Monday, April 16, 2007 Call center training to benefit class A Internet cafes: Icac
BECAUSE of the large investment needed in converting Internet cafes into call centers during the night, an official from the Internet Café Association of Cebu (Icac) fears only a few café operators can capitalize on this.
“When this kind of business was proposed to us, we have been getting many inquiries from Internet café owners but because of the high cost, I think only class A cafes can afford (this),” Icac president Felix Cogal said.
Cogal describes Class A internet cafes as those with no less than 40 computers per establishment.
“Nindot unta pero ang kadaghanan maglisod pa gyud karon pangita ug funds,” he told Sun.Star Cebu (It’s a good investment but many Internet café operators could not afford it).
Earlier, Filipino-own-ed Biometrix Philippines Corp. proposed the conversion of Internet cafes into call center facilities at night.
Biometrix is willing to help Internet café owners, who want to maximize their existing technologies and are planing to operate their own call centers either for medical or legal transcription.
The company is set to provide café operators with software solutions and training modules so they could operate as a legitimate call center or outsourcing facility at nighttime.
However, Cogal said with Biometrix’ proposal, a minimum of investment of P800,000 will be needed to convert Internet cafes into call centers.
Competition
This, according to him, will be “heavy on the pockets” of café operators, who are continuously being weighed down by the stiff competition in the industry.
Cogal said industry players still face the problem of “price war,” where some café owners drop hourly charges for Internet and gaming use to P5 to lure more customers.
But despite the challenges faced by the local Internet café industry, Cogal is encouraging café operators to invest in revenue-generating ventures and to “take the risk.”
Earlier, Cogal said Icac is studying the proposal submitted by Total Transcription Solutions Inc. (TTSI), a medical transcription (MT)-training center that enables Internet cafes to become an “extended laboratory” for MT students.
He said TTSI will provide Internet cafes with MT Tutor Online prepaid cards and equip the cafes with the necessary software to run the online tutorial.
He said even online gamers could take up the training and increase their chances of getting jobs. (MMM)
