Always open: Local call centers on the rise

Dale Arnette isn’t as surprised as a lot of people that Montgomery landed 800 new call center jobs within a month.

Arnette is the member services supervisor for HospiScript, which opened an inbound call center here in 1995 and now has 135 employees handling pharmaceutical payments for hospice patients. That staffing level is “up substantially” in recent years as the company has continued to grow, Arnette said.

He credits that success in part to the area’s tech infrastructure, government support and a steady stream of quality workers from the military and area colleges.

“We have to mine for talent, but it’s here,” Arnette said.

More call center and customer support companies are starting to take advantage of that.

Expert Global Solutions last week announced a major expansion and 300 more jobs. Thirty days before that, Sykes Enterprises announced plans to build a $3 million hub in east Montgomery and hire 500 people.

Their reasons varied from mild weather to time zone convenience. But both companies cited a local workforce that is uniquely suited to call centers and has plenty of room for growth.

“Montgomery has very few call centers, which we feel is very advantageous for us with regards to attracting and retaining talent,” said Rob Duncan, senior vice president for Sykes North America Operations.

Still, data from the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce shows that Montgomery already is home to at least six other inbound call centers or back-office customer-support units. Some handle phone and web support for their own company, while others do 24-hour customer support and more for national retailers.

ASK Telemarketing falls into the latter category, and owner Rick Burley said it’s a business model that has taken off lately. His Montgomery company started in 1992 and now has 160 employees.

“It’s cheaper and easier to use an outsourcer than to try to do it yourself,” Burley said.

In fact, city officials said they’ve run out of appropriate spaces to put all of the call center companies that are interested in Montgomery.

“If you want to have a ready-made client, go develop a call center,” Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said at the EGS announcement.

Justice Smith of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce said those companies are particularly focused on this area because of the wealth of military spouses, college students and retirees, people he said are usually seen as hard-working, dependable and educated. In the case of military transplants, they don’t have a regional accent, making them even more appealing.

“It’s all driven by labor,” Smith said.

The new companies and older ones said they don’t expect to compete with each other for workers.

Burley said the sudden surge of hiring may affect his staffing in the short-term, but in general they’re looking for different types of people. He said his company is more of a family environment and usually hires older employees.

Workers at HospiScript usually have knowledge specific to the pharmaceutical industry, Arnette said.

Sykes and EGS both pointed to internal mobility and unique career opportunities within their companies as a way to land and keep employees.

EGS Local Site Director Pat Deprospo said this is the right place to find those people — ones with good communication skills and a true desire to help.

“I’ve been doing this for 26 years,” Deprospo said. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with different call centers in different states. Montgomery is just a pleasure to work in.

“You see people who want to come to work and do a good job, and take pride in what they do. You don’t find that in every area around the country.”