A call center, also spelled call centre in Commonwealth English, is a managed capability that can be centralized or remote and is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of inquiries by telephone. Call centers are centralized departments that handle inbound and outbound calls from current and potential customers. They can be located either within an organization or outsourced to another company that specializes in handling calls. Call centers can be used for a variety of purposes, including customer service and support, account management, market research, outbound marketing, and more.
There are different types of call centers, including inbound call centers, outbound call centers, blended call centers, virtual call centers, offshore call centers, and onshore call centers. Inbound call centers are operated by a company to administer incoming product or service support or information inquiries from consumers. Outbound call centers are usually operated for sales purposes such as telemarketing, for solicitation of charitable or political donations, debt collection, market research, emergency notifications, and urgent/critical needs blood banks. Blended call centers handle both inbound and outbound calls. Virtual call centers allow agents to work from home or other remote locations. Offshore call centers are located in a different country from the companys headquarters, while onshore call centers are located in the same country.
Contact centers are a further extension to call centers telephony-based capabilities and administer centralized handling of individual communications, including letters, faxes, live support software, social media, and more. Contact centers provide omnichannel support, assisting customers on whichever channel or device they use. Whether an organization chooses a call center or contact center depends on its products and services, the channels on which it provides customer support, and the structures of the organizations support teams.
