In 1997, investments in these facilities totaled 4,655, grew to more than 12,800 last year. Sites for this build up include out-of-the-way locales such as Stevens Point, WI; Durant, OK; Rockland, ME; and Kamloops, British Columbia. Looking forward, the study predicts that a growing number of call centers will be situated along the US-Mexico border by companies looking for easy access to low-cost labor.

Nonetheless, the major US metro areas received most of the investments for new call centers in 2000. The top five, denominated by jobs, were Baton Rouge, LA (4,500); Oklahoma City, OK (3,717); Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX (3,600) and McAllen, TX (3,315). Las Vegas came in tenth at 1,615.

The survey also found that while the number of jobs at call centers continue to rise, the number of new centers has decreased, slipping from 176 in 1999 to 167 last year, a change attributed largely to market consolidation.