Call center : Outsourced service provider
Call centers are specialist service providers or departments within companies that communicate with interested parties, customers, users or employees by telephone, but also in writing or by video.
If a call center is operated as a separate department within a company, it is referred to as an internal call center. Call center service providers who work for other companies are called external call centers to differentiate them .
Another relevant classification is the initial direction of communication: if the first contact actively comes from the call center, it is referred to as an outbound call or an outbound call center. If, on the other hand, the call center is contacted from outside, it is an inbound call center, and the working method is then described as inbound.
A number of services are managed in call centers. These range from information and customer service, through market research, to consultancy and sales/distribution. There are also other areas of activity. Call center services are now used by almost every industry.
The call center itself may be a normal office space with a few employees, but in most cases it is an open plan office with many acoustically separated individual workstations. Each workstation is equipped with a computer, headset and telephone. The people employed here are called call center agents .
Thanks to modern telecommunications and fast Internet technology, the location of a call center plays only a secondary role. Especially in the case of telephone or video contacts, it is not possible for the caller to recognise or notice whether a call center is in Germany, Ireland or Tenerife. Location is completely irrelevant for written contact. Only the call center’s working hours play a role in terms of availability and response time.
How important is an outsourced call center?
In today’s world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide optimal customer service, as we live in a fast-moving society in which customers expect to be advised quickly and competently. Accepting the individual concerns of customers is hardly possible for employees of their own company. They simply don’t have the time to provide good customer service. For this reason, a wide variety of companies hire call centers to deal effectively with customer concerns.
Outsourced call center missions
Call center tasks vary according to customer requirements. They are diverse and may include customer service, complaints management or, for example, market analysis. Call centers are not only differentiated by task, but also by structure:
Inbound call center
With an inbound call center, the customer calls the customer advisor and describes his or her request. Here, the customer advisor acts mainly as a source of information or intermediary. Only in special cases does the call center employee intervene and call the customer himself.
Outbound call center
Unlike the inbound call center, the customer is now explicitly called in the outbound call center in order to take care of existing customers and win new potential customers. Customers who use such a call center often intend to sell their products and market them. This structure also covers enquiries about needs or questions relating to customer satisfaction.
In order to meet different customer requirements, employees are trained individually by their own customer. Here, employees are involved in the company’s business and trained to respond to customer concerns. Each individual customer has different requirements for the employees concerned so that they can provide the best possible customer service on the customer’s behalf.
Call center communication channels, is a phone call enough?
In the digital age, customers no longer simply call the company’s customer service department. The telephone call is often replaced by an e-mail. The volume of calls is decreasing and e-mail traffic is increasing. For customer advisers, it’s no longer important to clarify a customer’s concerns with a simple phone call. They need to rethink.
Another structure was added. Instead of inbound and outbound call centers, there is now also the customer service center. The customer service center is a mixture of the different structures with additional tasks. The customer advisor takes calls from the customer, calls them back if they wish and also deals with the customer’s concerns by e-mail or via social networks. Customer service is thus managed via a variety of communication channels (via telephony, video, chat, e-mail or social networks). The complex handling of customer requests goes far beyond the simple acceptance of a telephone call.
Advancia Teleservices: your customer service partner
Advancia Teleservices has continued to evolve over the years, and is committed to high-performance customer service. Advancia Teleservices manages complex customer service processes for several hundred clients from a wide variety of industries, and also assumes the tasks of a call center. At Advancia Teleservices, the customer is the most important asset. Employees, some of whom have been with us for many years, are always trained in the best way to deal with customers and are supported by regular coaching so that service quality is maintained at all times. This guarantees customer and client satisfaction.
Qualities required of a good call center agent at Advancia Teleservices :
- Fast and competent advice
- Customer satisfaction
- Customer loyalty