Founded in 1999, Virtual-Agent Services (VAS) has quickly grown into a leading provider of contact centre solutions. Headquartered in the United States, the company maintains a network of contact centres across North America, including 18 in rural New Brunswick.

Two factors drive the company’s success: sophisticated telephone technologies and contact centres in rural communities. Many VAS agents rely on VOIP (voice-over Internet protocol) technology to answer the calls of customers, and on VPN (virtual private network) technology to connect securely with company databases. Both require reliable high-speed Internet connections, which are widely available in most Canadian communities.

VAS chose to locate most of its contact centres in New Brunswick to take advantage of the province’s educated, loyal and English-speaking workforce. Compared with the industry average, VAS enjoys low absentee and attrition rates, while the company’s agents tend to be older and more educated. The fact that most agents face little or no commute (some work from home) increases job satisfaction and helps VAS maintain a stable workforce.

Canada is also home to another key component of the company’s operating infrastructure: the VAS international-language centre is located in Toronto. VAS’ client base includes companies in eight sectors: hospitality, financial, utility, retail, insurance, logistics, transportation and health care.

Virtual-Agent Services [www.vagent.com] is yet another global leader that finds opportunity in Canada.

Additional Facts

• VAS has more than 1,000 employees in Canada.
• The company handles more than 8.5 million customer calls each year.
• VAS is the largest hospitality outsourcer in North America.