International Call Centers(cover) Key Business Concerns Driving Call Center Growth Labor, Telecom Top List of Location Factors United States Canada Europe Asia-Pacific Request Information |
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"The main reason for many call centers coming to the Netherlands is the multilingual capabilities of the Dutch work force," explains Onno Ponfoort, Boston area director for the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (www.nfia.com). "When you look at call centers in the Netherlands, they're primarily pan-European centers. Not too many companies from the United States will set up a call center in the Netherlands to serve just the Dutch market. They set up to serve the entire European continent. You can do that in the Netherlands because there are ample people who speak multiple languages."
Indeed, about 75 percent of the Dutch population speak English, and 45 percent speak German. "Very often call center agents speak three or four languages, and that adds flexibility," Ponfoort says. "You run into a lot of underutilization problems if you have to staff with people who only speak one language. About 65 percent of all call center costs are labor costs, and you can lower those costs by hiring multilingual staff."
The Netherlands' business-friendly rules and regulations concerning outbound call centers were a prime reason Viking Office Products chose a site in Venlo. The company located there not to reach out to Dutch customers, but to German customers, Ponfoort relates, noting that regulations for outbound calling in Europe's biggest country are much more strict.
"Dutch rules and regulations are very flexible regarding companies trying to create new business," he says. "It has to do with the trading or merchant mentality that we've had over the years. Rules here are completely in synch with what companies need.
As one might expect, KPN Royal Dutch Telecom (www.kpn.com) has a wealth of experience in helping companies sort through the various telecom issues impacting call centers. "We think our ability to create the proper infrastructure, the proper blend of systems and networks, is a strength for the Netherlands," opines New York-based Bill Wylie, vice president of sales and marketing for KPN US, the North American subsidiary of KPN NV. "And we have a lot of experience in the call center business."
In another big move, Dell Computer Corp. has established a call center near the Amsterdam airport. "That's a great area that allows companies to combine logistics management operations with call centers, distribution support and those kinds of things," Wylie says.
Other recent call center developments in Amsterdam include Sykes' expansion of its existing operation, just outside the city's center ring. The expansion will roughly double the number of agents at the facility.
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Labor flexibility (e.g., labor laws and contracts) is another Dutch strength. "It's basically the same kind of flexibility that you'd have in the United States," Ponfoort says. "For instance, there's no limit on the length of time you can insource people from temporary agencies to work for you. In other European countries, it might be six months in a row, or a year in a row. But in the Netherlands, you can work with the same person for an indefinite period of time."
"Another key factor is available infrastructure, and I mean that as a multi-dimensional term. It's not only telecom, which is very good and state of the art, but also operational. For instance, it often makes sense to add a call center to existing facilities. There are lots of combined distribution centers and call centers in the Netherlands."