Learn about call centers, the different types of call centers, and how to use them to help your company serve customers more efficiently
What Call Centers Can Do for You
Customers are the backbone of any business. Customers are essential to a business. It is therefore crucial for any business to ask: How can you balance costs while providing a great experience for customers?
A call center is the best option for many companies. Many companies are outsourcing their call centers services, from small businesses to mid-sized corporations like Ford and Microsoft. They will use call center services for different needs that could benefit their business as well as their customers. You can learn what are the 3 types of call centers? and how they could help your business. They offer a variety of services.
Table of Contents
What are the 3 Types of Call Centers?
What are the 3 types of call centers? The three major types of Call Center are Inbound, Outbound and Blended.
What is Inbound Call Center?
These call centers can handle a large number of calls at once and then screen, forward, log, and log them. An interactive voice response system (IVR) can answer calls using speech recognition technology. It can also route calls to appropriate call center agents.
Inbound call centers can offer services such as:
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After receiving a call from a prospective client, a call center representative may carry out several tasks with the caller, including explaining their purchase options, recording order information and collecting payment information. |
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A dispatch center may receive calls, transfer them as needed, and monitor the progress of any shipments and deliveries. |
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When customers experience problems, a call center representative in support may offer solutions when a customer knows what is wrong, help identify potential sources for the issue if they don’t, and call in a service request if needed. |
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A call center can act as an answering service, with representatives working as an answering service that may receive calls from customers, ask about the reason for their call, and then transfer the caller. |
What is Outbound Call Center?
An agent calls the client or organization on behalf of the client to perform tasks like lead generation, customer retention, fundraising and surveying. They also collect debts and schedule appointments. Automated dialers can answer the phone and transfer the calls to an agent via an IVR system. This allows for maximum efficiency. Outbound call centers must adhere to the National Do Not Call Registry. Citizens can add their phone numbers in order to avoid unsolicited solicitation calls.
Representatives at outbound calling centers have common responsibilities, which include:
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Telesales professionals commonly work with a list of provided leads, often gathered through market research to identify demographics most likely to be interested in a company’s products, and make direct contact to pitch the company’s goods. |
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A call center representative in a telemarketing role may perform customer outreach, conduct surveys of existing customers or reach potential customers to determine if there is interest in a product or service. |
What is Blended Call Center?
This type of call center takes both inbound as well as outbound calls.
What are the other Types of Call Centers
Other than outbound, blended and inbound call centers, there are also the following classifications:
Automated call centers
A company can reduce its costs of call management by using automated systems to handle certain caller responsibilities. Automated systems can often be run with a smaller staff than traditional live-operator call centers, since they only require personnel to manage the systems and perform certain tasks that the automation cannot. There are many common uses for automated call centers:
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Automated voicemail systems are one of the most common call center services. An automated voicemail service for a company may reduce the need for staff to take messages. |
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Many companies with multiple locations may use automated call centers to assist customers in need of finding a nearby store location. |
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Interactive systems allow a caller to speak normally and use technology to understand their words and navigate the caller through a menu, sometimes transferring callers to an employee at a call center. |
Multichannel call centers
While phone calls still play an important role in modern businesses, there are many ways to communicate with customers. Modern call centers have expanded their services to customers to include additional communication tasks such as sending and receiving emails, faxing and overseeing the fulfillment of orders.
Virtual call centers
Virtual call centers allow staff to work remotely from their homes and not in one location. Outbound marketing calls may be the specialty of a virtual call center. A virtual call center doesn’t need a physical location to operate from, which can lower a company’s operating expenses. A company’s overhead costs are lower and can allow them to offer lower rates for their customers.
Omnichannel call centers
A call center that offers an omnichannel service can build on multichannel offerings, and offer enhanced coordination and customization. All departments that are assigned to clients can communicate with each other through an omnichannel phone center. This allows staff to benefit from the information they have gathered via phone calls and vice versa. This allows for better customization of the approach that call center representatives use when communicating with clients to achieve better results.
Like virtual call centers, omnichannel centers use cloud software. They can connect interactions across multiple channels. This is what makes them different:
- Voice
- Social media
- Live chat
- SMS
They can also store customer caller information in cloud storage, which can aid reps in better communicating with customers.
In-house call center
The company manages and owns the call center and employs its agents.
Outsourced call center. The company hires a third-party to handle calls for it, to generally remove the burden of hiring and training agents and investing in call center technology. This can help reduce operating costs.
Offshore call center
A company outsources its operations in order to cut costs and provide 24/7 service. A call center offshore can lead to lower customer satisfaction, as well as a lack of knowledge of the organization, its products and services.
What Services Are Provided By Call Centers?
An excellent call center must do more than simply answer calls. A call center can not only ensure customers have access to a live representative, but it can also resolve problems and give information to help companies find new opportunities. It is a critical part of your customer support strategy. It can play a major role in your company’s success or failure.
What are Benefits of Using a Call Center?
Although the name may suggest otherwise, call centers can handle much more than just phone calls. Call centers often handle online communication via chats on the company website, by email or through social media. These are some of the benefits that businesses get when they outsource their call center services:
Reduced operating costs
Software makes it much cheaper to build a virtual phone center than a traditional one. Why? It eliminates all unnecessary expenses (rent, utilities and cleaning, as well as maintenance and hardware). Virtual call centers are free if the employees have their own computers and an internet connection.
Additionally, call center software makes it possible for agents to assist customers around the globe. This helps to reduce labor costs. Companies can employ agents anywhere there is a cheaper workforce.
Higher customer satisfaction
Businesses can hire agents anywhere in the world through virtual call centers, which allows them to take advantage of different languages spoken by the agents. This allows the company to offer customer service in multiple languages and multiple time zones. This makes it possible to keep your call center open 24/7/365 and allows customers to request support in another language. Customer satisfaction has improved as a result.
Flexible working environment
Software for call center management is flexible. Agents can answer phones from anywhere in the world, even at home, if needed.
Agents might have to leave the office for personal reasons. They might be renovating their bathroom. If they were in a traditional phone center, they would need to work overtime. With call center software, they are able to answer calls and oversee workers simultaneously.
Additionally, many call center software providers also offer mobile applications that enable customers to get customer service anywhere they go. The mobile application allows customers to call their customer service representative even when they are not available on the computer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a BPO call center?
BPO is the outsourcing of business processes to third parties.
What is call center technology?
Call center technology can be described as any combination of software and hardware that outbound and inbound call centers can use for their day-to-day operations. Call center technology does not only include phone system features, but it also includes features that make customer service more efficient than answering the phones. With call center technology, teams can provide better customer service through functionality like call queueing, auto attendants and supervisor features.
What Technologies Do Call Centers Use?
At their core, call centers require two essential pieces of technology: headsets or computers. For call center agents to be able to make and take calls, they need reliable headsets that can transmit their voice clearly to customers. Remote call center agents may require better internet access to access their call center software. Therefore, organizations might want to invest in home networking equipment for remote agents. These are just a few of the critical technologies and software that call centers need:
- Software for call management, including ACD technology
- Call monitoring software
- Speech analytics tools
- Software to manage your workforce
- Customer relationship management software
- IVR software
- outbound dialers
- Chatbots and virtual assistant technology.
