SCHAUMBURG, IL (November 7, 2006) – Virtual-Agent Services, high quality customer care service provider, announced today that it has established its 19th and 20th North American locations.  Established in the villages of Bristol and Perth Andover, New Brunswick, Canada, the centers will be added to the company’s other sites located in Illinois and New Brunswick. The company also operates a center in Milan, Italy. The announcement was made jointly by VAS and officials from the provincial and local government.  The new facilities are expected to create up to a total of 100 jobs for local residents within the first year of operation.

"This is a great day for Bristol and Perth Andover,” said Minister of Business New Brunswick Greg Byrne.  “Our government is proud to support VAS and its growing presence in New Brunswick. It is one of many success stories in New Brunswick’s customer contact centre industry, an industry which employs more than 20,000 New Brunswickers.  We are particularly proud of the job creation record of VAS in our rural communities.”

“Virtual-Agent Services is very excited about its expansion into the towns of Bristol and Perth Andover,” said Neri Basque. “These new centers will be focused on serving a large hospitality client, and we know we will attain the same high quality and success we have in other locations throughout the Province. With the addition of these two centers, VAS’ workforce will reach nearly 1,000 employees. This is certainly a milestone achievement for our company.”

VAS’ unique operating model, the Distributed Workforce Concept, allows the company to network together a series of fully functional transaction centers using an advanced technical infrastructure. This allows VAS unlimited capacity and reach to an abundant supply of high quality labor while still maintaining the economies of scale associated with having one large center. This capability allows VAS to bring the work to skilled local people without requiring them to travel long distances to obtain work. Creating a wonderful opportunity for those in the area with limited career prospects leads to a dedicated workforce assuring VAS' clients that they are receiving superior service from experienced employees. In an industry where attrition rates average higher than 60%, VAS posts agent turnover rates of less than 15%.

All VAS voice and data systems are designed and supported by Aliant, Inc., a world-recognized leader in communications, based in Atlantic Canada. “Aliant is proud to support VAS’ strategy of expanding business in rural New Brunswick,” said Helena Cain, Vice President Enterprise & Business Sales. “We too have offices in locations across the province, so we understand the need to connect geographically diverse offices to create seamless communications. Aliant’s ongoing collaboration with VAS has resulted in the development of a next-generation contact centre technology. This new solution will enable VAS to leverage new technologies and support their future growth as one virtual contact center.”

VAS’ technology innovation has been recognized through the media and a variety of industry awards including ContactCenterWorld.com’s Best of the Best Award in the Americas. The Distributed Workforce Concept is a finalist for the World Awards being presented in Las Vegas on November 8, 2006.

VAS currently provides inbound voice services to a number of high profile clients including CenterPoint Energy Minnesota Gas, Luxury Resorts, Admiral Insurance, Concorde Hotels, Roadside Protect, TravelCLICK, Passkey International, Morgans Hotel Group, Dolce International, and Luxe Worldwide Hotels.

About Virtual-Agent Services
Virtual-Agent Services (www.vagent.com), a privately held company headquartered in Schaumburg, IL, is a unique provider of contact center solutions for today's demanding customer care industry. VAS services a wide range of industries including logistics, banking, retail and catalog sales, travel and hospitality, insurance, and utility services. VAS provides a variety of support options that include inbound sales and customer service, customer account maintenance, credit management, and reservation services. VAS’ efforts have earned the company numerous accolades, including recognition from both Entrepreneur and Inc. magazines and a number of prestigious awards.