Virtual Contact Centre
Date: 26 September 2024
We met with Paul Mizzi from Virtual Contact Centre to learn more about this local social enterprise.
Why did you decide to create Virtual Contact Centre?
My own experience during the GFC, when I was out of work in my early 50s, saw me apply for 200 jobs without a single response. This story was the same for others. It didn't matter if your qualifications or experience were sufficient, it was assumed that you were either unable to handle technology or unwilling to learn new skills other than manual labour. So in 2018, when Telstra announced they were to retrench 8,000 staff I decided to do something about it. There being ageism in employment for over 50s in regional Australia, I could see the cycle happening again for others. After spending 2019 workshopping solutions, myself and two cofounders created the not-for-profit Virtual Contact Centre Limited, or VirtualCC, in April 2020, right at the beginning of Covid.
What services does the Virtual Contact Centre offer prospective clients?
Our solution to overcoming ageism was to create an outsourced contact centre. VirtualCC helps organisations connect with clients who want to talk to an Australian-based support centre that employs mature-aged regional Australians with relatable lived experiences. We are offering first contact services, business surveys and after-hours answering services as our initial products.
VirtualCC is a social enterprise, certified by Social Traders – what does this mean?
Social enterprises are businesses that trade so they can:
- tackle social problems
- improve communities
- give people access to employment and training, or
- help the environment.
Launched in April 2018 the Victorian Government’s Social Procurement Framework sets out a whole-of-government approach, which has been adopted by local government, for engaging in social procurement. Victoria’s second Social Enterprise Strategy 2021-2025 builds on the strong foundations of the first strategy.
Although there is no legal definition for social enterprise, the Social Procurement Framework requires a social enterprise to be certified by Social Traders. You can apply to become certified with Social Traders. Social Traders Certification publicly verifies that your business has been properly assessed by Social Traders and endorsed as a social enterprise.
What strategies have proven most effective in securing external support and funding for the Virtual Contact Centre?
Virtual Contact Centre Limited (VirtualCC) is a Registered Charity and a Certified Social Enterprise. As a charity we can't raise start-up funds through commercial mechanisms such as venture capital. Our only option is to apply for funding through government grants or philanthropic funds. We learned the hard way that funders for charities are more risk averse than for-profit funders such as venture capital funds and banks.
In the latest reports, the 30 charities (including those that report collectively as groups) that attracted the largest donations and bequests received nearly 20% of all the donations and bequests received by all Australian charities with the rest spread over the remaining 51,506 charities. VirtualCC was honored to be awarded as one of 13 AMP Foundation Spark Tomorrow Makers for 2023 with a grant of $20,000 and in May 2024 we were announced as AMP Foundation Ignite Tomorrow Makers with a grant of $110,000.
The AMP Foundation is one of Australia's largest, independently funded corporate foundations. Since its inception in 1992, it has invested $111.3 million into the Australian community to help organisations and individuals bring about positive change. So if you are looking at starting a social enterprise, my advice is to look at organisations such as the Swinburne Centre for Social Impact or the Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship to understand how to get started, or give me a call.
Thanks Paul! If you'd like to hear more about his work, you can listen to a recent Impact Boom podcast in which he was interviewed.