Sault can become Call Centre of Canada, Cisco chief says

The Canadian president of the world's largest Internet networking company says Sault Ste. Marie can become the Big Kahuna of Canada's call centre industry.

"I wouldn't be surprised at all if this community surpasses New Brunswick as the Call Centre Capital of Canada," Pierre-Paul Allard, president and chief executive officer of Cisco Systems Canada Co. told SooToday News last night.

A small group of Sault movers and shakers was wining and dining Allard last night at Algoma's Water Tower Inn, in hopes his company may particpate with local partners in a web-based IP (Internet Protocol) call centre here.

Mayor Rowswell filled Allard's ear with talk about something called "soft switch" technology.

Traditional circuit-switched telecom systems are primarly designed for handling voice traffic, so integrated communications providers often need a separate packet-switched network for data.

Soft-switch systems, widely considered the next big thing in the telco industry, are packet-based and are much more flexible, allowing rapid creation and deployment of new services without restricting the system to a single equipment vendor.

AUC gets Cisco networking program

Yesterday, the Sault gave Allard the royal tour: including places like the Group Health Centre, the PUC and Sault College's customer service/call centre representative training program.

He also announced a significant partnership with Algoma University College, under which AUC will gain access to Cisco's Networking Academy Program.

The networking program, developed in conjunction with educators and private-sector technology companies, trains students how to design, build and maintain computer networks, as well as the fundamentals of UNIX, Java, IT and voice and data cabling.

Launched in Canada in 1998, the program is offered at more than 360 secondary schools, colleges, technical institutes and universities.

Allard impressed

When SooToday.com caught up with Allard toward the end of his big day in the Sault, he said he was impressed by what he'd seen.

"This is a fantastic place for the development of call centres," Allard said. "Sault Ste. Marie is just about the centre of North America."

Local advantages that Allard appreciated included the sault's international flavour, quality of life, technical infrastructure and access to training and other resources.

"I think we're going to break new ground here on this," he said, referring to the proposed IP call centre.

Mayor meets today with EDS officials

Meanwhile, Mayor John Rowswell is in Toronto today to meet with officials of Electronic Data Systems, which established its GM Roadside Assistance Centre in the old Safeway/Loeb grocery store at 475 Pim Street.

The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre is also involved in that meeting.

Multi-Channel Communications Inc. was talking earlier this year about creating 600 jobs at an E-commerce centre in the Sault, but the deal fell through and MCCI announced last week that the jobs will go instead to Belleville.

Hit the links

Here at SooToday.com, we're something less than techno-weenies and we admit we're still trying to get our heads around such next-generation concepts as soft switches and IP call centres. Here are some of the sources we consulted in preparing this article:

Cisco's IPCC: IP That Doesn't Leave You Hanging Cisco Muscles Up Its IP The Cisco IP Contact Center Get ready for soft-switch challenge

Help us out

If, unlike SooToday News, you actualy know something about these subjects, feel free to educate us by posting your remarks in the News Response area on our editorial page.