2degrees mobile is committing to New Zealand-based customer service by opening a new contact center in Christchurch this year, said New Zealand's Scoop Independent News. The company is New Zealand's fastest-growing mobile network, and offers customers both pre-paid and contracted wireless service and plans. The company's chief executive, Eric Hertz, said the company currently provides 24/7 customer care from its Auckland office, but needs an additional contact center to match the company’s growth.
“We’ve chosen Christchurch because it’s recognized as a center of excellence for contact centre talent. We expect to create about 80 new jobs by the end of this year,” said Hertz. “This is a conscious decision to deliver customer service here in New Zealand. We believe Kiwis value speaking to a local person when they call for help,” he said.
Hertz said the contact center will open by midyear and will be located in the Christchurch Central Business District. “We’re making this announcement now because we’d like to hear from people interested in working for a fast growing mobile operator that takes extraordinary customer service seriously,” he added.
According to a study released in October called callcentres.net 2010 New Zealand Contact Centre Industry Benchmarking Report, the country's contact center industry last year recorded better than expected growth: four percent in 2010, which translated to a rise in contact center seats from 28,730 to 29,000. One percent growth had been predicted for New Zealand contact centers last year, as reported by ContactCenterSolutions.
2degrees opened its first Christchurch mobile retail store in the Westfield Riccarton Mall last month, and plans several more stores in Christchurch this year. It already has a city office for network build and operations staff and has recently hired more engineers in Christchurch.
Hertz said the new contact center will provide greater career options for its current customer care staff, with increasingly specialized roles as the company grows and offers more products and services to more customer segments.
2degrees employs more than 350 people in New Zealand and is one of the country’s fastest growing companies, said Scoop Independent News.
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