Customer Contact Centres

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Sector Structure

Size: Over 10,600 persons are employed in the industry (65% Customer service, 14% Telesales, 11% Research, 10% Technical Help desk).

Dominant Activities:

• Inbound contact centres: (help desk financial services, customer service, reservations, information lines, tele-health, counselling)

• Outbound contact centres: (telephone sales, consumer research, business to business, fund raising, customer follow-up, collections, renewals)

Structure & Concentration

• There are over 90 customer contact centres in Manitoba, ranging in size from 2 to 1,800 employees. These can be broadly categorized as:
  • Multi-service bureaus, who provide customer contact services on an outsourced basis.
  • In-house customer contact centres -- Large firms (e.g. financial institutions) often maintain in-house customer contact centres to manage their own customer relations.
• The industry is served by Manitoba Science, Technology, Energy and Mines, and by the Manitoba Customer Contact Association.

Sector Capabilities

Services typically provided by Manitoba’s customer contact industry include:

• Customer Service
• Market & Statistical Research
• Online translation services
• Telesales
• Technical Help Desk Services

Manitoba’s customer contact centres provide services within the following industries:

• Information Technology
• Catalogue Shopping
• Research
• Transportation
• Utilities
• Direct Medical Assistance
• Finance & Insurance
• Tourism
• Agribusiness

Competitive Strengths

• Technological infrastructure: Manitoba has one of the world’s most advanced fibre optic networking and digital switching platforms. New high speed and broadband services are available to 85% of Manitobans, including fibre deployment to most major office buildings and industrial parks in the province. Manitoba has 100% digital switching throughout the province, with over 200 switches to support the network grid - the third largest concentration in Canada.
  
  Firms are served by a competitive range of network providers, including: Manitoba Telecom Services, Allstream Inc., Sprint Canada and a host of service resellers. Corporate alliances with major U.S. companies ensure seamless provision of cross-border products and services.

• Location in the central time zone allows Manitoba call centres to provide timely service to customers from coast to coast during the standard business day.

• Low operating costs – Manitoba boasts competitive labour and occupancy costs. Telecom rates in Manitoba are among the lowest in the world, and there is no sales tax on toll free calling.

• An educated workforce – Fifty-one percent of Manitobans have some post-secondary education and 39% have completed their college and/or university education. In addition to general education, Manitoba offers several alternatives for providing workforce training specific to the customer contact industry, including a certification program by the Manitoba Customer Contact Association, French language training at le Collège Universitaire de Saint-Boniface, and private training options.

• Multilingual workforce –- Over 100 languages are represented in the workforce. Over 20% of Manitobans speak a language in addition to French or English.

• Low-cost, reliable hydroelectric power – Customer contact centres and other information intensive businesses require reliable energy at a reasonable price. Manitoba has the lowest published electricity rates and one of the most reliable power delivery systems in North America.

• Industry Support: The industry is actively supported by the Manitoba Department of Energy Science and Technology and the Manitoba Customer Contact Association.

• The Manitoba Customer Contact Association is an industry-led organization that advocates for and promotes the industry, and which develops education and training programs to support the growth of the industry. It is the strongest organization of its kind in Canada.

Key Players

Multi-service Bureaus:

• Archway Marketing
• Cantalk Canada Inc.
• Convergys Customer Management Canada
• EDS
• Faneuil ISG
• FineLine Communications Ltd.
• IPSOS Reid Worldwide
• SR&J Customer Call Centres

In-house Customer Contact Centres:

• CN North America
• Canadian Pacific Rail
• Canada Revenue Agency
• Great West Life
• Royal Bank Customer Contact Centre
• Air Canada
• Manitoba Telecom Services

Contact Info

Mr. Ellis Shippam
Manitoba Science, Technology, Energy & Mines
Tel: 204-945-2441
Fax: 204-945-3977
E-mail: ellis.shippam@gov.mb.ca
Web: www.gov.mb.ca/stem/

Manitoba Customer Contact Association
Tel: 204-945-6767
Fax: 204-945-1406
Toll Free: 1-888-577-MCCA (6222)
E-mail: info@mcca.mb.ca
Web: www.mcca.mb.ca

Related Links

• Manitoba  Companies Directory
• Manitoba Business Facts
• Knowledge Based Industry Sectors (STEM)