The world of customer service is as varied as it is huge, and it is always changing. Since its inception, customer service industry has gone through one transition after another and this trend doesn’t seem like coming to an end. Given the rate of changes, it has become harder for entrepreneurs to identify a call center outsourcing company that will work well for them.
Formerly, most businessmen resorted to voice support and it became the staple of customer care industry. But now, with many companies catering to a global audience and integrating newer technologies ever so often, employing voice support alone does not cut it anymore. It is best to keep an open mind about your customer service approach and select the call center outsourcing company that meets your requirements while keeping one thing in mind.
Breaking down Call Centers, Contact Centers and IP Contact Centers
The one thing that you need to keep in mind while selecting a customer care service is its ‘viability’ in your line of work. The only way you can know about its viability is by learning about the types of services offered by different customer support centers. Have a look below for better understanding:
Call Centers – Conventional and probably most reliable, call centers have stayed synonymous with customer service operations for a very long time. Call centers provide their services in two forms: outbound and inbound. Inbound services are those services, in which, a customer calls with a query and resolution is provided over the call. On the other hand, outbound services are generally used for lead generation and promotion.
Contact Centers – Contact centers provide voice support along with email and live chat support. More often than not, contact centers have a blended process, in which, a customer care representative provides information and resolves query by using either voice (inbound or outbound) or by data (email and voice support), depending on the contact mode of the customers. Whether you want to outsource email support or chat support, you should always get in touch with a contact center.
IP Contact Centers – IP Contact Centers are very much like the above mentioned contact centers with one major difference. Unlike, regular contact centers, IP based contact centers eliminate the need for a centralized call center and allow the call to be routed to people sitting at different locations in the world. This type of call center solution is versatile and prevents interruption of operations when connection to a particular IP fails.
Viability should be the key selection parameter before making a selection between any of the above mentioned services. Explore your business first, understand your requirements and only then choose your preferred mode of imparting customer service.