Industrial Construction Infrastructure Projects Land Development Maritime Mining Power Plant

Call Centers

Background

The relocation of Business Processing Operations (BPO) and Call Centers is not a new phenomenon. Organizations have been relocating operations within their own national boarders to take advantage of larger labour pools and related cost advantages for years. Technology and communication advancements over the last decade have facilitated this regional relocation to be executed internationally. As a result actual physical location is deemed far less important with emphasis being placed on sourcing of skilled labour at lower costs.

Location Philippines

The Philippines is increasingly being recognized as one of the most attractive locations to base business processes operations such as call centers. There are a number of factors that have contributed to organizations considering the Philippines as a viable option which have contributed to the country gaining a competitive advantage over other countries competing in this industry sector.

Cost Factors

The traditional rational for considering the relocation of business processes has mainly been cost driven. Industry experience reflects that on average, staffing expenses of an operation account for about 60% of call center costs.

Although efficiency drives can reduce cost implications on existing operations, rarely do they realize the reduced overheads that can be achieved from relocating to a low cost destination such as the Philippines. Cost Implications associated with locating in the Philippines include:

Competitive labour cost, estimated in the industry to be about one-fifth of the comparative US rates.
Cheaper training costs due to a lower rate of attrition and relative training time.
Affordable rental of facilities and office space.
Favorable tax incentives to attract Foreign Investment

Human Resources

The workforce in the Philippines is highly educated and skilled. With a literacy rate of around 94% and English taught as part of the curriculum in all schools, the Philippines is officially the third largest English speaking country in the world. Key factors as follows:

The University/College system provides more than 380,000 new graduates each year, of which over half hold IT, engineering and commerce degrees.
Filipinos are schooled in American English, and their English language skills are second to none in the developing world.
The Philippines shares cultural, business and legal practices with the United States, which allows quick understanding and adjustment.

Government Incentives

The Department of Trade and Industry for the Philippines has two agencies under its control dedicated to offering separate incentives to attract foreign investors as long as certain criteria are adhered to.

The Board of Investments (BOI) is the investment promotion agency of the Philippine Government. Investors in the Philippines can enjoy certain benefits and incentives if the particular area of investment is found in the current Investment Priority Plan. Tax exemptions and concessions are among the key incentives the agency has to offer.

These include:

Income Tax Holidays
These include full exemption from income tax for six years for a newly registered pioneer project from start of commercial operations.
Full exemption of income tax for four years from the start of commercial operations for newly registered non-pioneer projects.
One year extensions of tax holidays are possible providing the following conditions are fulfilled.
The project used indigenous raw materials.
BOI assessments of the ration of capital equipment to the number of workers are met.
Net foreign exchange savings are less than $500,000 US per annum, during the first three years of commercial operations.
Projects located in less developed areas are entitled to income tax holiday for six years.
Expansions of domestic oriented industries are not entitled to income tax holiday incentives.

Income Tax Holidays or exemption from corporate income tax for four years, which is extendable to a maximum eight years. After this period an option exists to pay a special 5% tax on gross income in lieu of all national and local taxes.
Exemption from tax and duties on imported capital equipment, spare parts, supplies raw materials.
Domestic sales allowance equivalent to 30% of total sales.
Exemption from wharfage dues and export taxes, imposts and fees.
Permanent resident status for foreign investors and immediate family members.
Employment of foreign nationals.
Simplified import and export procedures.
Other incentives under Executive Order 226 (Omnibus Investment Code of 1987), as may be determined by the PEZA Board.

Future Market

There is a good telecommunications and property infrastructure to support extensive outsourcing operations.

Estimated seat capacity is around 300,000, this is estimated within the industry to reach 1 million seats by 2010.

JCL International

With experience of providing quality BPO and Call Center facilities, JCL has the technical and professional expertise to provide the client with the best solutions for their operational needs. For example where critical operational requirements are 24/7, service redundancy provisions are incorporated into the design that guarantees continuous operations. The following incorporates general design considerations and system configurations which would be evaluated during project inception.

