|
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sento to Create New Spanish Speaking Call Center
Initial center to add 250 agents; growth anticipated to as many as 750
AMERICAN FORK, Utah - July 27, 2004 — Sento Corporation (Nasdaq: SNTO - News), a leading provider of integrated, multi-channel customer support, today announced plans to launch the first of two new Spanish-speaking call centers within the next several months. The initial center will have a one-shift capacity of 250 agents; however, Sento's estimates that total growing to as many as two centers and a total of 750 agents by the end of next year.
Sento prefers to locate the first of its anticipated two new centers in Salt Lake City, although it is also considering sites in Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Key to the new initiative is that Sento is looking to hire agents who speak Spanish as their primary language, as opposed to English-speaking agents who offer bi-lingual support.
"This is a unique initiative, and to our knowledge this is, if not the first, one of the first initiatives that a U.S. outsourcing company has promoted to provide native Spanish-speaking agents from within the U.S. to support their clients' Spanish-speaking U.S. customers," said Patrick O'Neal, Sento's president and CEO. "Our goal is to provide a very high standard of quality and customer satisfaction while creating U.S. jobs."
Market data indicates the Hispanic ethnic group currently represents nearly $700 billion of buying power per year, and is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2010. However, most U.S. companies offering products and services are not yet addressing this growing marketplace well, O'Neal maintains.
"Sixty percent of 40 million Latino customers in the U.S. say they comprehend native Spanish-speaking representatives best," says O'Neal. "And 54 percent say they are loyal to marketers who support Hispanic communities."
In addition to the creation of at least 250 new Hispanic jobs at competitive wages, Sento plans to offer tuition reimbursement of up to $4,000 per year for full time employees and up to $1,750 tuition reimbursement for part time workers. The company plans to offer onsite English as a Second Language programs for employees and their families as well. Sento's goal is to attract young upwardly mobile Hispanics looking to improve their place in life.
"If we can help these young people achieve a higher standard of living through education while employing them for 2-4 years, I think everyone comes out a winner. Many will move on to other opportunities outside of Sento, and many will take advantage of the career path within the company," O'Neal opines.
Tony Yapias, Director, Utah State Office of Hispanic Affairs, applauds this new initiative: "We find it very exciting for leading company in Utah to want to tap into our Latino population this way. We intend to assist Sento in every way we can in becoming successful, because the need for this type of center is strong."
While O'Neal confirms that Sento would prefer to base the initial new center in Utah if possible, he notes that the decision of where to base the new center will be economically driven. However, Yapias points out several uniquely positive aspects Utah's Latino community provides.
"Our Latino population is remarkably diverse, and perhaps much more diverse than in other U.S. locations," Yapias maintains. "We have strong Argentinean, Columbian, Venezuelan and Peruvian communities, in addition to the Mexican communities. Even when companies are able to provide strong bilingual support, the ability to know and support these specific cultures is key."
Sento anticipates announcing the location and specific timeframe of the first of the new Spanish call centers within the next 60 days.
SENTO PROFILE
Sento Corporation (www.sento.com) is one of the industry's most innovative providers of outsourced customer support services. Sento employs right channeling to create custom solutions that integrate live support with the company's best-in-class software solutions. Sento's Customer Choice PlatformSM allows customers to make choices in communication channels from a range of web-enabled self-service options with live support available at every critical point. Sento focuses on the inter-relationship among voice, chat, email, self-service and web forums. Sento targets its customer acquisition, customer service and technical support solutions to a diversified portfolio of clients in multiple vertical segments. Sento's solutions can provide value-added customer support at significant cost reductions when compared to other, traditional outsourced models. With operations in the U.S., The Netherlands, and France, plus partnerships in India and other low-cost regions, Sento provides customer support in 19 languages.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements in this press release, which are not purely historical, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements encompass Sento's beliefs, expectations, goals, hopes or intentions regarding future events. Words such as "expects," "intends," "estimates," "believes," "anticipates," "should" and "likely" also identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements included in this release are made as of the date hereof and are based on information available to Sento as of such date. Sento assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated for a number of reasons, including, among others: the Company's stock price has historically been volatile; difficulties encountered in post-acquisition integration and operation of the acquired assets including retaining existing clients of the acquired company; variations in market and economic conditions; the effect on the Company's earnings of the repricing of options; the Company's dependence on its limited number of key clients; failure to renew existing client contracts for continuation of services; reduction in services requested by the Company's clients resulting in lower revenues for the Company; the Company's ability to complete negotiations and execute client agreements; risk of emergency interruption of the Customer Contact Solutions operations; and other unanticipated factors. Risk factors, cautionary statements and other conditions, which could cause actual results to differ from the Company's current expectations, are contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB, as amended.
Contact:
Patrick O'Neal
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Sento Corporation
801-772-1417
pat_oneal@sento.com
Anthony J. Sansone
Chief Finance Officer and Corporate Secretary
Sento Corporation
801-772-1410
tony_sansone@sento.com
Brokers and financial industry members
Laurie S. Roop
President, Shareholder Relations
435-652-3884
laurie@shareholder-relations.net
|
|
|
|
