21st Century Plans Big Texas Call Center

21st Century Plans Big Texas Call Center

NU Online News Service, June 23, 3:44 p.m. EDT?California-based carrier 21st Century Insurance said it is planning to construct a major new call center in the Dallas, Texas, area beginning next month and that the new facility could add hundreds of new jobs over the next five years.[@@]

The site construction and training for the planned call center, to be located in Lewisville, in the metro Dallas region, is expected to begin next month. The company said the new 136,000-square-foot center will be fully operational by September.

The company said the new call center is part of a 21st Century strategy to move beyond its traditional stronghold in California with a base in Woodland Hills and expand into other parts of the country.

The carrier said its new Texas call center could more easily support the company's recent expansion into Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. 21st Century said that it currently operates two call centers in Southern California, but by adding a third call center in the Central Time Zone in Texas, it can more seamlessly provide 24-hour, 7-days-a-week service to its customers.

An advantage of building a call center in the Dallas, Texas, region, the company said, is that the area offers a large multilingual and computer-literate workforce. According to the carrier, it is currently the only major auto insurer with a fully functional, interactive Spanish Web site, where customers can get a quote, purchase a policy, and even report a claim.