Pittsburgh's call centers: Mister Rogers' new Neighborhood.What do you think of when Pittsburgh is mentioned? Perhaps smokestacks, foundries and steel mills come to mind. Years ago, that would have been true. Now as they say, "Pittsburgh Is On It." Today, it's more accurate to think of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) An integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the presales and postsales activities in an organization. , high-tech, info tech, fiber optics fiber optics, transmission of digitized messages or information by light pulses along hair-thin glass fibers. Each fiber is surrounded by a cladding having a high index of refractance so that the light is internally reflected and travels the length of the fiber , life sciences, logistics and research and development. The "New Pittsburgh Region" as they refer to themselves, has been transformed. Not only did the venerable Mister Mister British title for a male surgeon Rogers call this place home and produced his popular "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Mister Rogers' Neighborhood or Mister Rogers is an American children's television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. Mister Rogers' Neighborhood " show oil public television for 30 years, but dozens of call centers and back-office operations have made this region their neighborhood as well. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA PRA - PRAgmatics. The language used by COPS for specification of code generators. ["Metalanguages of the Compiler Production System COPS", J. Borowiec, in GI Fachgesprach "Compiler-Compiler", ed W. Henhapl, Tech Hochs Darmstadt 1978, pp. 122-159]. ), which graciously gra·cious adj. 1. Characterized by kindness and warm courtesy. 2. Characterized by tact and propriety: responded to the insult with gracious humor. 3. arranged my visit, tour and briefings, there are almost 4,000 firms employing nearly 60,000 people in financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. , major back-office and CRM operations in the area. Call centers alone account for over 17,000 employees in the region, The PRA is a non-profit economic development organization formed in 1995. It works with public, private and civic organizations in the 10 counties of south-western Pennsylvania. Its focus and mission is to generate and serve business creation, expansion and relocation RELOCATION, Scotch law, contracts. To let again to renew a lease, is called a relocation. 2. When a tenant holds over after the expiration of his lease, with the consent of his landlord, this will amount to a relocation. as well as to aid in the growth of the skilled workforce. Contained in the next several tables are some of the reasons call centers are thriving thrive intr.v. thrived or throve , thrived or thriv·en , thriv·ing, thrives 1. To make steady progress; prosper. 2. in the 10-county region. Population County Total Allegheny 1,281,666 Armstrong 72,392 Beaver 181,412 Butler 174,083 Fayette 148,644 Greene 40,672 Indiana 89,605 Lawrence 94,643 Washington 202,897 Westmoreland 369,993 10 County Region 2,656,007 Pittsburgh MSA 2,358,695 City of Pittsburgh 334,563 Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Pittsburgh Regional Alliance Gender, Age And Per Capita Income Noun 1. per capita income - the total national income divided by the number of people in the nation income - the financial gain (earned or unearned) accruing over a given period of time The region is 48 percent male and 52 percent female. There are 320,771 people in the 25 to 34 age bracket In programming, brackets (the [ and ] characters) are used to enclose numbers and subscripts. For example, in the C statement int menustart [4] = ; the [4] indicates the number of elements in the array, and the contents are enclosed in curly braces. and 418,866 in the 35 to 44 age bracket Per capita income in the 10-county region ranges from $19,932 in Greene County Greene County is the name of fourteen counties in the United States of America, each named in honor of American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene:
Labor Force County Total Allegheny 659,725 Armstrong 32,017 Beaver 87,617 Butler 90,858 Fayette 58,300 Greene 40,672 Indiana 37,033 Lawrence 40,408 Washington 98,333 Westmoreland 185,467 10 County Region 1,306,133 Pittsburgh MSA 1,180,300 City of Pittsburgh 162,675 Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, Pittsburgh Regional Alliance Unemployment According to data compiled for November 2002, the unemployment figures for the region range from a low of 4.7 percent in Allegheny County to a high of 7.7 percent in Fayette County Fayette County is the name of eleven counties in the United States:
Wage Information An analysis of hourly and annual wages for selected call center-related occupations reveals the following data for the Pittsburgh MSA (Metropolitan Service Area) An urban area with at least 50,000 people plus surrounding counties. There are 306 MSAs and 428 RSAs (rural service areas) in the U.S. MSAs and RSAs are used to allocate cellular licenses. .
