota
Multinational Companies
  

  • ACS (US) This this company established operations in Bogota in 2007; currently has 1200 agents
    http://www.acs-inc.com/
  • Allus (US) More than 5,000 agents serve Latin America from this company's offices in Bogota.
    http://www.allus.com/

  • Atento (Spain) This company currently employs 6,900 agents in more than 4,600 positions
    http://www.atento.es/
  • Avanza (Spain) In 2009 the firm established operations in Bogota where it serves Latin America and Spain; it currently employs 1,200 agents
    http://www.avanzasa.es

  • Sitel (US) The company has more than 2,000 agents in Bogota serving more than 30 corporate clients
    http://www.sitel.com/
  • Teleperformance (France) The firm recently acquired the local contact center Teledatos; it employs more than 7,000 agents and serves Latin America and Spain and supports operations in 5 languages                                 http://www.teledatos.com/
  • Contact center (Spain) This Contact Center established in 2008 operations in the city. Bogota is its second international operation and employs 450 agents
    http://www.unisono.es/


Captive Centers

  •  Citibank (US) From Bogota more than 800 agents provide service to corporate clients in 12 Latin American countries and for perspnal banking clients in Spain
    http://www.citibank.com/
  •  IBM (US) The company has 250 professionals located in Bogota that provide sales and support for Latin America
    http://www.ibm.com/
  • Hewlett Packard (US) This multinational has over 300 bilingual professional agents in Bogota for sales and costumer care activities
    http://www.hp.com/



Domestic Companies


 
Invest in Bogota has extensive knowledge of this sector. The following documents provide additional information.
 

 The contact center sector in Bogota.pdf
 Bogota's Potential as a Delivery Location for Offshoring and Outsourcing Services - Everest Research Institute.pdf
 

If you require greater detail, please contact any of the agency Investment Officials in charge.  



Relevant Information:

Invest in Bogota
describes why Bogota makes sense for offshoring operations. US offshore industry leader Keith Fiveson interviews Invest in Bogota’s Senior Investment Officer Monica Ramirez during the American Teleservices Association (ATA) Convention & Expo held in New Orleans in October. Learn about some of Bogota’s advantages for services offshoring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeUgShqnXfc

Offshoring & Nearshoring: Latin America not only offers lower costs, but also the right mix. Bogota highlighted! Listen to Kirk Laughlin, Founder/editorial Director Nearshore Americas, and a panel of experts discuss on Canadian T.V. what the trends are when it comes to Offshore/Nearshore. Bogota is highlighted… Learn why!
http://watch.bnn.ca/#clip233690



Updated (mm/dd/yyyy): 03.17.2011


 

Invest in Bogota. Felipe Rojas.Felipe Rojas
Investment Officer frojas@investinbogota.org Phone. +57(1)7423030
Ext. 310
Invest in Bogota. David Aponte.David Aponte
Junior Investment Officer
daponte@investinbogota.org
Phone. +57(1)7423030 Ext. 312
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