The centre, which manages credit and billing inquiries, will provide even higher levels of service for Telstra customers.

The centre was jointly opened by Telstra’s Chief Financial Officer and Group Managing Director, Finance and Administration, David Moffatt and, Dr Srechko Kontelj OAM, Mayor of the City of Greater Geelong.

Telstra announced in December last year the intention to locate a centre in Geelong following a review of Telstra’s Credit Management activities. The review saw Credit Management consolidated to five locations: Perth, Brisbane, Geelong and two in Melbourne.

The Geelong centre has created a total of 182 jobs so far, including 112 new full-time positions of which Geelong residents have taken 125 jobs (increasing to 166 by September) went to local residents. A further five Telstra employees and their families have relocated to Geelong from around Australia to take up positions in the centre.

Telstra is delighted to have a strong presence in Geelong. The city was selected because it had the quality workforce, infrastructure, transport, lifestyle, and amenities, Mr Moffatt said.

Telstra has designed this centre to provide a dynamic, healthy environment for staff. Providing the right environment for staff facilitates better customer service.

They handle more than 10,000 calls a day from across Australia and are trained to provide a range of payment options to assist customers pay their bills.

Dr Kontelj welcomed Telstra’s centre opening as significant recognition of the city’s growing reputation as a place to do business.

Geelong City has a very clear understanding of the importance of fostering a positive and encouraging culture for the development of service sectors, which is now one of our region’s largest employers, the Mayor said.

As a place to do business, Geelong in particular offers the call centre Industry all the cost benefits, services and infrastructure of a major regional centre while maintaining all the advantages of a metropolitan or capital city, in this case Melbourne.

We welcome the decision by Telstra to invest in Geelong’s future. It is a decision that demonstrates recognition that Geelong is the best place to establish new business in this growing industry, the Mayor said.

SOURCE: COMPANY PRESS RELEASE