ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TeleTech Government Solutions, LLC, an affiliate of TeleTech Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: TTEC), is now offering its self-service Web site to citizens of Israel, Jerusalem, and the Palestinian Territories, allowing them to obtain real-time visa information and support services with greater convenience and efficiency. The VisaPoint(TM) Web site, commissioned by the U.S. State Department, is expected to increase the number of qualified applicants visiting the United States from countries around the world.
Historically, visa information and scheduling services were handled internally by consular staff or through user-pays contact centers. However, TeleTech Government Solutions and the U.S. State Department have recently partnered to enhance these services using the Internet. Directly and indirectly with the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs and with its business partners, TeleTech currently provides visa solutions in 20 countries including Israel, Jerusalem, and the Palestinian Territories. Services include access to information, forms, and scheduling capabilities under long-term contracts that began in 2004. A half-dozen more deployments are expected by the end of year.
"By leveraging advanced technology and the ease of the Internet, TeleTech's VisaPoint(TM) provides citizens like those in Israel, Jerusalem, and the Palestinian Territories with a direct and flexible means to access the information they require," said Troy Cromwell, president of TeleTech Government Solutions. "VisaPoint(TM) has better equipped the U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide to manage issues associated with the growing number of applicants."
The newly launched VisaPoint(TM) Web site offers comprehensive visa information that is fully accessible in the region's four major languages: Arabic, English, Hebrew, and Russian. It provides fee-based information about the visa application process and visa law, in addition to a feature that allows users to schedule appointments at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv or the American Consulate General in Jerusalem. The site also supports an administration tool for quickly updating Web content to accommodate changes in the visa law or regulations. Security is protected through a gate entry report, controlling applicant flow.
About TeleTech Government Solutions:
TeleTech Government Solutions provides full service front- and back-office business process outsourcing and customer management services on five continents. The company helps government agencies implement large-scale solutions tailored to meet specific needs and challenges by delivering customer management, transaction-based processing, and database marketing services. TeleTech's comprehensive solutions include fully managed, OnDemand services including infrastructure, software, and business intelligence, interactive voice response (IVR), self-help Web, back-office processing, fulfilment, training, staffing, and other management applications. For more information visit www.teletechgovernment.com
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The projections and statements contained in these forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. All statements not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. In accordance with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, following are important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the following: estimated revenue from new, renewed, and expanded client business as volumes may not materialize as forecasted or be sufficient to achieve our Business Outlook; our ability to successfully integrate the acquisition of Direct Alliance Corporation and create meaningful growth opportunities for the combined businesses; our belief that the Direct Alliance acquisition will be slightly accretive to GAAP earnings during the first 12 months of combined operations; our belief that we are continuing to see strong demand for our services; achieving expected profit improvement in our International Customer Management operations; the ability to close and ramp new business opportunities that are currently being pursued with existing clients and potential clients in order to achieve our Business Outlook; our ability to execute our growth plans, including sales of new products (such as TeleTech On Demand(TM); our ability to achieve our year-end 2006 and 2007 financial goals and targeted cost reductions set forth in our Business Outlook; the possibility of our Database Marketing and Consulting segment not increasing revenue, lowering costs, or returning to profitability; the possibility of lower revenue or price pressure from our clients experiencing a downturn or merger in their business; greater than anticipated competition in the Business Process Outsourcing ("BPO") and customer management market, causing adverse pricing and more stringent contractual terms; risks associated with losing or not renewing client relationships, particularly large client agreements, or early termination of a client agreement; the risk of losing clients due to consolidation in the industries we serve; consumers' concerns or adverse publicity regarding our clients' products; our ability to find cost effective locations, obtain favorable lease terms, and build or retrofit facilities in a timely and economic manner; risks associated with business interruption due to weather or terrorist-related events; risks associated with attracting and retaining cost-effective labor at our customer management centers; the possibility of additional asset impairments and restructuring charges; risks associated with changes in foreign currency exchange rates; economic or political changes affecting the countries in which we operate; changes in accounting policies and practices promulgated by standard setting bodies; and new legislation or government regulation that impacts the BPO and customer management industry.
Please refer to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2006, and the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, for a detailed discussion of factors discussed above and other important factors that may impact the Company's business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows. The Company assumes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements.
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Both of TeleTech Holdings, Inc.