Business Process Outsourcing & Customer Contact Centres

“In the two short years since the Fredericton center opened, we have seen an incredibly high level of service and commitment from our New Brunswick associates. The superior level of professionalism combined with an excellent telecommunications infrastructure will enable the center to provide cost-effective and award-winning service….”

Alain Piallat
President, Marriott Lodging

Fredericton’s business cost advantages, skilled bilingual labor, cost competitive and varied commercial real estate options and a range of targeted incentives have already attracted high profile customer contact operations and business outsourcing operations to the province’s capital city.

ADVANTAGES

Corporations like the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Delta Hotels, Enbridge Gas, Marriott Hotels and Resorts, and more have been attracted by one of the most advanced and cost competitive telecommunications infrastructures in North America. In fact, New Brunswick ranks among the lowest one-third in North America for annual telecommunications costs. As well, Fredericton’s Fred-eZone, the first for a Canadian municipality, offers free unlimited Wi-Fi access throughout the city.

Aliant Telecom, a North American pacesetter, has been in the vanguard of the call centre industry since the early nineties. Today, the telco’s Total One service sets it apart from other providers of contact-center technology because of it comprehensive and innovative roster of services and support . Aliant designs, implements, manages and evolves contact-center technology while helping bring together employees, real estate, and even furnishings. Aliant’s pricing model removes the need for upfront capital for technology. Aliant’s pool of expertise can be deployed on your behalf when necessary.

Because contact-center management is a core business for Aliant, its advanced network provides contact center with a full range of services from plain voice to VoIP to e mail management and Web Collaboration.

Snapshot of Customer Contact Center Industry:

GREATER FREDERICTON REGION CUSTOMER CONTACT CENTERS (Revised date August, 2006)

Accenture
Aliant Co.
Canada Post
Cendant Canada Corp.
CIBC/Amicus
Connect North America
Delta Hotel & Resorts
Marriott Regional Wordwide Reservations Center
NB Power
NuComm International
UPS (United Parcel Service)

AVAILABLE LABOR

Fredericton has a relatively high unemployment rate thus ensuring an available workforce for both contact center operations.

The City’s population is younger than both the provincial and national averages. Fed by two universities, the City’s skilled workforce continues to grow. With the third highest university-educated population in the country (more than 30 per cent), Fredericton’s citizens’ are highly educated. And, more than one-fifth the population has knowledge of both English and French.

The city’s knowledge industry, its universities, and private training institutions ensure ample skilled labor availability for back office support operation.

Labor Force (February 2005):
• 57% have post-secondary education
• 25% have university degrees
• 20% of workforce are bilingual (French / English)
• 8.4% unemployment rate
• < 10% employment turnover
• < 3% absenteeism rate
• average individual salary $25,140 ( $16,929 US )


COST OF LABOR

Fredericton employees are loyal. Turnover is less than 10% in Fredericton and residents remain on the job twice as long as the Canadian average. Absenteeism is less than 3 per cent. Employers can expect to save on average $4,300 CDN per employee due to low turnover rates.

The province’s wage rates are among the lowest on the continent. Payroll costs in Fredericton are more than 10% below the Canadian average. A cost comparison of Fredericton’s salary and wages with six other US cities of comparable size resulted in Fredericton ranking the lowest in all three categories — salary and wages, statutory plans, and other benefits.

REAL ESTATE

Fredericton and the surrounding areas offer a broad array of commercial properties located in downtown, in well-serviced business and industrial parks, in its fast growing state-of the art Knowledge Park and its most recent infrastructure addition, the Runway, Fredericton’s newest business park network— an 18-km corridor stretching from the City’s western border to the Fredericton Aerospace and Defence Park in the east.

Lease costs per square foot are among the lowest in North America. Industrial lease and construction costs are among the lowest in North America.


BUSINESS COST ADVANTAGE

In a KPMG Competitive Alternatives analysis comparing 10-year average annual total location-sensitive costs for BackOffice/Call Centers (Operation: Shared Services), Fredericton’s lower labor costs, combined with competitive leasing costs, lower taxes and utilities, gave Fredericton a clear cost advantage over four Canadian centers and an even greater business operation cost over five major US centers. Add to that the exchange rate advantage, and as a result, the US dollar buys approximately twenty per cent more.

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