Photos by David Mackey Mackey Media Ltd/ TheBahamasWeekly.comFreeport, Grand Bahama Island – The Jamaican-based company, Island Outsourcers officially opened the first phase of their call centre on Thursday, January 9, 2014 at Trehl Plaza on West Atlantic Drive in downtown Freeport. On hand for the opening was the Rt Hon. Perry G. Christie, Prime Minister of the Bahamas, along with other government officials and Grand Bahama business persons.

Along from the Prime Minister, offering remarks was the the Hon. Obie Wilchcombe, Minister of Tourism; Ian Rolle, President, Grand Bahama Port Authority; and Yoni Epstein, Island Outsourcers’ Founder and CEO.

The Freeport centre has 65 persons personnel providing inbound and outbound customer service and telesales services, and aims to increase its employee headcount to some 600 persons as it expands in the future.

Island Outsourcers is a comprehensive, business process outsourcing (BPO) solution that manages contact centre and back office functions for local and US-based companies, with the UK and Canadian market in its sights.  As a BPO provider, they provide planning, workflow, real-time monitoring and reservation functions for their vendors/clients, many of whom operate within the travel and tourism industry.

With government’s plans to establish Grand Bahama as the base for the Ministry of Tourism’s digital platform, the new BPO will facilitate the relocation of the ministry’s former Miami-based call centre to Grand Bahama.

“Although the labour cost is a little higher in Freeport, business costs are lower,” said Yoni Epstein, Island Outsourcers’ Founder and CEO.  “Additionally, The Bahamas boasts an educated workforce with a strong work ethic far surpassing many other countries – the workforce is polished and professional, with excellent communication skills.”

Photos by David Mackey Mackey Media Ltd/ TheBahamasWeekly.com

“This is momentous for our island and country as a whole,” stated GBPA President, Ian Rolle in a previous announcement. “We look at the BPO industry as a huge supplier of jobs. It isn’t seasonal and as the world economy gets tighter and more competitive, this industry will continue to thrive.”

Rolle further revealed that after months of negotiations with GBPA’s Business Development team, Freeport was chosen as the ideal location for Island Outsourcers’ expansion due to its geographic proximity to the North American mainland and a free trade zone area boasting competitive costs for operation of a call centre in the English speaking Caribbean.

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Obie Wilchcombe is also pleased with the company’s entrance into the Bahamian market as part of his ministry’s plans to relocate its former Miami-based call centre to Grand Bahama. “For a very long time we have aimed to bring this important and needed call centre to The Bahamas and to Grand Bahama in particular,” he stressed.

“We see Grand Bahama becoming the base of the Ministry of Tourism’s digital platform involving Bahamian companies and employing hundreds of Bahamians. Island Outsourcers brings invaluable experience and will enhance the new thrust for tourism growth and development in The Bahamas,” he further added.

Rolle further revealed that after months of negotiations with GBPA’ s Business Development team, Freeport was chosen as the ideal location for Island Outsourcers’ expansion due to its geographic proximity to the North American mainland and a free trade zone area boasting competitive costs for operation of a call centre in the English speaking Caribbean with costs that are 20 to 30 percent lower than in the US, UK or Canada.

Photos by David Mackey Mackey Media Ltd/ TheBahamasWeekly.com

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Obie Wilchcombe is also pleased with the company’s entrance into the Bahamian market as part of his ministry’s plans to relocate its former Miami-based call centre to Grand Bahama. “For a very long time we have aimed to bring this important and needed call centre to The Bahamas and to Grand Bahama in particular,” he stressed.

”We see Grand Bahama becoming the base of the Ministry of Tourism’s digital platform involving Bahamian companies and employing hundreds of Bahamians. Island Outsourcers brings invaluable experience and will enhance the new thrust for tourism growth and development in The Bahamas,” he further added.

The Bahamas boasts an educated workforce with a strong work ethic far surpassing many other countries the workforce is polished and professional with excellent communication skills. Unlike call centres on the other side of the world, The Bahamas is in line with Eastern time zones, easily handling all call traffic through the US business day without the need for off-shift hours. Additionally, Freeport has access to many international gateways including direct flights from major cities, allowing clients easy access to visit the local facility.

”We believe in The Bahamas and its potential and look forward to partnering with GBPA and the government in pioneering a vision to establish a local BPO industry for the growth and development of Grand Bahama,” said Yoni Epstein, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Island Outsourcers.

Island Outsourcers Freeport management team introduced –

About Island Outsourcers & itel-BPO Solutions

Island Outsourcers/itel-BPO Solutions is one of the Caribbean’s most dynamic business process outsourcing service providers. It operations began in Jamaica in June 2012 with a subsidiary operation established in Grand Bahama in November 2013. A private owned venture, Island Outsourcers/itel-BPO Solutions manages contact center and back office functions for local and US based companies. Island Outsourcers/itel-BPO Solutions specializes in inbound/outbound sales and customer service, data entry, quality assurance management and back office support services.

Island Outsourcers/itel-BPO Solutions has expanded and diversified its solutions and services over the past year with the launch of its sister brand in October 2013, itel-BPO solutions. Under the itel-BPO solutions division, the entity has expanded its range of solutions and support services to include the telecoms, online retail, utilities, health insurance, and medical industries. The Island Outsourcers brand has deepend its focus on the travel and tourist industry which comprises rent-a-cars, airlines, hotels, sales and reservations.

Island Outsourcers services and solutions are delivered through a set of standardized best practices and sophisticated technologies by a highly skilled workforce of approximately 200 employees supporting customers in the Caribbean and North America with two centers. Island Outsourcers build its outsourcing excellence on the premise of its core values – the 4Y’s:

•Quality: the executive team prides itself in selecting the right people, providing them with the highest standards of training and empowering them to work effectively on or off script. Island Outsourcers maintain a 1:12 supervisor to agent ration so as to ensure the best quality and service standards are maintained.

•Integrity: each client relationship will be independent of each other for confidentiality, security and efficiency; individual attention will satisfy the client knowing that their product is never sacrificed.

•Reliability: Island Outsourcers uses the most robust network and telephony equipment to maintain its current 99.99% up time. Our team is also reliable and ready to provide exemplary customer service and meet all service level agreements.

•Family: we pride ourselves by treating our team members and our clients like family.