By Nextiva blog

What is a call center?

A call center is an office dedicated to handling inbound and outbound calls in a business to communicate with customers, leads, or even internal staff. Companies use call centers for telemarketing, customer support, and information gathering.

Call center limit conversations to voice communication. They can handle inbound and outbound calls. The staff that initiates or receives calls are referred to as “agents” or “representatives.” They focus on meeting key business objectives through the phone system.

There are two types of technologies that power call centers:

On-Premises PBX: A Private Branch Exchange (PBX) is typically found within a traditional call center. It relies on actual hardware—like desk phones and wires—to work, and needs to be professionally set-up in an office. Depending on the age of the system, the phones can be proprietary and difficult to support.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP): Inbound and outbound calls made through a cloud phone system are handled differently and use different equipment. They use an internet connection (like Wi-Fi), rather than relying on a strong cellular connection. This means calls are often of better quality. Plus, they use software that can be installed on existing devices, rather than installing brand new lines.

What is a contact center?

A contact center is similar to a call center. The only difference? A contact center handles several digital channels of communication, including:

Live chat
Email
Support tickets
SMS/Text Messages
Phone calls

A contact center is sometimes known as an omnichannel contact center because customers can contact you through more than one channel.

A contact center is generally adopted as a core business strategy. With a comprehensive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy, you can streamline and improve customer communication. You have their full history available to view alongside their contact information..

Benefits of call centers & contact centers

Call centers and contact centers offer a variety of compelling benefits each. Here, we break down the key benefits and functions of each type of support operation.

Call center benefits

1) Ability to handle a high volume of calls.
Arguably the biggest benefit of call centers is that they can handle a large influx of phone calls. Modern VoIP technology has a stronger and more reliable connection than cellular lines.

2) Call centers for remote teams.
Another huge advantage of call centers is that VoIP systems work great in an office, at home, or even in a coworking space.

When employees have autonomy for where they work, their happiness This trend is likely to become more crucial to consider as approximately half of companies embrace remote work.

Your agents can be on the other side of the world, and there aren’t any extra charges to speak with customers via your call center. You just need a hosted PBX system to facilitate it.

3) Call analytics.
Most platforms allow access to in-depth analytics because call center software only handles voice. Call-centric analytics assist with workforce management. You can get detailed information about your calls, including the real-time performance of agents and calling trends.

Real-time analytics enables your team to plan resources effectively.