CALL CENTER

A call center is an office that fields incoming and outgoing customer phone calls. They're
operated by phone representatives who manage each call and keep track of open cases
and transactions. To keep their teams organized, these offices use call center
software to distribute inquiries and interact with customers all over the world. A call
centre is a specialist, centralised facility that handles phone calls between organisations
and customers or prospective customers. Call centres can handle inbound calls,
outbound calls, or both types of calls. They can be fulfil a number of business purposes
including sales and marketing, lead generation, customer support, and more.

In customer service, call centers can be proactive or reactive. This means that they can
either reach out to customers with service offers, or they can act as traditional support
and respond to incoming calls. Many companies now offer proactive customer
services to create stronger relationships with customers and capitalize on timely
opportunities to upsell and cross-sell.

Additionally, call centers can be owned by the parent business or hired as a third-party
provider. Depending on the organization's needs, both options provide pros and cons
that influence the success of the customer service department. Third-party call center
are more efficient, however, they may not be as familiar with the brand's product,
service, or reputation. If you're looking for a job in a call center, be sure to clarify
whether it's a third-party provider or owned by the parent company

Call centers provide customers with an alternative communication channel to report

service inquiries. Rather than writing an email or traveling to a store, customers can
simply pick up the phone, tell an agent their problem, and receive a resolution. Many
people prefer this type of support over other mediums as it provides immediate service
and personalized solutions.

According to Microsoft, 44% of Americans still prefer phone service over any other
channel. That's 21% higher than live chat, which came in second at 23%. Phone support
is a key function of many customer service teams because customers still love the
personalized touch of interacting with a real person.
Typical Roles in a Call Centre

Within a call centre there are common roles: a Centre Manager, Team Leaders and
Advisors. There are also other functions such as HR, Trainers or Operational
Management that play a vital role. The following information could come in useful when
trying to set up a call centre, or just familiarise yourself with the industry. The size of the
centre will determine the number of Team Leaders and additional support roles.

 Call Centre Advisor

 Team Leader/Manager/Supervisor
 Call Centre Manager
 Head of the Call Centre
 Customer Services Director
 Digital Contact Director
 Operational Manager
 Resource Planning Manager
 Human Resources (HR)
 Trainer
 Coach
STRUCTURE

Types of call centre

There are three main types of call centres. These are:

Inbound call centres

This type of call centre handles calls from clients who wish to interact with an
organisation. Calls may relate to accounts management, scheduling, technical support,
complaints, queries about products or services, or purchase requests and more. Usually,
calls are screened and then allocated to an agent who is able to deal with the
customer’s query. This process can be automated over a interactive voice response
(IVR) system or completed manually.

Outbound call centres

An outbound call centre makes phone calls to customers or prospective customers.

Typical tasks for an outbound call centre include sales lead generation and collecting
customer satisfaction data with customer surveys. The process of calling customers or
prospects can be automated with an automatic dialler. These connect agents only when
calls are answered, which saves time and increases the number of calls that can be
made per hour.

Blended call centres

A blended call centre handles both inbound and outbound calls. Large companies that
have a call centre will typically need to perform both inbound and outbound tasks.
Often these are separated by department, for example with the sales team performing
outbound tasks and the customer support team taking inbound calls.

There are also different types of call centres based on their location, ownership and
technical set up. These include:

In-house call centres: where a company operates its own call centre and employs its
own call centre agents

Outsourced call centres: where an organisation hires a third party company to handle
calls on its behalf. This can reduce costs as support staff do not require additional
training and no extra hardware, software or support contracts are required.

Offshore call centres: which is an outsourced call centre located in a different country
to the organisation it is working for. Companies often use an offshore call centres
located in low-wage countries to reduce their operating costs.

Virtual call centres: where agents use VoIP/cloud technology such as the NFON Cloud
Telephone System to answer calls. Call centre agents can be located in different
locations as they can all easily connect to the network over the internet.
Duties of a call representative

Call center representatives or agents are the friendly folks answering and placing most
of the calls within a call center. Depending on the type of call center (inbound or
outbound), they may need to be an expert salesperson or a master problem-solver.
Some common call center representative responsibilities include:
 Politely answer inbound calls and respond to customer inquiries in a timely
manner
 Generate customer interest in the company’s products or services
 Provide personalized customer service by responding to the needs of customers
 Document and report on customer feedback to improve the customer
experience
 Manage and update customer databases with notes for each customer

Given the amount of communication required of them, working as a call center agent is
a great way to practice customer interactions and listening skills. Both are crucial talents
that can help boost your career in customer service or sales. In addition, call center
agents need to be very knowledgeable when it comes to the company’s products or
services, which gives agents greater company knowledge that can help them move up
the corporate ladder.

Call Center Manager Duties

Managers have more riding on their shoulders than their supervisor and agent co-
workers. Where supervisors may only have teams of agents to look after, managers
often have the entire call center organization to oversee.

 Forms call center operational strategies through needs assessments,

performance reviews, capacity planning, and cost/benefit analyses
 Evaluates call center technologies, customer service standards, and
organizational structure
 Monitors call center performance to identify operational problems and solutions
 Meets call center financial objectives and explores opportunities to add value
Benefits of Call Center Software in Every Business

1. Enhanced Customer Service Management

2. Improved Reporting Features

3. Enhanced Productivity And Efficiency

4. Enhanced Data Access

5. Increased Communication And Responsibility

6. Decreased Costs

7. Better Sales

8. Great Customer Experience

9. Improved Security

10. Easy-To-Use

11. Prioritizes Clients and Identifies Urgent Calls

12. Multi-channel Support