1. What is Open Access Marketing (OAM)?
Open Access Marketing (OAM) is an American-owned and managed business process outsourcer based in San Carlos, California, and Makati, Philippines. We work with a variety of global customers to outsource their call center, data, professional and web services needs.
2. What are the services that OAM provides?
From our delivery centers, we provide:
- Call Center Services
- Data and Document Management Services
- Professional and Web Services
- Accounting & Financial Services
- Creative Services
- Virtual Personal Assistants
3. How cost-effective will it be to outsource with OAM?
You will immediately see a 40% – 60% cost reduction by outsourcing with OAM. However, our goal is to not only reduce your costs, but to increase your revenue by working with you to create an efficient outsourced solution.
4. Can your infrastructure support my business?
Yes. Our primary operations center is located in Makati, Philippines, where other major call centers, BPO providers, and global Fortune 500 companies are based. Our office has multiple redundant fiber lines to support all of our voice, data and internet activities. All voice calls are routed through IPL lines, which provide direct access to TDM voice networks around the world. The end result are crystal clear calls.
Our building provides 100% backup via a diesel generator in case of a power outage and all workstations are connected to individual UPS backup.
5. How big is your facility?
OAM currently has a facility with 300 seats with room to grow to additional floors within the same facility.
6. What are the office specs in terms of redundant power and facility size?
We are in a 5-story tower in the heart of Makati, the central business district of Metro Manila. Our building is equipped with automatic failover generators in case of a power outage and each station and server is connected to UPS for safe shut-down. OAM also has multiple telecommunication carriers that serve our voice and internet needs.
7. How fast is the internet?
Workstation throughput is typically between 1.0 to 1.5 mbps. Latency is typically less than 100 ms, depending on the server or database our network is pinging. All voice lines terminate at our USA facility at One Wilshire, the hub for all undersea cables from Asia to the United States.
8. How do I ensure that my data is protected?
The security and confidentiality of our clients is one of our primary concerns. OAM’s current facility was designed to serve security-conscious financial services companies and OAM has taken numerous steps to protect our clients including:
- Signing non-disclosure agreements with our clients and a non-disclosure contract with our staff
- Full background checks on all staff
- Network security includes firewalls, virtual private networks (VPNs), and encrypted disks
- Workstations do not have external storage devices such as CD drives and USB ports.
- Limited internet access workstations and clean workstations
- Biometric security access to the production floor with limited keycard access to sensitive areas such as the server rooms
- Two levels of 24 hour armed building security
- Fully recorded and archived CCTV surveillance cameras are installed throughout the building.
9. How will OAM manage our projects and campaigns?
Every client is unique but we follow a set of guidelines with all of our clients to transition their projects completely and seamlessly to OAM.
- Trial Period:
All clients have a trial period to minimize your outsourcing risks. You can use the trial period to evaluate our performance and decide whether you want to outsource the entire project to us. - Project Transition:
We will completely and seamlessly transition your project offshore to replicate your existing domestic processes. - Project Management:
All clients have a single point of contact who will be responsible for communication and the day-to-day management of your campaign - Client Management:
Just like any employee you have in your office, we will work with you to conduct regular feedback sessions to continuously find areas of improvement for your project.
10. What type of companies have you worked with?
We’ve worked with large public corporations all the way down to sole proprietorships and venture-backed startups. Financial services, technology, medical devices, merchant services, consumer energy, telecommunications and consumer retail are some of the industries we have worked with.
11. How qualified is the OAM workforce?
At a minimum, all of our employees are 4-year college graduates, with at least 2 years of experience working in a call center environment, typically handling inbound sales calls, outbound telemarketing, and/or customer service.
For more skilled projects, we hire only those applicants with project-specific skills such as coding, research & analysis, and English writing.
12. How are their accents?
This is typically the first concern of anybody looking to outsource, “Do your agents sound like they are from another country?” All of our agents have a neutral accent and are able to articulate themselves in an educated and professional manner. They have a natural affinity with the Western culture and the English language is deeply rooted in them from early education through university. Our screening process allows us to maintain the quality of our workforce even as we grow.
The communication barrier created by the Indian accent has created a tremendous opportunity for the Philippine call center industry. In fact, Indian call centers have begun migrating their call centers to the Philippines to better serve American and Western clients who find the Philippine accent to be more neutral and preferable in phone-based communication.
13. Do I get to interview the agents?
Yes. Our clients have the final say on the agents we place on their campaigns. Our clients will have the opportunity to interview as many agents as they would like until they have found the ones they want to work on their campaign.
OAM aims to be as transparent in this process as possible and will work with our clients to ensure that each agent and manager on their projects are compatible with their needs.
14. Am I going to have the same agent and how is your attrition? Will the agent be totally dedicated to my campaign?
Yes. OAM does not share agents between clients, projects or campaigns. The only reason why an agent may leave your campaign is if that agent is promoted, where in most cases, they can still be very engaged in the campaign for a smooth transition.
Because of our benefits, management structure and the nature of our clients, we are proud to maintain a consistent retention rate of 98.5% month over month for the past 12 months.
15. Is there the ability to listen live to calls?
Yes. We can provide toll-free and local number access to listen to your campaign’s live calls. In addition, we can upload recorded calls to our secure FTP site for easy access from your office.
16. What is the average experience that your average team manager has?
At the minimum, they have 2 years of call center experience, typically leading a small team as a team lead. More often than not, our managers have been in the call center industry for 4 to 5 years, usually with the largest outsourcing organizations in the Philippines. If the manager was hired internally then they must have demonstrated leadership skills along with achieving results for at least 8 months on any campaign or project.
17. What hours of the day do your employees work? Should our campaigns run through 24/7, will that be a problem?
Our employees work 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week, and 168 hours on an average month, and on shifting schedules if needed.
We tailor our working hours to your needs. We can operate 24×7x365. For example, if a client wants us to work from 9am – 6pm EST, our agents will work from 10pm – 7am in Manila to coincide with your working hours.
18. Are background checks done on all employees at least once a year?
Yes. Employee background checks are conducted with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in the Philippines as well as with previous employers and referrals as listed on the employee’s resume.
19. How do I pay you?
We accept payment via wire transfer, check (U.S. customers only), or credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express). For other modes of payment, please contact us.
20. Do you accept paid by performance campaigns?
Paid by performance campaigns are like a catch 22. You want to pay for what you get, but very often what you get is not what you pay for.
Call centers that take paid by performance campaigns typically lack the performance and skills to acquire and sustain hourly campaigns. The end result is a campaign with a short life and often, a huge waste of time by everyone involved.
If you have a paid by performance campaign you’d like to discuss, please contact us at +1 800-626-9479 or +1 650-508-8550 or via email at sales@openaccessmarketing.com
21. How do I begin working with OAM?
To see if OAM is a fit for your needs, call us now at +1 800-626-9479 or +1 650-508-8550. You can also reach OAM directly via the contact form on our website. Our goal is to learn about your needs and to give an honest assessment to see if OAM can provide a solution that meets your requirements.
22. What about India?
The communication barrier created by the Indian accent has created a tremendous opportunity for the Philippine call center industry. While there are still hundreds of thousands of call center seats in India, the Indian accent has been vilified in Western media to the point that Indian call centers have begun migrating their call centers to Philippines, in order to better serve American and Western clients who find the Philippine accent to be more neutral and acceptable to phone-based communication.
All technology and infrastructure comparisons aside, the English language differences between the Philippines and India should be the determining factor in where you decide to outsource. From our own personal experiences operating call centers in both countries, Americans by far prefer the Filipino accent over the Indian accent.