What is a call center?
Definition: Call center is a centralized office or facility that handles a large volume of telephone-based customer inquiries, service requests, and technical support.
Call centers are equipped with advanced telecommunication systems and customer support tools such as:
- Interactive voice response systems
- Customer relationship management systems
- Ticketing systems
- Help desks
- Issue trackers
- And more, that help manage inbound and outbound calls efficiently.
Types of call centers
- Inbound call centers: Primarily handle incoming customer calls and manage customer inquiries, complaints, technical support, and billing issues.
- Outbound call centers: Focus on making outgoing calls to customers or prospects, and are often used for telemarketing, sales, customer retention, appointment setting, and market research or surveys.
- Automated call centers: These call centers use IVR systems, AI, and chatbots, to handle customer interactions without the need for human agents. Automated call centers can manage routine inquiries, provide information, and guide customers through self-service options. They can also route more complex issues to live agents when necessary.
- Omnichannel call centers: Provide seamless and integrated customer experience across multiple communication channels, such as voice, email, live chat, social media, and messaging apps. The aim of an omnichannel call center is to ensure a consistent and unified customer journey, regardless of the channel used.
- Virtual call centers: Customer service representatives or agents work remotely, using cloud-based software to handle customer interactions.
