Mexico Faces Threats in Offering Bilingual Call Centers

Research by market analyst Datamonitor expects that Mexico will continue to be a location of choice for offshore contact center services for US firms, but will face considerable regional competition from other countries in the region going forward.

According to Datamonitor, Mexico's value proposition will be driven by high quality call center agents, multiple urban centers in which to house facilities, in addition to relative ease of travel from the US. It will also be ongoing demand from the American Hispanic market that fuels investment in customer care from Mexico.

Ryan also notes that new locations such as Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica and Panama could compete against Mexico for a share of the burgeoning US bilingual market.

"There is no mistaking the need for contact center agents that are fluent in both Spanish and English", states Ryan. "Not only is the US Hispanic market growing in sheer size, but its level of household income is also increasing at a rapid rate. The capacity to service end-users in their mother tongue has gone from a luxury to a necessity, and leveraging Latin America in this regard has become a priority for contact center executives. The question is whether Mexico is able to handle this level of demand over the long term, or will it filter into other parts of the region," says Ryan.

Posted to the site on 25th February 2008