The first call came into Dell's new 145,000-square-foot Pasay City contact center, where the first 167 of an anticipated 700 Dell Philippine contact center employees began work this week. The new employees received a videotaped greeting from Dell's chief executive officer, Kevin Rollins, underscoring the important role each plays in delivering the benefits of Dell's direct relationships with customers.

Bert Quintana, vice president, Dell International Services, said, 'We are thrilled that our new employees have completed some of our best training, and are using Dell's newest technologies, tools and processes to solve customer issues and ensure we deliver a superior customer experience.'

Dell chose the Philippines for its newest contact center primarily because of the strong language and communication skills of its workforce and a robust telecommunications infrastructure. Dell's business model replaces middlemen with direct customer relationships, enabling employees to talk directly with millions of businesses and consumers worldwide each day.

'Customer service and support -- a US$6 billion market -- is an important and growing business opportunity for Dell,' said Quintana, an 18-year contact center veteran. 'We're making unprecedented investments in our service and support capabilities including here in the Philippines. We're also seeking the most talented professionals who want to build careers by helping us strengthen our direct connection with customers.'

Dell is a premier tenant in the new SM Mall of Asia complex and expects the location and its extensive amenities to be a competitive edge for attracting the area's most qualified job candidates. Dell expects to officially launch its new facility at a special event in March.