A Saipan call center competing with Asian tele-marketing firms is no longer “a make-believe” story, according to IT&E executive vice president Larry Knecht.
“It’s now for real, you’re standing right at it,” he said during yesterday’s presentation of the call center facility at the IT&E office in Susupe.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and Finance Secretary Eloy Inos were among those invited to see the call center.
Robert Harell, executive director for customer contact operations, said since they started with 40 employees in May last year, they are now receiving about 1,300 in-bound calls a day.
The call center attends to inquiries about horoscopes, billings, restaurants and Internet matters.
The IT&E call center, Harell said, basically gives directory assistance to a wide range of callers all over the world.
He said they are serving four clients — Marianas Cable Vision, the Emirates Airline, Time Warner, and the Hawaiian Telecom.
Harell said there is a high demand for call centers so they will definitely expand in the future.
They plan to have a 200 to 300-seat call center which requires another 160 employees.
Harell said all their employees are U.S. citizens or IRs.
“We have retired teachers here, and a few from the health care and hospitality industries,” he added.
Harell said they focus on quality service.
IT&E, he added, ensures that each of its agent who receives an average of 600 to 800 calls a day provides quality service.
Fitial said this kind of investment is beneficial to locals.
Whatever the company needs, he added, “I’m ready to assist.”
Fitial said call center may collaborate with Northern Marianas College or the Public School System to create a training program for tele-marketing jobs.
He added that IT&E has already applied for a qualifying certificate, which will entitle the company to tax breaks.
The QC program is managed by the Commonwealth Development Authority.
