Patrick Casserly's e-Services Group and Delta Airlines have signed a customer care agreement, considered the biggest outsourcing contract in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Patrick Casserly

Under the agreement, e-Services, which already employs 1,500 workers in Montego Bay and Kingston, will provide the customer care services for the world's second largest airline, including reservations services for American customers.

Yesterday, Casserly, in confirming the deal, told the Business Observer that the agreement was "the most significant development in the sector since inception in 2000".

Casserly said that his company had already signed an agreement with the National Investment Bank of Jamaica for the lease of the 22,000-square foot facility that once housed Tele Services in Montego Bay - to house the employees who would be needed.

Casserly did not say how many individuals will be required to fulfil the contract, but others in the industry suggested that it would be in the hundreds.
The agreement will begin with a pilot project, after which e-Services is expected to move fully into the operations.

"We anticipate that with the success of the pilot our partnership with the second largest in airline the wold will redefine the outsource sector in Jamaica," said Casserly. "We are putting all resources in place to ensure a successful agreement."

Yesterday, Technology Minister Phillip Paulwell, in commenting on the deal, said it represented "a vote of confidence in the skill and competence of the highly trained Jamaican workforce and an endorsement of an enterprise headed by a great Jamaican entrepreneur. It confirms that we can compete and win against the best in the world."
According to Casserly, the contract was won from a field that included the best in the world.

The agreement is for several years, and is said to be worth billions of Jamaican dollars.
With the outsourcing, customers calling Delta's 1 800 number will reach a customer care attendant in Montego Bay. It will take between seven and eight weeks to train each attendant.
In commenting on the deal, Delta said it was attracted to e-Services quality support systems.

"We selected e-Services Group International based on their proven ability to deliver high quality customer service at a significant cost savings as well as their proximity to the US" said Steve Scheper, vice-president of reservations for Delta Airlines.
Delta which travels to Montego Bay has a code sharing agreement with air Jamaica.

Casserly, the 2003 Jamaica Observer Business Leader, praised the workforce for helping to clinch the deal.
"We are pleased to have Delta Airlines join our other US clients who require their customer service representatives to have both superior English-speaking communication skills and the ability to resolve complex customer issues" he said.

He told the Business Observer that recently e-Services was awarded by one of its clients - JD Power - for technical service excellence.
Delta Airlines is the world's second largest airline in terms of passenger load.

The airline offers daily flights to 503 destinations in 94 countries on Delta, Delta Shuttle, the Delta Connection carriers and its worldwide partners.
It is a major carrier to Mexico, South and Central America and the Caribbean, with more than 35 routes announced, added or applied to serve since January 1, 2005.

e-Services Group International LLC (e-SGI) is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with operations in the Caribbean. It provides customer solutions for over 12 years, having evolved from a successful data entry operation to the largest English language near-shore call centre and back-office processing solutions company.

It currently processes over 30,000,000 transactions annually for a growing list of major US and international clients.

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