Published on July 3, 2022

At some point in our lives, we’ve all interacted with a call center agent, whether making a call for customer service or receiving a call offering a product or service. But do you know exactly what a call center does? In this article, we explain what it is and the functions of a call center, along with other interesting information.

What Is a Call Center?

A call center, as it is commonly known by the English term, is an administrative and management telephone support center that uses the phone as a medium. In it, we can talk to operators or agents for different reasons, such as resolving issues, questions about a product or service, making payments, filing complaints, or making a purchase. A call center is a center with trained staff for selling, conducting surveys, providing support, or solving problems; in other words, its goal is to offer quality care and ensure positive customer experiences with the company it represents.

Types of Call Centers

Whether internal, meaning part of a company's area, or external, meaning subcontracted, call centers provide services to the company and are divided into three types:

• Inbound: The inbound call center is where the customer calls seeking customer service. According to the Economic Encyclopedia, this type of call center is the most popular in the market. The customer seeks to resolve questions about a product or service.
• Outbound: The outbound call center is where the company makes the calls from the customer service center. Often, companies use these centers for sales, surveys, advertising, scheduling appointments or meetings, or providing information to the customer.
• Virtual: One of the most innovative types of call centers, as it uses the internet. It refers to real-time chat from the company's website. They handle both outgoing and incoming calls, offering a broader range of services. In this call center, technology tools such as artificial intelligence are used to automate and achieve two-way communication.

Difference Between a Call Center and a Contact Center

Sometimes, both terms are used interchangeably, but they are different.
The contact center offers broader functions and omnichannel support; in other words, it is managed through multiple communication channels, such as phone, chat, email, social media, or instant messaging. It aims to provide service according to the customer's preferences and can have inbound, outbound, or virtual operations. It uses different technologies such as automated programming, multichannel call routing, voice recognition, and workforce management.
A call center is managed by phone with the emission and reception of calls by a flexible number of agents, some of whom may work from home.

Examples of call Examples of Call Centers

Here are some examples of call centers that you’ve likely already interacted with:

• Banking: The institution uses call centers to offer customer service.
• Marketing: Several companies in this sector offer advertising services through outgoing calls from a call center to promote their campaigns.
• Online chat: The customer service of a company uses this channel through a call center to answer questions in writing.
• Outsourcing: Many companies choose to outsource their customer service through external call centers.

Characteristics of a Call Center

The most important characteristics of a call center include:

• They establish relationships where both the company and the user benefit.
• They are used to reduce costs as they are the primary means of customer support.
• They provide the company with centralized service by phone.
• They manage large volumes of inbound and outbound calls with customers.
• They offer support for daily operations.
• The telephone agents are commonly referred to as operators or telemarketers.
• They are an integrated telephone system.

Functions of a Call Center

We already know that a call center’s calls are inbound and outbound, but they are also proactive and reactive. Outbound calls are proactive because they reach out to customers to offer a product or service, conduct surveys, or build loyal relationships.
Inbound calls are reactive because their usual function is to resolve or react to a customer’s inquiry.
The functions of inbound and outbound calls are listed below:

• Call: The customer calls the number provided by the company and asks to speak with a representative.
• Connection: The customer is connected to a representative to address their situation.
• Listen: The representative carefully listens to the customer’s needs, concerns, or complaints to find a solution.
• Follow-up: If the issue can’t be resolved immediately, the agent will follow up to resolve the problem.

Additionally...

• Inform the company of evident or recurring issues.
• Create a personalized experience to meet each customer’s unique needs.
• Generate long-term solutions.
• Provide an effective and efficient response to customer needs.
• Offer high-quality customer service.
• Listen to customer needs in order to provide a well-thought-out and helpful solution.
• Adapt to different customer communication channels, such as virtual ones: live chat, social media, or email.
• Take the essential responsibility of researching marketing topics to capture data and obtain key performance indicators to benefit strategic and commercial operations.
• Communicate a transparent, truthful, detailed, and up-to-date message that is primarily relevant to the customer’s needs.
• In the case of outbound call centers, contact potential customers from the database.
• Have the ability to identify sales opportunities and close them, i.e., perform telemarketing functions.
• Convey marketing campaigns, promotions, and advertisements of the company they represent.
• Exhibit professionalism to generate positive experiences for customers and create loyalty.

Profile of a Call Center Agent

Now that you know what a call center does, it’s important to understand the profile companies look for in a call center agent or representative:

• Excellent communication skills
• Flexibility
• Empathy and courtesy
• Patience, frustration tolerance, and proactivity
• Service orientation
• Problem-solving skills
• Attention to detail
• Active listening skills
• Goal-oriented
• Organization and structured processes
• Positive attitude
• Critical thinking
• Computer knowledge
• Teamwork
• Interpersonal skills
• Ability to multitask
• Ability to control tone and manage voice
• Customer service
• Good verbal communication for phone conversations, and written communication for chat

Original article: What does a call center do?