Post by dkennedy on Dec 15, 2005 5:18:37 GMT -5
DirecTV Calls on Montana
December 14, 2005
Broadcasting & Cable Magazine
DirecTV’s latest owned-and-operated customer call center will employ 800 to 900 agents who will earn an average of $9.50 per hour and will be trained to support advanced products such as HDTV and digital video recorders. The Missoula, Mont., facility will increase to four the number of call centers DirecTV manages itself.
Scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2006, the Missoula facility will add to DirecTV’s owned-and-operated call center array, raising the total employment count by nearly 25%, to nearly 4,000 from the 3,000 call-center employees reported in DirecTV’s 2004 SEC 10-K filing.
Even with the Missoula addition, O&O call centers will continue to represent a minority of customer-care employees for the nation’s largest satellite TV provider. DirecTV reported in its March 2005 10K filing that 14 of its 17 call centers, and 9,000 of the 12,000 CSRs working for DirecTV, were provided by outside service companies including Convergys Customer Management Group, Precision Response and ClientLogic Operating. That’s a contrast from prevailing cable industry practice in which a small fraction of call-center agents come from third-party facilities.
In a prepared statement, DirecTV president of sales and service John Suranyi said the Missoula center will contribute to ensuring that “support is available to customers when they need it.” In Missoula, local press reports said DirecTV will offer full-time call-center agents hourly pay rates of approximately $9.50, plus health insurance benefits. DirecTV selected Missoula for the new center after Missoula County officials agreed to spend $12 million, funded by a combination of state loans plus tax increment bonds, to build the 70,000 square foot facility. After 10 years, DirecTV will have an option to buy the building.
DirecTV Call Centers:
Boise, Idaho
Huntsville, Alabama
Missoula, Montana
Tulsa, Oklahoma
December 14, 2005
Broadcasting & Cable Magazine
DirecTV’s latest owned-and-operated customer call center will employ 800 to 900 agents who will earn an average of $9.50 per hour and will be trained to support advanced products such as HDTV and digital video recorders. The Missoula, Mont., facility will increase to four the number of call centers DirecTV manages itself.
Scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2006, the Missoula facility will add to DirecTV’s owned-and-operated call center array, raising the total employment count by nearly 25%, to nearly 4,000 from the 3,000 call-center employees reported in DirecTV’s 2004 SEC 10-K filing.
Even with the Missoula addition, O&O call centers will continue to represent a minority of customer-care employees for the nation’s largest satellite TV provider. DirecTV reported in its March 2005 10K filing that 14 of its 17 call centers, and 9,000 of the 12,000 CSRs working for DirecTV, were provided by outside service companies including Convergys Customer Management Group, Precision Response and ClientLogic Operating. That’s a contrast from prevailing cable industry practice in which a small fraction of call-center agents come from third-party facilities.
In a prepared statement, DirecTV president of sales and service John Suranyi said the Missoula center will contribute to ensuring that “support is available to customers when they need it.” In Missoula, local press reports said DirecTV will offer full-time call-center agents hourly pay rates of approximately $9.50, plus health insurance benefits. DirecTV selected Missoula for the new center after Missoula County officials agreed to spend $12 million, funded by a combination of state loans plus tax increment bonds, to build the 70,000 square foot facility. After 10 years, DirecTV will have an option to buy the building.
DirecTV Call Centers:
Boise, Idaho
Huntsville, Alabama
Missoula, Montana
Tulsa, Oklahoma