Call Center Pricing

2007-10-15 12:53:47

( Telephony )



Roles and Activities of a Call Center

A business organization, especially one that is undergoing rapid expansion, receives a lot of transactions over the phone. While phone calls to and from customers generate your sales, these are very time-consuming and involve a lot of manpower. Handling your own phone calls keeps you from performing vital survival functions such as strategic planning and development of new products.

Call centers help free up your organization from day-to-day tasks of receiving and taking calls from customers. Each customer call may last at least five minutes, and with huge call volumes each day, you will save tremendous amounts of time by outsourcing to a call center.

Often called customer care representatives, people who work in call centers have expertise to handle practically all customer concerns, such as inquiries, complaints, reserving, ordering, payments, and returns.

Call Center Options for Business

You have the option of operating your own call center to handle all your in-bound and out-bound calls. This option will involve a lot of capital on your part, to finance the high technological and manpower requirements of a call center.

On the other hand, you can also use virtual call centers which may either be located within the country or even across the globe. You may choose to contract with a call center which is dedicated only to your company's business, or have a shared set-up where the call center may also handle the transactions of other firms.

Factors Affecting Call Center Pricing

Unless you have a lot of capital and resources to set up your own call center, you may find it more feasible to outsource your customer care activities with a virtual call center. You will want to find a call center that can deliver the various customer care services at the least possible cost.

Call center pricing varies between providers, and depends largely on the type of arrangement you have contracted. You may be paying the call center on a per-call or per-hour basis. The size and number of shifts of the team that will handle your calls will also affect call center pricing.

The complexity of the functions that you are assigning the call center will also determine the costs. The more functions you are delegating, the higher will be the call center pricing. Telemarketing and order processing functions generally cost more than handling inquiries and complaints. This is because virtual telemarketers earn commissions aside from basic salaries.

Call center pricing also includes expenses for set-up, programming, agent training, and specialized services. Some call centers also set a flat or minimum rate based on either call volume or number of hours.


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