ocean call - Telemarketing Contact center delivering high quality B2B outbound projects to its US and UK based clients from a Caribbean location

THE LISTENING COMPANY EXPANDS INTO GRENADA - FORMS PARTNERSHIP WITH OCEAN CALL

The Listening Company, the UK's fastest growing call center operator*, has formed a strategic alliance with West Indies based call center business ocean call, located on the island of Grenada.

The alliance is The Listening Company's first expansion outside of the UK. Under the agreement, The Listening Company will provide management expertise for the ocean call center while making the center available to The Listening Company's UK based clients.

ocean call currently operates one call center in Grenada with a capacity of over 250 seats handling projects into the USA and UK.

The Listening Company will be offering the service to potential and existing clients who wish to test an offshore solution to take advantage of potential cost savings. The Listening Company's decision to choose Grenada is based on the current assessment that the quality in many other offshore locations has proved inconsistent and that Grenada offers a more reliable and consistent solution.

There are no plans to reduce the 500 seat capacity The Listening Company enjoys in the UK.

Neville Upton, chief executive of The Listening Company, comments:
"Our arrangement with ocean call offers clients the perfect test of the offshore opportunity with minimum risk and the security of dealing with a single UK based operator. We are committed to offering our clients the most appropriate solution for their business. With a good command of English, no problems with the call handler's accents, good education levels and up-to-date technology, Grenada offers a good base to trial an offshore solution." "We believe that the majority of outsourced call center business will continue to be located in the UK as companies want to stay close to their call centers to ensure their brands are properly represented. However, with increased interest in outsourcing these services to offshore locations, we are offering a non-UK based service for clients on a trial basis where cost is of paramount importance. The partnership with Grenada will also allow us to offer cost effective call center solutions for clients looking to operate outside normal UK hours."

Tim Johnson, managing director for ocean call, adds:
"The philosophy of our partnership is to provide clients with a cost effective offshore call center service, which maintains the highest levels of quality whilst taking advantage of the economic efficiencies of being offshore."

*Source: Marketing - Telemarketing League Tables, considering the last 3 years

Notes to editors:

The partnership between The Listening Company and ocean call will offer a seamless UK/Offshore operation. The Listening Company will act as a single point of contact for UK based clients.
The Listening Company can run UK based activity out of its call centers in Richmond, Surrey and Portsmouth benchmarked with activity in Grenada.
The Grenada center is linked to the UK by the latest fibre optic telecommunications allowing digital quality conversations with UK consumers without the time lag problems associated with the satellite communications used by some other offshore operators.

For further information please call:

Jeremy Hay-Campbell/Phil Borge
Eulogy!
Tel: 020 7927 9999
jeremy@eulogy.co.uk

Melvyn Mills
ocean call
1 970 382 3850
mmills@oceancall.com

ABOUT THE LISTENING COMPANY

Founded in 1998 by senior managers from Sitel and Brann, The Listening Company has been the UK's fastest growing call center business over the last three years. The company provides a range of services including B2B & B2C Telesales, Customer Service, Active CRM, Bureau Services, Training and Call Center Consultancy. The company now operates three call centers with 500 workstations and employs 750 staff across sites in Richmond-upon-Thames and Portsmouth. The Listening Company clients are drawn from range of industries including the utilities, financial services, media, charities, automotive and telecoms sectors. Clients include BUPA, N Power, Volkswagen and BT Mobile. The company's turnover in 2001/02 was £13.5 million.

Official opening of Contact center in Grenada

In March 2002 ocean call officially opened their Contact center in Grenada. The opening ceremony was performed jointly by Senator Richard McPhail, Minister of Communication of Grenada and Mr Eric Rutter Vice President of Circulation of Reed Business Information.

As part of the official ceremony there was a social gathering of dignitaries, media and ocean call staff at which there were more than 150 people present. The party atmosphere was enjoyed by everyone and it was an opportunity for ocean call to demonstrate to their CSR's their thanks in achieving the recognition of the Premier Contact center in the Caribbean.

There was comprehensive coverage from the local media including television interviews and Grenada is seen by the Caribbean as leading the way in development in International Telecommunications and Information Technology; ocean call is providing a 'role' model for future investors in Grenada in the field of Contact centers.

ocean call is now seen by the Government of Grenada as a professional business partner providing employment and job opportunity for the islands highly educated population. In their strategic plan for the future ocean call will be entering into a joint venture partnership with the Industrial Development Board of Grenada to provide an IT Training program to provide further education opportunities in Grenada. This training program will not only encompass Software Applications but also Hardware and Network building, configuration and maintenance.