Philippine education is strongly viewed as a pillar of national development and a primary avenue for social and economic mobility. It has undergone several stages of development from the pre-Spanish time to the present. It is handled by three government organizations, namely, the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The DECS govern both public and private education in all levels, with its mission “to provide quality basic education that is equitably accessible to all by the foundation for lifelong learning and service for the common good.”

The Filipino people have deep concern for education because it occupies a central place in political, economical, social, and cultural life in the Philippines. The government allocates a high budget every year for Philippine education and guarantees that every Filipino has the right to quality education. However, there are some important issues that needs to be looked closely and resolved by the government. Among the issues are:

The advancement of technology in this millennium age has introduced a lot of flourishing careers with attractive compensation for the Filipino people. The development is growing rapidly because of the emergence of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services particularly in the call center industry. The unemployment rate that used to be a top problem in the Philippines is now gradually decreasing and the government has finally provided more decent and good-paying jobs for the Filipinos.

The past administration was being recognized by top businessmen of the world for bringing back the positive momentum of the economy. International businessmen have acknowledged the Philippines its competence of becoming a developed country in the near future. Top businessmen in the BPO industries who have established in the major cities are expanding their businesses in some other areas of the country, thus, providing more jobs for the Filipino people.

One of the industries who are offering good-paying jobs in the Philippines is the call center industry. In the last 6 years, this type of industry has boomed. An exodus of call center agents was employed in different major cities of the country with a starting salary of not lower than PhP12,000 a month plus additional bonuses and allowances. This is a good start for a young professional who do not have a work experience yet, or any individuals who did not even finish his or her bachelor's degree. The basic skill that a call center agent must have is to be proficient in the English language.

Another thriving top caliber profession in the BPO industry is being a Website Developer or IT Professional. One must be very adept at computer technology and internet applications. This profession really gives fortune to those who are expert in the World Wide Web (WWW) scripting languages such as javascript, joomla, HTML, PHP, and a lot more.

Filipinos by far have the easiest-to-understand accent for people who use English as their first language. This skill also helped them provide another good-paying job by teaching English as Second Language (ESL) through online to some non-English speaking countries such as Korea, Japan, and China. Other Asian nationals would stay in the Philippines for a few months to study English on a one-on-one base or enroll themselves at arising English learning schools in the country.

There are lots of opportunities for every Filipinos. However, it all depends on how they make an effort in searching for the best job that would favorably fit their personality and skills.

The high unemployment rate was used to be a major problem in the Philippines way back in the late 1990's and early 2000. Employment growth was not sufficient to decrease unemployment because of the rapid growth of the population and increased labor force participation. This made lots of Filipino people leave the country and seek greener pasture in foreign lands.

The Filipinos leave the Philippines to work in foreign lands, and the foreign companies or establishments take advantage of their talents and skills. It is sad to know that these Filipinos could have stayed in their own land and contributed their skills to the development of their own country. This has been an ongoing problem by the Philippine government in the past few years.

Every year, millions of Filipinos leave the Philippines to work abroad to support their families. Most of the jobs filled by Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) are doctors, nurses, accountants, engineers, architects, seafarers, caregivers, physical therapists, IT professionals, teachers, technicians, and domestic helpers or housemaids. The exodus includes an increasing number of experienced skilled workers with training and certificate in the mechanical and electrical field regardless of whether they have completed a bachelor's degree or not. An exodus production of skilled workers mostly fly to middle eastern countries and some parts of Africa.

The past administration gave importance to this unemployment problem and established job campaigns by promoting tourism with foreign investors. It was remarkably seen as a successful campaign because of the increasing demand of workers particularly in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industries. The recent report from National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that the unemployment rate dipped to 6.9% as of July 2010 compared to last year that was 7.6%.

The emergence of BPO industry is a significant factor that contributed a huge effect in the unemployment rate of the country. Call center companies comprise 80% of the BPO industry and it is now regarded as one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Thousands of young individuals ventured into this flourishing career that do not require a complete bachelor's degree and provides attractive compensation. The advancement of technology created a lot of prospering careers for the young Filipino people and made them choose to stay rather than work abroad and being far from their families and loved ones.

(The Philippine Government, its Economy and the BPO Industry)

The Philippines has the 4th largest economy in South East Asia. It has a mixed economic system and its industry's important sectors include food processing, textiles and garments, electronics parts, and automobile parts. Agriculture and mining also have great potentials in the Philippines. The lands mostly are rich in chromite, nickel, and copper, and the rich soil produces fruits, vegetables, root crops, and rice for the farmers. Most industries are centered in the urban areas like Metro Manila and Cebu.

