The Key Functions of a Call Center

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Call center customer service agents are occasionally derided by others for having a job that adds little to society. The truth is—and it’s a truth any customer service agent will be able to tell you—that contact centers are crucial now more than ever and fulfill many essential functions. In this article, we discuss the key functions of a call center and explain what they do that’s so important.

What Are Call Centers?

While the term was only coined in 1983, call centers have been around in some form or another since the mid-1900s when they were used for telemarketing. Nowadays, they are associated with a broader range of functions, including sales, customer service, and more.

When many people think of call centers, they first imagine remote sites with banks of agents at gray desks. However, many contact centers are found on-site, located within a particular department of a company’s headquarters.

Types of Call Centers

There are different types of call centers out there whose agents deal with different types of customer service issues. The three main types are:
  • Inbound
    These deal solely with fielding incoming calls. Their agents are usually customer service-focused, providing such services as technical support and inquiries resolution.
    1
  • Outbound
    As the name would suggest, these deal with placing outgoing calls instead. Agents at these centers may make cold calls for sales purposes; others might chase up existing customers.
    2
  • Blended
    These combine both of the above approaches, with agents fielding incoming calls and placing outgoing ones. This means that agents can get in touch with customers who have reached out previously.
    3

Call Center vs Contact Center

The terms “call center” and “contact center” are often used interchangeably; however, strictly speaking, there is an important difference between the services they provide. Where the former type pretty much only uses the telephone to communicate with customers, the latter uses a broad range of communication channels, including phone, text, email, and instant messaging. Agents must be comfortable providing customer service across all these channels.

How Do Call Centers Work?

For the most part, these centers are run by telemarketers, computer help desks, charities, online traders, and so on. Such businesses use them to deal with customer queries or to reach out to potential clients to advertise goods and services.

In the case of an inbound call center, calls are received and answered by customer service agents. Typically, these agents will deal with a high daily volume of phone conversations. If the agent is not able to deal with the customer’s particular problem, it may be escalated to someone further up the chain of command.

Agents at outbound contact centers reach out to customers on behalf of the company. This might be to chase up leads, schedule appointments, market goods and services, and more.

What Is the Purpose of a Call Center?

The purpose of a call center depends on its type. The answer to that question will dictate the role it fills.
Inbound call centers mostly help to resolve customer queries and provide technical support. For example, a customer service agent working for an online bank may help to resolve issues regarding the company’s online banking application. Many customers prefer receiving help over the phone as opposed to being sent a long, confusing email. Receiving assistance in real-time often resolves the issue much faster.
Outbound contact center agents place calls either for telemarketing purposes or to chase up existing customers. Agents may survey customers on behalf of the company. This is useful, as customer feedback is one of the most important KPIs for customer service-focused businesses.
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What Are the Functions of Call Center Software?

Regardless of the type of call center in question, call center software plays a crucial role in efficient, productive customer service agents. Without this software, the key functions of call centers would not be achieved as readily by their agents.

Here are examples of the types of features many businesses use to enhance their service. Here at Selmo, we offer these services to our customers—customers who have all since noticed a marked increase in call center performance:
1
Analytics
helps you to monitor and analyze important KPIs, giving you an idea of what aspects of their performance your agents need to work on.
2
Scripting
allows you to write up scripts for your agents, making it easier to create a standardized quality of performance.
3
Monitoring
makes it easier for supervisory staff to track customer service agent performance for training and provide assistance during live conversations where necessary.
4
Call recording
can prove a useful tool for training new starts and providing targeted agent feedback.
With Selmo, these are just a few of the useful tools you will have at your disposal.

Key Functions of a Call Center

So, having discussed what contact centers are, how they work, and what their purpose is, the question remains: what are the main functions of call centers? In this section, we take a look at six crucial call center functions and discuss the benefits they can have for businesses.

To discover why you may want to consider establishing a contact center department for your own business, read on!

The Evolution of Call Center Functions

A contact center’s main priority is to deliver astounding customer service around the clock by fostering efficient, productive agents. Call center managers are constantly looking for ways to give their service an edge over others and enhance the performance of their agents. This means that the contact center industry strives for evolution and change. 

As such, call center functions are always developing and changing. Experienced managers know to keep a close eye on the market, watching out for useful developments in software and techniques that might help them improve their performance and deliver outstanding customer service.
Here at Selmo
We pride ourselves on offering state-of-the-art call center services. If you want to make sure that your call center remains one step ahead of the rest and stays relevant in today’s rapidly changing market, reach out today!

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