Average
Average Annual
Occupation Hourly Wage Wage
Sales managers $35.51 $73,870
HR managers $27.70 $57,610
Computer
programmers $20.21 $42,040
Network and computer
administrators $20.21 $42,040
Telemarketers $10.63 $22,110
Office supervisors $12.08 $25,130
Bill collectors $12.30 $25,590
Customer service reps $12.12 $25,210
Computer operators $12.91 $26,850
Retail salespeople $8.70 $18,100
Sources: Pennsylvania Department of Labor,
Pittsburgh Regional Alliance
Education The region produces over 28,000 high school graduates annually, with 28,443 in school year 2000 and 28,883 in school year 2001. This large pool of high school graduates represents a great opportunity for call centers considering the area. In 2000, there were a large number of degrees granted, as well. Associate's degree 2,922 Bachelor's degree 13,920 Master's degree 5,968 Ph.Ds 635 There are 129,583 students enrolled in the region's 33 colleges, universities and community colleges. A partial listing of colleges and universities and their enrollments includes: Art Institute of Pittsburgh 2,497 (The Andy Warbol Museum is in Pittsburgh.) Butler County Community College 2,913 California University of Pennsylvania 5,899 Carnegie Mellon University 8,514 Community College of Allegheny Country 15,556 of Beaver County 2,188 of Westmoreland County 5,272 Duquesne University 9,667 Indiana University 13,410 Robert Morris University 4,958 Slippery Rock University 6,952 University of Pittsburgh 26,329 Telecommunications Communicating information, including data, text, pictures, voice and video over long distance. See communications. The region is well wired, with AT&T, MCI (1) (Media Control Interface) A high-level programming interface from Microsoft and IBM for controlling multimedia devices. It provides commands and functions to open, play and close the device. (2) (Microwave Communications Inc. and Sprint operating major primary switches. AT&T has its International Operations Internal Operations (I.O., IO or I/O) is a fictional American Intelligence Agency in Wildstorm comics. It was originally called International Operations. I.O. first appeared in WildC.A.T.S. volume 1 #1 (August, 1992) and was created by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee. Center in Pittsburgh, further attesting to the areas network reliability. Sonet rings The architecture used in SONET technology. SONET rings, known as "self-healing rings," use two or more transmission paths between network nodes, which are typically digital cross-connects (DCSs) or add/drop multiplexers (ADMs). and redundancy are provided in the region by over 30 competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) and internet companies. The area is also establishing itself as a cyber (1) From "cybernetics," it is a prefix attached to everyday words to add a computer, electronic or online connotation. The term is similar to "virtual," but the latter is used more frequently. See virtual. security hub, as it is home to the Software Engineering Institute's CERT Coordination Center The CERT Coordination Center was created by DARPA in November 1988 after the Morris worm struck. It is a major coordination center in dealing with internet security problems. , the Sustainable Computing computing - computer Consortium and one of the world's largest computer security firms. Real Estate In the Pittsburgh market, Class A real estate in the central business district is $22,39 and Class B is $16.19. The suburban Class A is $20.04 and Class B is $14.80. As an average, Class A is $21.54 and Class B is $15.65. Incentives/Taxes The region has 24 different and creative incentives and has demonstrated its ability and willingness to meet the needs of the call centers in the area. Job training and assistance ranks at the rap of the list of programs available, There are also programs to help mitigate mit·i·gate v. To moderate in force or intensity. mit  i·ga tion n. the
usual corporate taxes. All of these programs can be accessed through the
Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA).
Call Centers Operating In The Region As of the latest count, there are 60 call centers in the region, employing 17,480 people. This represents 1.3 percent of the region's total workforce, with plenty of room for growth to 2 percent (26,122), which would allow the addition of another 9,000 people with minimal upward pressure on wages. Table 1 is a list of the call centers currently operating in the region. Summary/Conclusions During my talks with call center managers, I was pleasantly surprised to learn of the variety of call centers in the area and their affordability. I was very pleased to learn about the great working relationship among each of the 10 counties served by the PRA. This cooperation makes the review and research process very simple--a kind of "one-stop shopping." The area can easily absorb another 9,000 or more call center agents and not miss a step. The region is low cost, ranking at 96 on a scale where 100 is average, as computed by ACCRA Accra (əkrä`, ăk`rə), city (1984 pop. 867,459), capital of Ghana, a port on the Gulf of Guinea. It is Ghana's largest city and its administrative, communications, and economic center. , and offers workers and management a tremendous quality of life and a wealth of great cultural and ethnic experiences. Even arriving at the airport was fun, which is a seldom-used word these days to describe air travel. When you fly into the Pittsburgh International Airport “PIT” redirects here. For other uses, see PIT (disambiguation). Pittsburgh International Airport (IATA: PIT, ICAO: KPIT, FAA LID: PIT , you feel as though you have landed in a major shopping mail. Perhaps this is the reason why even the airport is rated among the world's top five. As usual, if you have any comments or suggestions for new stories, please contact me at jbeatty@callcentersites.net and visit my Web site www.callcentersites.net for the latest on call center and back-office location information worldwide.
Table 1.
Call Centers Located in The Central Pittsburgh Region
Approximate
Number Of
Company Employees City County
Aetna/US Healthcare 600 Green Tree Allegheny
Alpha Message Center Inc. 30 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Answering the Point 23 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Cardholder Management Services 600 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Comcast 800 Pittsburgh Allegheny
DialAmerica 480 Green Tree Allegheny
Direct Advantage Marketing 80 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Direct Response Marketing 70 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Federated Investors 582 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Highmark 450 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Jones Lang LaSalle 6 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Megaphone Answering Service 20 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Mellon Bank 257 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Metro One Telecom 42 Green Tree Allegheny
National City Bank 1,260 Pittsburgh Allegheny
OSI 600 Green Tree Allegheny
Outreach Center Inc. 150 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Perse Technologies 155 Green Tree Allegheny
PNC Bank 2,800 Pittsburgh Allegheny
PNC Human Resources 15 Pittsburgh Allegheny
PPG Architectural Finishes 70 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Pt Marketing Group Inc. 21 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Public Interest Communication 110 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Reese Teleservices 50 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Stargate Industries LLC 100 Pittsburgh Allegheny
Tele-Plex Corp. 100 Pittsburgh Allegheny
The ARS Group N/A Pittsburgh Allegheny
Time Life Libraries 160-170 Pittsburgh Allegheny
UPMC Consumer Referal 5 Pittsburgh Allegheny
UPMC EAP 4 Pittsburgh Allegheny
UPMC Heath Plan 75 Pittsburgh Allegheny
UPMC Western Psyc 8 to 10 Pittsburgh Allegheny
USAirways 500 Green Tree Allegheny
Zgonc Sales Inc. 40 Pittsburgh Allegheny
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