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State of the art AI in Jamaica’s BPO Sector

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Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

 

 

#Jamaica, May 30, 2023 – Jamaica is walking the road to Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration in its corporate realm as an AI program called DISA (Digital Intelligence Sales Agent), which automates telesales and customer service processes, is being introduced to the country’s outsourcing sector.

This new development for the island is bred from the collaboration of ACCESS Sales Group, the sales division of the ACCESS Group of Companies — a financial and sales programme management and technology company with operations in the United States, Canada and the Latina America and the Caribbean (LAC) region, with Vocodia, an AI software company based in Florida and the developer of DISA.

Larry Hunt, CEO of the ACCESS Group of Companies expressed why Jamaica was chosen.  He said, “Jamaica is at the top of our list for the roll-out of DISA to the region because of its strong position in the outsourcing industry.” He also referred to Jamaica’s strong cultural affinity with North America, highly educated workforce, and favorable business environment.

Hunt continued to highlight the benefit of DISA, comparing it to outdated technology.

“Call centres, BPOs and businesses that rely on phone sales will now be able to use DISA to support their live agents in their interaction with clients. DISA uses actual live agents to record scripts and responses — unlike old, bionic-sounding technology — and never goes off-script. It can be tailored to the specific goals, budget, and unique requirements of a particular company.”

Additionally, DISA is capable of servicing any industry that deals with inbound customers calling in for FAQs, which  can  be transferred to a live agent to handle escalated calls.  For outbound calls, it can make calls to consumers or businesses to pre-qualify them prior to transferring them to a live closer.

Hunt informed that local companies are showing interest in DISA, pointing out that traditional telemarketing practices are time consuming and costly.

However, he made sure to refer to the importance of live agents saying they “are crucial as closers or problem solvers in the telemarketing process,” emphasizing that the program is not geared towards replacing human sales or customer support agents but instead, enhancing their capabilities.

Considering that, he alluded to DISA’s lack of error and limitations unlike the live agents.

“DISA significantly supports their operations by providing a level of consistency where agents may have physical limitations. It can handle up to 400 outbound calls per day and up to 20,000 simultaneous calls, compared to a high-quality agent that can only handle an average of 150 calls or less per day.”

He continued to inform of the pros of DISA.

“Our business customers have come to realise that DISA’s ability to handle far more significant volumes of calls provides a level of consistency and leaves their agents to be more productive and engaging with their customers when closing sales or handling escalated customer service.”

There are concerns regarding the cost of implementation which Hunt also talked about.

“Primarily, companies are concerned with the cost of integration, human resources to deal with that integration, and the potential costs of new or additional equipment. Integration is as simple as a DID and an API integration, both of which can be handled in minutes and at no cost to them,” he stated.

This initiative, which could put Jamaica ahead of some of its Caribbean neighbour’s in the AI game, follows a 2022 report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which highlights that  several governments in the region acknowledged the value of AI in many economic sectors.

Caribbean News

CARPHA Progresses to Eligibility for the First Disbursement of Pandemic Funding

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Following a landmark Public Signing Ceremony for the Pandemic Fund (PF) Technical Cooperation Agreement (“Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Prevention, Preparedness, and Response” [RG-T4387] Project) on December 14, 2023, in Trinidad, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) continues to progress towards the start of implementation.

 CARPHA fulfilled the IDB’s nine conditions prior to first disbursement, achieving full eligibility on March 15, 2024, and is now eligible for the first disbursement. This milestone achievement in just 3 months after the signing speaks to the commitment of both CARPHA, the Executing Agency, and IDB, the Implementing Entity, toward the regional PF project with the objective of supporting the reduction of the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean by building pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) surveillance & early-warning systems (EWS), laboratory systems and workforce capacity, regionally at CARPHA and in countries.

Since the signing of the Technical Cooperation Agreement and as part of the conditions prior to first disbursement, CARPHA has achieved the following key outputs (i) the development of the PF Project Operations Manual, Multi-annual Execution Plan, Procurement Plan, Financial Plan, Procedure for CARPHA’s Financial Reporting System; (ii) vacancy announcements for two tranches of consultants with the subsequent hiring of five (Technical Coordinator, Financial Specialist, Procurement Specialist, Operations Officer and Project Operations Coordinator) and (iii) the establishment of the Project Execution Unit (PEU) and Project Execution Steering Committee (PESC). The dedicated PEU will be responsible for execution according to its planned timelines, which will be led by the Dr. Lisa Indar, the Project Director (CARPHA’s Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division).

 CARPHA, as the lead regional public health agency and an expression of Caribbean Cooperation in Health is mandated by its Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to support its 26 CARPHA Member States (CMS) in bolstering national systems and coordinating regional response to public health threats. The Agency works closely with regional and international agencies and uses regional mechanisms, surveillance systems, and networks for coordinating its public health response work.

In July 2023, the PF Governing Board announced that CARPHA’s regional entity proposal, entitled ‘Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Strengthened Integrated Early Warning Surveillance, Laboratory Systems and Workforce Development’ was successfully selected for the first round of financing. It was one of only 19 proposals selected from over 300 submissions and the only regional project. The three priority areas in the proposal are: (i) Comprehensive disease surveillance and EWS, (ii) Laboratory systems and (iii) Human resources and public health and community workforce capacity.

This project is expected to begin implementation in March 2024, starting off with a blended onboarding session. A Stakeholder Meeting with countries is tentatively planned for July 2024.

CARPHA remains dedicated to working together with the IDB, CARPHA Member States and the Pandemic Fund to successfully implement the regional proposal geared toward reducing the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean.

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Caribbean News

Men who had Murdered Man, Marley Higgs’ cell phone face Court

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Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Correspondent

The prosecution intends to try two young North Caicos men, both age 21 for the offense of possession of property of a murdered man, property that was stolen and landed in their possession.

The phone belonged to Peureton ‘Marley’ Higgs, who is believed to have been an innocent gunned down at his apartment complex in the Glass Shack area in a spray of bullets on February 2 that killed another man and wounded two others, including a ten-year-old little girl.

The cell phone was described as white in colour, an iPhone, in a hard black case. 

On Monday, March 18th, JEFFVANO HANDFIELD of North Caicos pleaded not guilty to the offense, and the matter was adjourned to April 2024. He was granted bail in the matter.

A second North Caicos man was charged similarly.  

SARENO CAPELLAN aka, Kino Williams is the second individual brought before the court pertaining to the said cellphone. He appeared in court a week after JEFFVANO HANDFIELD, the date being Monday March 25th 2024.

The case for the Crown is that both men sometime in February of this year possessed the cellphone knowing or suspecting it to be stolen property.

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Caribbean News

Supreme Court Closed for Easter

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NOTICE is hereby given that the Easter Recess shall commence on Friday 29th April, 2024 and end on Friday 5th April, 2024. During the Easter Recess Judge Selochan will be available to deal only with matters that are urgent or require prompt attention.

Court Business During the Easter Recess

A person who wishes to have a matter heard during the recess must file a certificate of urgency along with an affidavit, which must set out the reasons why the matter is urgent or requires prompt attention. The matter will not be listed during the recess unless the Judge deems it fit for urgent hearing.

Opening Hours During the Easter Holiday

The Supreme Court’s last sitting day for the first term is Thursday 28th March, 2024. The Court will officially resume sittings on Monday 8th April, 2024. The Supreme Court Offices in both Grand Turk and Providenciales will continue to operate while the Court is not sitting during the recess.

The Court Office will be closed on the following public holidays:

  • Friday 29th March, 2024 (Good Friday) CLOSED
  • Monday 1st April, 2024 (Easter Monday) CLOSED

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