Inbound Call Centers

Inbound call centers can make or break a company’s relationship with its customers, and so it is imperative for companies to have high quality in-house or offshore contact centers. Companies looking to expand their customer support operations can choose to either finding a domestic or offshore outsourcing company, or expanding in-house customer support. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages though, so companies should consider factors like call volumes, budget, and location, among other.

In-house inbound call centers can be expensive and companies can capitalize on the cost savings from outsourcing to offshore inbound call centers. Most companies look to outsourcing to minimize or circumvent high energy costs and to take advantage of the different salary ranges for workers in other countries. A company can choose from several inbound call centers that can offer low cost but high quality services. Also, a company won’t have to worry about employee recruitment – except of course to set standard qualifications – and human resources management since the offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) service provider will take care of those things.

When outsourcing to offshore inbound call centers, a company would only have to set up product or service trainings for the agents, establish quality guidelines, and monitor calls from time to time to calibrate with the service provider in the said quality standards.

Companies in the United States or Europe can choose from a number of outsourcing destinations like India, the Philippines, and China. Several factors can affect a company’s decision of where to outsource, and companies would have to consider the advantages and disadvantages of setting up inbound call centers in a certain country. Four major factors are usually considered when choosing a good spot to set up call center operations: infrastructure, political stability, economic stability, and friendliness of government policies and Special Economic Zones.

Infrastructure is an important factor especially for companies who outsource its customer service or technical support departments from inbound call centers. Having good infrastructure in place can assure companies that their customer relations won’t be marred by unreliable telecommunications and internet connections. Political and economic stability can be considered as one factor since the two are mostly joined at the hip. Political unrest can cause ripples in a country’s economy and vice versa. Favorable government policies in terms of labor and investment, on the other hand, can entice companies to set up shop in Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

Countries also have different strengths with respect to their inbound call centers. The Philippines has a strong affinity to Western cultures and a high English proficiency, while India specializes in IT related services and infrastructure. Companies and countries can mutually gain from this type of business relationship since companies can tap into offshore talent pools at the same time saving money, while countries generate income from inbound call centers, BPOs, and the newly arising industry, KPOs (knowledge process outsourcing). With many countries and service providers to choose from, companies can reasonably find a suitable match for their business and take advantage of the fact that inbound call centers can tailor their services to effectively cater to their clients.