Yet, little structured research has been conducted to determine the main driving factors in this industry. accounting, generating statistics, customer service, inventory handling, and so on. The call centers have developed into strategic interaction centers, which integrate all means of communication – such as phone, mail, email, fax, and web chat – in a way it creates a data base, which serves as a source for all different company functions, e.g. Apparently, companies understand the customers to be their most significant asset and hence started to compete on the amount of peripheral service they offer (Datamonitor, 2001). Over the last years, the investment into contact centers has continued to grow. Because of the affect of the contact centers on the customer base and therefore on the financial results of the firm, it is important to understand the major forces prevalent in outsourcing customer contact. Yet, little literature addresses contracting out this division.
The literature agrees upon the importance of the contact between the company and its client base. While some of these domains have been researched quite well, others have been quite neglected. “Outsourcing (…) has been most prevalent in information systems/technology (40%), real estate and physical plant (15%), and administration, human resources, customer service, finance, marketing, sales and transportation (30%)” (Logan, 2000, p.22). In the last years, call centers as business process outsourcing (BPO) providers sprang up like mushrooms. The prevailing trend goes toward outsourcing the customer contact. Especially when it comes to customer service, a well-functioning contact center can turn out to be a powerful weapon in economically tough times. Managing a contact center in these times proves to be a difficult mission, which nevertheless is of high strategic importance. Through the last year, 44% experienced some outages, within the last six months, 32% had to cope with failures (TigerTel/UTR Research Group, n.d./2004). During the current economic slowdown, many companies underwent some breakdowns. The contemporary integrated call center environment is very complex.
#Callcenter industry full#
These range from simple tasks like providing standardized answers to the full customer service including complaint handling and from market research to lead qualification.
#Callcenter industry series#
Today’s call centers fulfill a series of services. Due to the increase in the call volume, call centers evolved as the medium to structure and strategically integrate the telephone contact between the firm and its customers. “97% of business transactions take place over the telephone” (TigerTel/UTR Research Group, n.d./2004, p.3).
In today’s business world, call centers play a very critical role. “Call centers have evolved to become the ‘first line of defense’, at the forefront of modern business” (TigerTel/UTR Research Group, n.d./2004, p.18). 1.1 Introduction to the Call Center IndustryĤ.2.1 Cultural Dimension (Hofstede and Trompenaars)ħ.2.1 Cultural Dimension (Hofstede and Trompenaars)Īppendix: Questionnaire 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction to the Call Center Industry
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