NEW YORK, April 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The health pandemic
brought about a large number of business challenges when it became
apparent that Covid-19 was going to be more than a short-term
global interruption. It prompted companies to reassess priorities
and react to the changes going on around them. This observation is
also true of the customer service industry, as experienced
first-hand by Atento (NYSE: ATTO) when providing support to many of
its global clients over the past few months.
An example of one such business challenge can be illustrated by
the situation with Texas-headquartered Fortune 500 Company, and
Atento client, GameStop (NYSE: GME), who had to deal with an
unexpected situation early on in the pandemic.
"In April, we were suddenly left without a considerable number
of our customer service agents, who were unable to access their
place of work due to the pandemic. Our service provider at that
time could not find a workaround, meaning that we needed to find an
alternative solution rapidly", recounts Mark Qualls, VP US Operations, GameStop. Faced
with this unexpected happening, GameStop approached Atento to see
if it could help.
"In just a few weeks, we were able to get the project up and
running by moving it to Guatemala,
where the pandemic was not yet so prevalent", explains Wesley O'Brien, VP of Sales, Atento. Indeed,
although initially starting with customer service over email, the
project was quickly expanded in scope to include chat, and by the
end of the year it encompassed voice capabilities, as well,
offering GameStop's customers a quicker way to receive customer
service.
"The nature of the pandemic, and the rate at which we began to
see that digitalization and seamless customer experience were
becoming a key requirement for the end-customer, made us look at
more innovative and effective ways of connecting with consumers.
Atento advised and guided us throughout that journey", adds
Mark.
"What we are seeing is that in the wake of the pandemic,
companies are looking for service providers that can guarantee
flexibility, agility and security. This is a tendency we can only
believe will continue over the coming months and years," concludes
Wesley.
About Atento
Atento is the largest provider of
customer relationship management and business process outsourcing
("CRM BPO") services in Latin
America, and among the top five providers globally. Atento
is also a leading provider of nearshoring CRM BPO services to
companies that carry out their activities in the United States. Since 1999, the company has
developed its business model in 13 countries where it employs
approximately 140,000 people. Atento has over 400 clients to whom
it offers a wide range of CRM BPO services through multiple
channels. Atento's clients are mostly leading multinational
corporations in sectors such as telecommunications, banking and
financial services, health, retail and public administrations,
among others. Atento's shares trade under the symbol ATTO on the
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In 2019, Atento was named one of
the World's 25 Best Multinational Workplaces and one of the Best
Multinationals to Work for in Latin
America by Great Place to Work®. Also, in 2021 Everest named
Atento as a star performer Gartner named the company as a leader in
the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant. For more information visit
www.atento.com
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Shay Chor
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Fernando
Schneider
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Pablo Sánchez
Pérez
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shay.chor@atento.com
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fernando.schneider@atento.com
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pablo.sanchez@atento.com
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+34
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Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of words such as "may," "should," "expects,"
"plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts,"
"intends," "continue" or similar terminology. These statements
reflect only Atento's current expectations and are not guarantees
of future performance or results. These statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.
In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic, and governments'
extraordinary measures to limit the spread of the virus, are
disrupting the global economy and Atento's industry, and
consequently adversely affecting the Company's business, results of
operation and cash flows and, as conditions are recent, uncertain
and changing rapidly, it is difficult to predict the full extent of
the impact that the pandemic will have. Risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, competition in
Atento's highly competitive industries; increases in the cost of
voice and data services or significant interruptions in these
services; Atento's ability to keep pace with its clients' needs for
rapid technological change and systems availability; the continued
deployment and adoption of emerging technologies; the loss,
financial difficulties or bankruptcy of any key clients; the
effects of global economic trends on the businesses of Atento's
clients; the non-exclusive nature of Atento's client contracts and
the absence of revenue commitments; security and privacy breaches
of the systems Atento uses to protect personal data; the cost of
pending and future litigation; the cost of defending Atento against
intellectual property infringement claims; extensive regulation
affecting many of Atento's businesses; Atento's ability to protect
its proprietary information or technology; service interruptions to
Atento's data and operation centers; Atento's ability to retain key
personnel and attract a sufficient number of qualified employees;
increases in labor costs and turnover rates; the political,
economic and other conditions in the countries where Atento
operates; changes in foreign exchange rates; Atento's ability to
complete future acquisitions and integrate or achieve the
objectives of its recent and future acquisitions; future
impairments of our substantial goodwill, intangible assets, or
other long-lived assets; and Atento's ability to recover consumer
receivables on behalf of its clients. In addition, Atento is
subject to risks related to its level of indebtedness. Such risks
include Atento's ability to generate sufficient cash to service its
indebtedness and fund its other liquidity needs; Atento's ability
to comply with covenants contained in its debt instruments; the
ability to obtain additional financing; the incurrence of
significant additional indebtedness by Atento and its subsidiaries;
and the ability of Atento's lenders to fulfill their lending
commitments. Atento is also subject to other risk factors described
in documents filed by the comp any with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission.
These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on
which the statements were made. Atento undertakes no obligation to
update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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SOURCE Atento S.A.