@LIMEJamaica's 200-seat Call Center by December 2015 – Going with the Flow and JCF’s Real Time Emergency Call Centre heralds entry into BPO

Telecom Provider LIME has finally decided to start listening to customers as it relates to Call Centers Service.

In the next two (2) months, Telecom Provider LIME will be setting up a new two hundred (200) seat Call Center in either Jamaica or Barbados as reported in the article “New CWC call centre for Jamaica or Barbados — Bentley”, published Friday, May 22, 2015 BY RICHARD BROWNE Business editor, The Jamaica Observer.

So says CWC Chief Executive Phil Bentley during a Press Briefing for Caribbean journalists, via teleconference from London on Wednesday May 20^th 2015.

He might also end up becoming the CEO of FLOW and LIME, which curiously has decided to adopt the name FLOW based on a Caribbean-wide survey commissioned by Group Director of Communications and Culture, Grace Silvera as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “LIME Jamaica Goes with the FLOW thanks to Caribbean-wide Survey”.

When they decided which Caribbean country will get this 200 seat Call Center by July 2015, they'll start building the Call center by September 2015. Once built (from scratch, what no rental?) operations will commence by the end of 2015 as noted in the article “CWC To Return LIME Call Centre Operations To The Caribbean”, Published Thursday May 21, 2015 by Neville Graham, The Jamaica Gleaner.

The result?

A net increase in employees, or at least, so says CWC Chief Executive Phil Bentley, quote: “We will be a net increase employer across the Caribbean. I am absolutely convinced that we will have a net employment increase across the markets”.

So is this call center justified, as they could have easily have moved it to another Caribbean island with Call Center Facilities, like the Bahamas or St. Lucia?

It's all about the numbers!

LIME Jamaica 200 seat Call Center by December 2015 – Going with the Flow means more Calls

Many customer have complained that the Spanish–speaking Call Center representatives that they speak cannot break the language hurdle, as their Spanish accent is a dead giveaway.

Still, logically, for such a massive business as CWC, the mere complaints from the customers at Jamaica cannot be the only and possibly the real reason for this decision. What must really be happening is that there is some massive demand for Call Center resources within LIME Jamaica’s Network.

Within Jamaica, CWC has some interesting numbers:

1.      19% increase in their mobile subscriber base

2.      107,000 new mobile subscribers

3.      713,000 mobile subscribers in total

After acquiring FLOW, their fixed, broadband and video subscriber base expanded:

1.      5.068 million fixed, broadband and video subscribers before Flow/Columbus purchase

2.      6.069 million fixed, broadband and video subscribers after Flow/Columbus purchase

US$1.5 billion is being spent by CWC to marry themselves to FLOW and some additional 56,000 100Mbps Broadband customers will be going with the FLOW once the other Caribbean countries come on board as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “LIME Jamaica Goes with the FLOW thanks to Caribbean-wide Survey”.

Turns out that aside from the purchase of FLOW, there is a more direct reason for this planned Call Center, actually!

LIME Jamaica and Ministry of National Security Call Center Deal - JCF’s Real Time Emergency Call Centre

LIME Jamaica Limited had been awarded a JA$464 million (US$4 million) to upgrade the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) Emergency 119 Service as reported in the article “LIME gets $464-m contract to upgrade JCF phone system”, published Friday, May 22, 2015, The Jamaica Observer.

Approved on Monday April 20^th 2015 by Minister of National Security Peter Bunting, he had first announced his intention to upgrade the JCF Emergency 119 Service in April 2014.

The plans for the JCF Emergency 119 Service are quire elaborate and is intended to transform the Service into a Real Time Emergency Call Centre, whatever that means. The objectives give some clue as to what the Ministry of National Security and the JCF are aiming for with the Real Time Emergency Call Centre concept:

1.      Process Emails

2.      Notifications

3.      Social media Posts

4.      Phone calls

5.      Instant Messaging

So the Jamaica Constabulary force is basically getting a standard Call Center, similar to the ones I’ve worked in before. As for the Call Center Agents, they most likely will not be Jamaican Police but Jamaican Call Center Workers employed by LIME Jamaica!

LIME Jamaica building the JCF’s Real Time Emergency Call Centre – LIME goes with the FLOW back to BPO

Based on the JA$464 million (US$4 million), it suggest that they're not really going to build a Call Center separate for the JCF. Rather, LIME 200 seater Call Center will actually cost JA$464 million (US$4 million) and will have a section dedicated to handle the JCF Emergency 119 Service.

Best of all, it'll be powered by LIME, effectively making the JCF their first client and may possibly be signaling LIME's return to the BPO Sector since they sold their interest in the Montego Bay Freezone in the form of JDI (Jamaica Digiport International) sale back in June 2012 as reported in m my blog article entitled “Montego Bay Freezone Liberalized as LIME's Jamaica DigiPort International gives up its Monopoly - Call Centers Age of Empire as Mandeville Beckons”.

This is a lot more efficient and would logically justify the need for 200 persons, as that number could have been filled by any other Call Center in Jamaica, such as Xerox, who are currently setting up shop in Kingston as noted in my blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - Xerox's Three New Call Centers in Kingston for 860 employees for Future Expansion”.

It might also be a clever way to stop Pranksters from inundating the 119 Service with False reports of Crimes as noted in the article as reported in the article “Stop prank calls to 119, police urge”, published Monday, April 01, 2013, The Jamaica Observer and “Police Caution Against Prank Calls To Emergency Numbers”, published Monday April 1, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner, as they're making it difficult for the Police to respond to legitimate Calls to their 119 Emergency line.

Hopefully that means when I call the Jamaican Police they’ll come a lot quicker. On the flip side, it’s a strong indication that Telecom Provider LIME is not just trying to please customer, but also becoming a competitor in the BPO Industry once more, with the JCF being their first client!