Unfortunately, since the end of World War II, the economic situation of the Philippines has significant ups and downs. This country was at one time one of the richest countries in South East Asia before the period of chronic weak performance of several corrupt leaders that made the economy unstable.

After the protracted dictatorship of the corrupt leader, Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippines was able to gradually uplift its economy by the restoration of democracy from the succeeding administrations of the late Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos. At some point in time the economy deteriorated again due to political instability, major problem regarding the nation's electricity, multi-billion debts left by the Marcos regime, and a wave of major natural disasters which further damped economic activity.

The succeeding Joseph Estrada administration tried to continue the reform that was started by the previous administrations, yet, a major bank failure and political disturbances, following his impeachment and subsequent departure from office led to a slower growth of the economy. This made the Filipino people leave the country and seek greener pasture in foreign lands. The Philippines started producing overseas Filipino workers (OFW), where domestic helpers and personal service workers are the majority of the exported services and were filled mostly by women. The OFWs have contributed a lot to the economy through remittances, buying properties, and creating businesses.

It was under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that pushed towards faster economic growth. Her stance towards economic improvement has remarkably re-emerged and restored the economy. Major infrastructures arose in the metropolitan areas of Luzon, while Metro Cebu also became an attraction for foreign and local investors. It was in her time that the Philippines ventured into a new economic boon that encompasses the Business Process Outsourcing or BPO industry. It was then that the Philippines became the second largest call center industry, next to India, according to the June 2008 study that was released by Oracle Corp.

The emergence of BPO industries in the Arroyo administration has a humungous effect in the country's unemployment rate, helping thousands of young individuals feed their families and provide them a comfortable lifestyle. Majority of the top ten BPO firms of the United States, operate in the Philippines and invested billions of dollars because of the quality of service that the Filipinos provide.

However, the country is still facing several challenging problems such as high oil prices and political instability and mudslinging. Recently the country suffered the destructive wake of two typhoons that wreaked serious havoc on the agricultural sector. It was also during Arroyo's administration where large-scale corruption activities were discovered and was divulged by some of her cronies who can not stand anymore her greed.

Money sent by OFW back to the country represents a huge chunk in the country's economy today. This makes the country the fourth largest recipient of foreign remittances behind India, China, and Mexico. The rising call center industries also provided a positive impact to the economy. Indeed, the call center industry will play a significant role as the country continues to develop its full potential and forges towards the millennium.

Philippines is the number one choice of foreign investors for a call center location because of its less expensive operational and labor costs. Aside from that, Philippines has the highest level of English proficiency than any other countries specially in Asia. They use English as the second official language, next to Filipino, and it is the medium of instruction in all educational levels in school, hence, making almost every Filipino speaks English naturally. They have by far the easiest-to-understand accent for people who use English as their first language.

Call centers started in the Philippines in the late 1990's wherein the services offered are plainly email response providers and managing services. Almost all types of customer relations such as travel services, technical support, online education, customer care, financial services, online business to customer (B2C) support, and online business to business (B2B) support, have the industrial capabilities. The emergence of BPO industries started arising in the major cities of the country namely in Makati, Ortigas, and Cebu.

Call center, being one of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) service industries, is regarded as an up-and-coming and the fastest growing industry in the world. Since 2006, BPO industry in the Philippines has grown 46% and is expected to earn between US $11 to $13 billion, employing 900,000 people this year. Philippine government is offering a substantial fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to draw attention to foreign direct investment to this type of industries and as part of the 2007 Investment Priorities Plan or IPP.

Foreign investors earn dollars, pounds, or euros from their clients but spend pesos with their investments in the Philippines. Thus, the outsourcing service is remarkably a good business for foreign investors in this country. Though call center companies in this country are 20% more expensive compared to other countries, but these foreign investors are satisfied with the quality of work that the Filipinos provide. Other foreign investors who have built their companies in other countries before, turn to the Philippines after a few years, because they were not satisfied and they wanted the quality that the Philippine call centers provide.

Meeting with prospective clients personally is usually more fruitful than selling over the phone. But seeking for the perfect prospect to meet with can be very sluggish. If you want to meet more customers in a short span of time, appointment setting service can help you pre-screen candidates from your mailing list and set up a face to face meeting with your sales representatives, and your sales representatives can aim attention at the prospect on presenting the valued proposition of your business.

