S&P Data's technologically advanced call center thrives in Toronto, Ontario

Telemarketing, Jun 1995

S&P Data of Don Mills, Ontario Canada is a very successful example of Ontario's more than 1,400 call centers. S&P Data came to life in 1986 from a good idea, which in the past eight years has grown from a small, one-room operation into a multifaceted, technologically driven call center with multinational clients. In fact, in 1994 it was Canada's 24th fastest-growing company. The owners of S&P Data, Dan Plashkes and Edward Schwartz, attribute the meteoric growth of the company to a number of factors: a commitment to being Canada's most technologically advanced call center, flexible and consistently, responsive client service, and superb operator training and recruiting.

The reasons clients outsource their telemarketing needs to S&P Data vary. For companies wanting to set up a 1-800 number for customer service, their principal attraction is S&P Data's dedicated group of multilingual communicators on staff 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. These communicators are fully bilingual in Quebecois French, with many speaking other languages such as Cantonese, Italian, Korean and Spanish. Clients value S&P's ability to operate a 24-hour customer order desk for their products or promotions. Still others value the expertise in generating sales and sales leads via skilled telemarketers. The fact is, S&P Data can handle just about any telemarketing need.

The key to operating a successful call center is responsiveness or, in other words, being poised to execute programs within a day's notice. The constant state of readiness requires resources and infrastructure to be in place to turn on a dime, both in the area of technology and human resources. There can be no question that the location of S&P Data in Toronto, Ontario has assisted S&P in meeting the challenge of providing exceptional levels of service. Being located in Toronto places S&P Data in the middle of a cultural mosaic, facilitating recruitment of a multitude of language groups, translating into a broader overall service offering. Given the importance of bilingualism in the Canadian marketplace, access to a large Quebecois-French speaking pool of communicators in a time where these language skills are at a premium further enhances the desirability of the central location. Another important factor is the ability to recruit personnel with specific skill sets. In the case of a high-technology client, S&P was asked to recruit bilingual operators with a background in computer and software technology. With the large concentration of educated personnel available in Toronto, meeting these specialized demands for a specific project becomes a manageable task, even in cases where they only have 24 hours to set up.

On the technology side, S&P Data recognized the need for intelligent partnering to meet its objective of being the most technologically advanced call center in Canada. Partnerships with Bell Canada and Northern Telecom, for instance, led to the installation of the first digital telephone system equipped with Bell Canada's Megalink, Meridian Max ACD and Customer Call Routing (CCR) in July of 1993. The switch was again upgraded in February of 1995 to a M1 Option 81, which not only increased the processing power of the PBX, but also allowed S&P Data to implement a network ACD environment.

With the assistance of yet another outside partner, S&P Data developed a software-based predictive dialing system that incorporates computer-telephony integration and skills-based routing within its architecture. The ongoing maintenance and evolution of both its telephone and systems technology would not be possible without the presence of the necessary support services and ongoing interaction, again made possible by the accessibility of its location in southern Ontario.

S&P Data is a true testament to the opportunities available to Ontario's call center establishment. Ontario possesses the world's largest fiber optic network and can match or exceed any North American jurisdiction in terms of access lines with digital switching and advanced development. Ontario has an experienced, adaptable and well-educated workforce of more than five million people, almost 40 percent of Canada's total workforce. In addition, Ontario has a strong college and university network that includes dedicated telemarketing training, Canada's largest concentration of private-sector training and major research universities supporting the latest telecommunications applications. In addition to publicly funded education and apprenticeship programs, Canada and Ontario offer training and skills development programs.