Qwest's Hispanic call center is now 25

In July 1984, telecommunications company Qwest embarked on a program to serve the growing number of its residential customers who spoke Spanish as their preferred language.

Today, the program the company developed back then is considered a resounding success, according to Scott DiLoreto, director of Salt Lake consumer operations for Qwest.

Qwest hosted a milestone celebration Wednesday to recognize El Centro de Qwest's 25th anniversary overall, and the program's fifth year in Utah.

El Centro is the nation's leading Spanish-language call center focusing on serving one of the fastest-growing demographics in the United States, a company release stated.

"Twenty-five years ago, it was four people," DiLoreto said. "Twenty-five years later, we're about 350 people strong. Our employees represent 22 countries."

He said that on a monthly basis, about 15 percent of Qwest's total customer call volume is "Spanish preferred."

He said Qwest has two El Centro call centers; the first was developed in Phoenix and has around 250 employees, while the Salt Lake operation employs about 100 people.

Qwest operates in 14 states west of the Mississippi, said Alex Juarez, Hispanic marketing representative with the company. It has approximately "270,000 customers that have asked to do business with us in Spanish in particular," he said.

"The customer base in Utah that has chosen to do business with us in Spanish is approximately 15,000 customers," Juarez said.

DiLoreto said that, while Phoenix has a strong Mexican influence, the reason Salt Lake City was chosen to open the second call center was because of its culturally diverse Spanish-speaking population.

"Our customer base is not just from Mexico. They are from all over Central, South and Latin America and even Europe," he said. "It made sense to have representation from folks there."

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