Appointment setting service gives you soaring profits very easy and conveniently. It is very cost efficient and keeps you worry free from any additional responsibilities rather than hiring your own team of appointment setters. It is also beneficial even for small businesses such as doctor's offices, realtors, and insurance agencies that do not have their own resources to find new prospects on their own, and you get the full benefits of the service without the added expense of full-time employees in your own company.

The function of appointment setting service has become really crucial with the fast development of business market today. Your business needs to catch the attention of a larger client base to safeguard their success. When outsourcing this type of service, it is imperative that the appointment setting service company employs an advanced modern techniques and tactics for setting the appointments.

There are so many appointment setting service companies around the globe but make sure you choose the best company that can provide you with excellent quality of service. A company that has a proven track record of successful top performers and highly skilled professionals who can handle high levels of communication with top executives, managers, presidents, and owners of big establishments. When your business is planning to engage at these outsourcing companies it is important that they see you as an outsourced component of your inside sales organization and not simply as a business to business.

An outbound call center is one in which a call center agent makes an outgoing call to customers. An agent contacts a business establishment in behalf of the client for the purposes of helping them contact new customers, contacting existing clients more often to maintain good relationship, selling products or services, following up payment of bills, setting an appointment, fund raising, and a lot more. An agent may also contact a household member for the purpose of market research or political survey.

Outsourcing outbound call center service is very much helpful for your business. It is cost-efficient and helps you achieve profitable and long term relationships with your customers. It helps your business focus on your core capabilities and provides bottom line benefits.

An inbound call center is one that predominately handles incoming calls that are initiated by the customers. Inbound call center agents answer the calls in behalf of the client. They help businesses answer customer's queries or problems when the business representatives are not available. It is crucial that your business calls are answered and that your client's needs are met. Outsourcing inbound call center services keep your businesses on the go without the expense of hiring your own regular customer service representative.

The existence of inbound call center companies conveniently help customers to buy products online with no hassle of going to the store specially for the disabled or debilitated people. It helps consumers solve their problems when buying a defective product. It allows you to book a plane ticket or reserve a hotel and a lot more.

The increasing number of young professionals today that are employed as call center agents in different BPO sector are amazingly high especially with the contact center company. It helped a lot in decreasing the unemployment rate particularly in the Philippines. However, there are issues today regarding the health problems of call center agents that should be addressed by every contact center management.

Working in a contact center company may sound easy because a Bachelor's degree is not a requirement. All it takes is for one to speak fluently like Americans or British, and you get a good paying job. Apparently, a call center job makes an agent unhealthy if proper working habit is not being measured. This nocturnal job gives drastic changes to the life of a young professional and may be hazardous to your health if safety measures are not being practiced.

Regular night shifts, longer hours of work, sitting for a few hours while talking over the telephone and reading pre-scripted conversations from a computer, the incredibly high work targets and quotas, manage an irate caller, the coffee and cigarette, this is the life of a common call center agent. Where every minute counts for every agent, from the moment he or she logs in to the computer, a 15 minute break before dinner for a coffee and cigarette, a one hour break for a heavy meal, and another 15 minute break before the end of the shift. This performance monitoring contributes a whopping stress on the life of an agent.

Working at night on a regular basis gives drastic change to ones biological clock. This turned out to be the major cause of health-related problem of an agent. This causes insomnia to most people who have sleeping difficulties during daytime. It can easily be treated once you seek an advice from a doctor. However, it may lead to chronic insomnia if you do not address well to this kind of illness. This is a primary severe disorder that could last longer than 1 month and maybe more dangerous to your health.

Another common problem of a call center agent is eye problem. Soreness, dryness, blurred vision, light sensitivity, and headache, this is labeled as Computer vision syndrome or CVS. This is a very real problem for many people who spend many hours everyday in front of a computer. Sometimes, simply reorganizing your work environment to develop better ergonomics is all you need to do to reduce eye strain and other vision problems related to Computer vision syndrome. In some cases, a pair of computer eyeglasses may help you, but the best way to know above all is consult a doctor first. It is better to consult a doctor right away once you feel something unusual in your health before it is too late.

The development of BPO industry in this age of technology is growing rapidly. More and more people are needed to fill up the positions for the new call center companies that are arising in different parts of the globe. If you are interested in working with this type of industry, you should be aware with what type of services they are offering so that when you land at this kind of job you are already fully armed and ready.

Inbound Call Center