General Approach

The general JCL approach in preparing the Building System / Services Design would be to identify main areas of potential benefit for the various systems and options proposed based on Architectural design and development of the site.

Evaluation would focus on MEPF systems suitable for both 8 hours per day and 24/7 operation with discussion and benefit evaluation for each option suggested.

Architectural related items such as glazing shading and size of panels would also be addressed conceptually for the Architect to consider incorporation.

Cost savings would be quantified theoretically on typical bench markings on a differential basis with regard to energy and water consumption.

Capital and maintenance costs for MEPF system options would be identified as differential costs, with Architectural items for client assessment.

Additionally the following are considerations in the design of Building Systems / Services to provide efficient Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection (MEPF) Systems that are most suited to target Client needs while providing Design flexibility for future multi-tenant usage.

Identify and evaluate suitable MEPF systems for buildings that will allow multi-tenant use and space flexibility for either conventional office or high redundancy provisions needed for call center type occupancy
Were the subject building is to allow 24/7 and conventional office hour operation with methods of metering of central systems such as chilled water for the podium and or condominium tower.
Building MEPF systems design to allow zoned utilisation of full or part floor areas during normal office hours as well as separate zones used on a 24/7 basis, without operation of unused areas.
Identify areas of benefit for the various MEPF options conceptually identified that would be applicable to the multi use building
Identify areas of benefit for the various MEPF options identified that would be suitable as centralised systems for the overall large scale development.
Approximate the value of potential energy and other savings and capital cost impact for the various options.
Prioritise benefits with recommendations that would allow consideration for more detailed and refined evaluation of options following client review and discussion

Specific Design Considerations

JCL also undertakes detailed reviews with the client to utilize design configurations that shall promote efficient energy usage and lower Building operational costs. Areas for consideration are included for the following;

VAC

Exhaust Air Energy Recovery

As a tenant initiative instead of allowing air conditioned, cool air to escape from the building with associated energy waste, it is viable to recover part of this energy. This is achieved by using heat transfer equipment at the Roof Deck located spill/relief air ducts discharging to atmosphere, and transferring this energy to fresh air entering the precool or main air handling units.

Use of High-Efficiency Chillers

High-efficiency chillers are economically viable for facilities operating 24/7 and would be taken up as a tenant objective for detailed evaluation.

Decrease ventilation rate during off-peak period

The high outdoor air ventilation rate per occupant, nominated under today’s design Codes of 12 litres per person for European vs. American Standards varying between 7.5 and 10 litres per person can however be reduced during low occupancy periods.

This can be achieved via manual input of occupancy shift patterns at the building control system thereby realizing huge energy saving. This is obviously a tenant benefit and as such would be addressed during fit-out design.

Alternate glazing material to reduce building thermal load

Compared with a typical single glazing system, significant energy savings are realisable if double glazing is adopted. Again this is a tenant gain and as such would be evaluated for adoption very early in the building design process.

Operating energy saving thermal modelling would be conducted on various options of double or single glazing incorporating various levels of integral solar film combined with aluminium sprayed reflective internal roller blinds.

Electrical

Energy Efficient Electronic Ballast for Lighting

Lighting is a significant energy demand that may account for 30 to 40% of the annual power consumption. Evaluation of High Power Factor (HPF) electronic ballasts and luminaire performance would also be conducted as a tenant matter.

Plumbing

Reduced flush rate toilet fixtures

Latest sanitary ware technology minimises water use via high pressure flushing. The low-flow toilets use a maximum of 6-liters of water per flush compared with 13-liters of water used by a standard toilet. This option is less viable should the recycling option be adopted and will be evaluated in detail should that option not be implemented. Low-flow faucet aerators also cut water usage by as much as 40% from 15-liters per minute to 9.5-liters.