Press Release

Press Information

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
18 Sep 2001

For additional information, please email to info@copc.com.

Baldwin Boyle Shand Public Affairs Counsel
Eruwin Sudirman, Consultant
+65 538 9211, +65 538 1062
eruwin.sudirman@bbspr.com.sg

COPC Inc. Chooses Singapore as Asia Pacific Headquarters

COPC International Inc., the US-based leader in customer contact operations has chosen Singapore as its Asia Pacific base. The Republic's excellent telecommunication infrastructure, skilled and productive workforce, the presence of world-class companies and Singapore's geographical proximity to countries in the region influenced the company's decision to use Singapore as its Asia Pacific base.

Mr. Peter Bloom, President and co-founder of COPC International Inc. said, "The Asia Pacific region is of strategic importance to COPC because of its size and rapid rate of development. It has seen a dramatic growth in customer contact centres as companies adopt them as cost-effective tools for prospecting and serving customers. This upward trend is expected to grow in double digits."

"Singapore has made great strides in establishing itself as a regional hub for customer contact centres and it has created industry standards and training programmes to facilitate the growth of the sector."

"This will strengthen Singapore's competitiveness in the service sector and create new job opportunities," he said.

COPC helps customer contact centres maximise their performance by increasing speed and accuracy of service delivery while keeping costs down. By benchmarking these centres' practices against the COPC-2000® Standard, COPC will be able to identify areas where there are gaps and recommend solutions necessary to achieve the objectives of productivity, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

COPC has performed more than 300 audits worldwide. Since its introduction into Asia nearly three years ago, COPC has more than 50 users of the COPC-2000® Standard in this region. MNCs that have embraced the COPC-2000® Standard include American Express, Apple, IBM, Microsoft and Motorola.

Mr. Neil Montefiore, Chief Executive Officer of MobileOne (Asia) Pte Ltd whose company has applied for the COPC-2000® Standard certification said, "Achieving the COPC Certification will go a long way in establishing ourselves as the customer service leader in Singapore. It is imperative that we adopt world-class processes and quality standards to provide the highest level of quality customer service."

Industry veteran Ms. Elizabeth Prakasam who previously held the reins of customer service in SingTel and Singapore Airlines will head COPC Asia Pacific as Chief Executive Officer. An international team of consultants and auditors drawn from COPC's global network of offices will support Ms. Prakasam in meeting the unique needs of the diverse Asia Pacific market.

Ms. Prakasam who has been actively involved in the human resource development in Singapore through national initiatives such as the National Skills Recognition System said, "The benefits of the COPC-2000® Standard are two-fold. Besides raising the bottom line of companies, COPC also aims to raise the professionalism of customer service officers by improving their job nature and training them professionally. We want them to feel that their job can be a gratifying, albeit a challenging one, and in so doing motivate them to deliver excellent service to customers."

Mr. Bloom added, "By setting the benchmark and providing a reference point for world-class customer service best practices, we believe we can make a defining difference in enhancing the performance of customer contact centres and uplifting the quality and image of the service industry in Singapore and around the region."

Customer Service Champion Elizabeth Prakasam appointed as Chief Executive Officer of COPC Asia Pacific Inc.

Ms. Elizabeth Prakasam has been appointed as the first Chief Executive Officer of COPC Asia Pacific Inc., a subsidiary of US-based COPC International Inc., the leader in customer contact operations.

"I am really honoured to be given the trust to navigate COPC's business in Asia-Pacific. I am confident that our capability, reputation and pool of international talent will put us in a strong position to carve our presence in the region. This is an exciting time for us all as the customer service industry gains momentum and experiences a surge in demand," Ms. Prakasam said.

"Ms. Prakasam joins COPC after successful careers in customer service in Singapore Telecom (SingTel) and Singapore Airlines (SIA) where she helped build both companies' customer service culture and infrastructure.

"In SingTel, as Vice President of Customer Service, Ms. Prakasam initiated changes including instilling a customer-friendly mindset and introducing technology into customer contact operations to pave the way for SingTel to function in a competitive business environment. Ms. Prakasam set up and ran the largest state-of-the-art customer contact operations in Southeast Asia, managing about 1,600 staff who handled about 3.2 million customer requests and enquiries per month ranging from telephone calls, faxes, and emails to letters.

"In addition to four centres in Singapore, Ms. Prakasam set up customer contact centres in Malacca, Malaysia and with SingTel's joint venture partner NCIC in Taiwan.

"She raised staff morale and made training an integral part of the professional and personal development of customer service officers. She lifted the level of professionalism of the customer service profession in Singapore by leading SingTel in the development of the National Call Centre Standards that became part of the National Skills Recognition System, a national training framework that recognises skills obtained on the job. Her commitment to human resource development continues today through her appointment as Vice Chairman of the Call Centre Council of Singapore.

"Before SingTel, Ms. Prakasam contributed heavily to the development of Singapore Airlines' hallmark of service, throughout her 22-year career with the company. In her role as Vice President of Customer Affairs, Ms. Prakasam managed customers' perception of SIA's products and services and ensured the competitiveness of SIA's customer loyalty programmes vis-a-vis other airlines. She pioneered many customer service initiatives and programmes including the highly popular KrisFlyer frequent flyer programme.

"As the airline widened its global reach, Ms Prakasam worked on maximising strategic alliances with airlines such as Ansett, Air New Zealand and Lufthansa.

"Mr. Peter Bloom, President and co-founder of COPC International Inc. said, "We are most pleased to have someone of Elizabeth's outstanding calibre join us. Her excellent credentials, range and depth of experience as well as her understanding of the Asia-Pacific markets would place us in good stead to serve businesses in this region."