NEW YORK, April 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The health pandemic brought about a large number of business challenges when it became apparent that Covid-19 was going to be more than a short-term global interruption. It prompted companies to reassess priorities and react to the changes going on around them. This observation is also true of the customer service industry, as experienced first-hand by Atento (NYSE: ATTO) when providing support to many of its global clients over the past few months.

An example of one such business challenge can be illustrated by the situation with Texas-headquartered Fortune 500 Company, and Atento client, GameStop (NYSE: GME), who had to deal with an unexpected situation early on in the pandemic.

"In April, we were suddenly left without a considerable number of our customer service agents, who were unable to access their place of work due to the pandemic. Our service provider at that time could not find a workaround, meaning that we needed to find an alternative solution rapidly", recounts Mark Qualls, VP US Operations, GameStop. Faced with this unexpected happening, GameStop approached Atento to see if it could help.

"In just a few weeks, we were able to get the project up and running by moving it to Guatemala, where the pandemic was not yet so prevalent", explains Wesley O'Brien, VP of Sales, Atento. Indeed, although initially starting with customer service over email, the project was quickly expanded in scope to include chat, and by the end of the year it encompassed voice capabilities, as well, offering GameStop's customers a quicker way to receive customer service.

"The nature of the pandemic, and the rate at which we began to see that digitalization and seamless customer experience were becoming a key requirement for the end-customer, made us look at more innovative and effective ways of connecting with consumers. Atento advised and guided us throughout that journey", adds Mark.

"What we are seeing is that in the wake of the pandemic, companies are looking for service providers that can guarantee flexibility, agility and security. This is a tendency we can only believe will continue over the coming months and years," concludes Wesley.

About Atento
Atento is the largest provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing ("CRM BPO") services in Latin America, and among the top five providers globally. Atento is also a leading provider of nearshoring CRM BPO services to companies that carry out their activities in the United States. Since 1999, the company has developed its business model in 13 countries where it employs approximately 140,000 people. Atento has over 400 clients to whom it offers a wide range of CRM BPO services through multiple channels. Atento's clients are mostly leading multinational corporations in sectors such as telecommunications, banking and financial services, health, retail and public administrations, among others. Atento's shares trade under the symbol ATTO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In 2019, Atento was named one of the World's 25 Best Multinational Workplaces and one of the Best Multinationals to Work for in Latin America by Great Place to Work®. Also, in 2021 Everest named Atento as a star performer Gartner named the company as a leader in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant. For more information visit www.atento.com

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "intends," "continue" or similar terminology. These statements reflect only Atento's current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance or results. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic, and governments' extraordinary measures to limit the spread of the virus, are disrupting the global economy and Atento's industry, and consequently adversely affecting the Company's business, results of operation and cash flows and, as conditions are recent, uncertain and changing rapidly, it is difficult to predict the full extent of the impact that the pandemic will have.  Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, competition in Atento's highly competitive industries; increases in the cost of voice and data services or significant interruptions in these services; Atento's ability to keep pace with its clients' needs for rapid technological change and systems availability; the continued deployment and adoption of emerging technologies; the loss, financial difficulties or bankruptcy of any key clients; the effects of global economic trends on the businesses of Atento's clients; the non-exclusive nature of Atento's client contracts and the absence of revenue commitments; security and privacy breaches of the systems Atento uses to protect personal data; the cost of pending and future litigation; the cost of defending Atento against intellectual property infringement claims; extensive regulation affecting many of Atento's businesses; Atento's ability to protect its proprietary information or technology; service interruptions to Atento's data and operation centers; Atento's ability to retain key personnel and attract a sufficient number of qualified employees; increases in labor costs and turnover rates; the political, economic and other conditions in the countries where Atento operates; changes in foreign exchange rates; Atento's ability to complete future acquisitions and integrate or achieve the objectives of its recent and future acquisitions; future impairments of our substantial goodwill, intangible assets, or other long-lived assets; and Atento's ability to recover consumer receivables on behalf of its clients. In addition, Atento is subject to risks related to its level of indebtedness. Such risks include Atento's ability to generate sufficient cash to service its indebtedness and fund its other liquidity needs; Atento's ability to comply with covenants contained in its debt instruments; the ability to obtain additional financing; the incurrence of significant additional indebtedness by Atento and its subsidiaries; and the ability of Atento's lenders to fulfill their lending commitments. Atento is also subject to other risk factors described in documents filed by the comp any with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which the statements were made. Atento undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE Atento S.A.