He's set up a cyber park here and drawn the Philippine headquarters of Citibank and International Business Machines. Citibank uses its new building as its accounting office for Southeast Asia. Capitalizing on the strong English language skills of its work force, SPI has begun moving up the outsourcing food chain, leaving behind its days as a simple back-office company. Here, they are better-quality, and we also have lower costs. An isolated corner of a former U.S. air base north of Manila is a good place to get a grasp on what's going on.
Security is especially tight around two unmarked low-rise buildings.
Questions range from simple billing inquiries to more complex technical-support issues. When faced with a particularly knotty problem, AOL staffers log onto online chat rooms to discuss problems directly with customers. All the while, AOL users are oblivious as to where their calls are being answered. Language is the key. With English, the Philippines can offer something that countries such as Thailand or Indonesia can't.