TALK BPO CONTACT CENTRES SPREADS FOOTPRINT TO SINGAPORE INCLUDING MANILA

Irish based Company Talk Bpo (Ireland) Ltd, Contact Centres spreads foot print to Singapore due to SME customer interest & demand as of late from Manila Philippines.

With the advent of Robotic Process Automation Platforms, Artificial Intelligence Companies opening up in Singapore for their SEA HQ, an Abundance of BiLingual Languages, including English, Bahasa, and Mandarin Speaking agents, to name a few, with affordable rates to that of the same cost to voice and back end operations in the Philippines. Ease of regress and egress for clients travelling from Airports to Contact Centres, inevitably it’s only a fitting strategy today to place Singapore on the road map of solution offerings with Philippines as a competitor for future BPO investment destinations, said Mike O’Conroy, a BPO Mgt Strategist & MBA Graduate, Non-Executive Director of Talk Bpo & a 20 year veteran in BPO & whom as of late is Doctorate candidate in Ai & RPA.

With prices per square meter for leasing and staff attrition rates going up, hence increase in co share work spaces, tax incentives going down in Metro Manila where a majority of Talk Bpo clients prefer to land after an 8, 14 or 21-hour plane ride, this has left a vacuum of endless BPO opportunities in Singapore over the years, as Singapore steadily needs to compete with the likes of The Philippines, Malaysia, India and as of late China to name a few.

Co-location costs can be as little as $12.50 AUD per hour billing for Manila Serviced Operations to Australian Clients, versus paying $26.00 AUD per hour min in Australian Capital Cities. Total Capital expenditure can be as high as $35 AUD per hour!

In Ireland some rates can be as high as €15.50 per hour break even, with Capex rates as high as €20.00 to €30.00 per hour versus in Manila from €8.50 per hour for level 2 BPO services.

Where on the contrary Singapore can be as be as low as $14.50 SG per hour flat rate, this can be encouraging to Australian investors because exchange rate is generally parity on forex rates for AUD and SG dollar, he said.

With this in mind potential clients do take a second look with raised eyebrows, and weigh up the cost benefit analysis of either Philippines or Singapore for SME outsourcing today, he said

To add Conroy stated, as a co locator operator, income tax & corporate tax rates are very attractive in Singapore too versus current tax incentives being withdrawn or amended in the Philippines, which foreign BPO companies and Government BPO agencies are beginning to learn as of late with concern.

In Singapore, personal income tax is as low as 22% maximum with staggered rates depending on how much one earns and corporate tax as little as 17% max with staggered rates, depending on how much one turns over.

These rates versus The Philippines can be appealing and all assist and allow foreign companies to prosper for more favorably with the increased contribution margins they seek. Granted cost of living and visiting Singapore can be higher than Philippines, but this is insignificant to consider in this analysis because client visits are generally 1 to 2 weeks maximum.

Further with Talk Bpo being an Irish Company and The Philippine Government still in discussions with Irish Government on double tax treaty rates, Singapore and Ireland have welcomed double tax treaty rates since 2011, which evidently encourages FDI, foreign direct investments from Ireland to Singapore and vise versa.

In summary Conroy said, at the end of the day though, it’s up to the client which country they will choose for future BPO Investments. It may come down to macro and micro economies of scale. Transparency index scales perhaps for fintech companies, significant deviations & variances on index scales, risk management, artificial inflation and so on so forth.

On a micro level, he believes it will come down to a combination of Perception, Skill Sets, Quality Index Scores (QIS), Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and the speed of being able to supply the uptake for RPA/Ai solutions, between both countries and or perhaps even the difference in giving the right of way to visitor pedestrian on a cross walk, feeling safe in doing so, prolonging actual mortality rates amongst investors and visitors alike, he chuckled.

However as indicated, sooner or later clients are becoming more savvy and smarter with the speed of information and intelligence at their disposal globally through numerous mediums.

Eventually BPO clients will see the forest through the trees he added, because in times of automation need for BPO, fiscal budget restraints and cost cutting exercises currently facing the BPO industry today, clients will more so strive for improved efficiencies, whilst expecting more bang for their buck, no matter which country they eventually choose, he said.

Talk Bpo (Ireland) Ltd, is an Irish Registered Ltd Company. It has been involved within the call centre industry since 1998 as Call Centre Consultants, Operators & as an Independent Advisory Group to numerous fortune 500 companies, SME Enterprises and Universities. From Sydney & Melbourne Australia to New Delhi India, Riyadh Saudi Arabia, Dublin, Manila, The Philippines and now Singapore, Talk Bpo’s expertise is primarily in setting up, or bringing in new clients to invest in the Philippines or Singapore BPO Industry. Additional services are Information Technology, Ai & RPA, VoIP & Hardware. Telecommunications is where they have won many contracts with Australian ASX companies to take offshore to manage and operate to increase sales, provide tech support and customer service & improve Process Management, KPI’s, Key Performance Indicators and assist in numerous consultancy and research projects for companies considering outsourcing. For further information please see www.talkbpo.net or see our explainer video here.