'I believe the contact center industry performed well in 2005, with considerable growth globally; we witnessed continued strong interest in the Philippines from our clients worldwide,' said Marife Zamora, vice president and country manager of Convergys Philippines.

Benedict Hernandez, vice president for Philippine operations of eTelecare agreed, saying that the past five to six years have, in fact, been good for the industry as the country has seen the industry's size grow in terms of employment and revenue. 'We still see the same kind of interest and activity today,' he said.

A new study from Frost & Sullivan entitled Assessment of the Asia Pacific Contact Center Market reveals that the number of contact centers in Asia Pacific totaled over 21,360 in 2004 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.1 percent to reach around 39,247 contact centers by the end of 2011. According to the study, other than the urgent need by foreign companies to cut costs and the attractively large English-speaking population in Asia Pacific, it is the emerging trend in outsourcing within Asia Pacific itself that is further bolstering the contact center industry in this region.

'The growth is steady; a lot of players have come in, not only clients who want to outsource but companies who want to set up their own (contact centers) as well,' said Liza Lamzon, director for strategic growth programs at PeopleSupport Inc. 'Each year is different, 2005 was good in a different way because now we're already on the map, people are already coming, unlike before where we had to make noise to attract investors,' she said.

'As the industry grows, the challenges change,' said PeopleSupport's Lamzon, citing space as one challenge that the industry faces right now, since real estate is going up because people are now scrambling for space, she said.