Call center outsourcing provides many benefits for a company. Many are turning to outsourcing their calls to home based agents who are essentially freelance workers. The company does not have to pay for overhead or call center furniture. The tax information is kept by the individual and the companies can generally expect cheaper labor. You also have to keep in mind that the business does not have to pay health benefits or contribute to a 401K.

The outsourcing of call centers to home workers can provide the same cons for the call center agent as it does pros for the company. Agents are not provided life or health insurance. They are essentially freelance workers who may not receive overtime pay and receive very little training. Even those found within a designated call center are still subject to monitoring and a general lack of qualified training.

If a company uses a call center in another country, then they do not have to work within American labor laws. The work hours can be far more than the standard forty hour work week and they may not have to pay overtime or health benefits. This is one area that has raised a lot of controversy for many people whose jobs have been outsourced to other countries.

When a company uses a hosted call center, then most likely the call center agents must deal with call recording and call monitoring practices. The workers must follow a fixed set of protocols and scripts for a given situation. There will always be calls that go outside of these normal situations and the lack of call center training can prove to be difficult for the agents.

There are definitely two sides to call center outsourcing. It is not an easy decision for either party to deal with and is one that must be handled with caution. The right outsourcing center can prove to be a boon for the company and the call center agents. It all depends on how the parent company and the call center company interact with the clients and personnel.

By Business Editor

There are two different types of call centers. The first is the outbound call center. This call center is primarily used for selling something. You know, those telemarketers who always seemed to call your home when you are the busiest? Those calls came from an outbound call center. The second type of call center is the inbound call center. This is a call center used to get information, correct problems or handle technical issues with whatever company you are dealing with. You probably associate cell phone companies, internet service providers, and many health insurance companies with this form of call center.

Now, the criticisms of the call center industry. Many companies have turned to outsourcing their call centers to foreign countries. The positives for the business itself are cheaper wages and no set working conditions. Offshore call centers are not as heavily regulated for work place violations. Many people are upset over outsourcing call centers to foreign countries because it takes away jobs here. Often there is also a language barrier to overcome.

If you are a call center agent, then you can expect to undergo what is termed as "call center recording" and "call monitoring." Basically, the call center management team, or your supervisor, monitors your inbound and outbound calls to ensure that you are following protocols and a designated script set forth by the company. Many people feel this call monitoring for the set scripts is not providing individualized service for the customer. For the company it means a straight, across-the-board answer for any problem that may pop up and no one receives special treatment.

Wait times and under trained employees are forever contributing to the bad image that the call center industry faces on a daily basis. After all, it is the reason why so many companies rank in the top of the list for bad companies. If you have considered all of the pros and cons of becoming a call center agent and find that you could not handle the call monitoring or the continuously ringing phones, then it is better to know now than later.

By Business Editor

Many large businesses have began to feel the public’s dissent with their call centers and are actively taking steps to improve how the call process at their centers works. It is a step in the right direction for most of the large companies. It should be because every year a poll is taken on the worst large businesses and it is always the customer service department that sets the bar for most people. It is after all the way most people come into contact with the companies that they deal with.

This article will cover the basic questions you may have about a call center and how it works. Hopefully by the end you will have the patience you need to deal with your call center the next time you call in or receive a phone call from a sales person.

How does an inbound call center work?

An inbound call center works by customers calling in to a certain telephone number for customer service support. They may be having a technical issue with a piece of equipment. They could have a billing issue that they need settled or they could be calling in for more information about a product or to place an order. Inbound call centers most usually never place outbound calls hence the name inbound call center.

How can I bypass the system and go directly to a live customer service person

Yes, there are ways you can bypass the system and go directly to speaking to a live person but why would you? It is still going to involve waiting in line and you may not be in the area that you need your call routed. That means that you have to get transferred, explain your problem or concern again and then hope for the right resolution. But if you must know how to bypass the system and go to a live person, most phone lines will route you to a live person by pressing "0" repeatedly when asked for your information. It does not mean that you will get to talk to someone any quicker though. You are still going to have to wait your turn.

What is call monitoring?

Call monitoring is a way that call centers, both inbound and outbound, use to make sure that their quality control standards are being adhered to. It is important for every customer service agent to be periodically monitored for quality assurance purposes. The calls let the supervisors know when the agent is doing a good job, a great job or a very bad job. If there were no call monitoring in a call center then the customer service agents could deviate from their scripted comments and say whatever it is that they wish. That might not work out so well for the company, especially if the customer service agent were having a bad day.

What if the customer service agent in a call center cannot help me?

If you call into a call center and the first person on the phone cannot help you with your problem then it is perfectly acceptable to ask for a supervisor. If the supervisor cannot help you with the problem then you continue up the chain of command. If you still have not received any resolution you can always write the office of the President of the company.

By Business Editor