Companies across industries understand the importance of customer service. However, they are already asking their employees to fill many different roles, which takes away the time they need to spend on their core business tasks.
This is why many companies outsource their customer service processes in the form of call center services and help desks. Today, we will look at outsourcing call center services and help desk services so you can better understand which is right for you.
What is a Call Center?
A call center is a team of agents that handle your company’s phone-based aspect of customer service. This includes both inbound and outbound calls to customers to address their inquiries, resolve any concerns they might have, and even handle sales calls, among other things. Now that we know what a call center is, let’s look at some of the different types of call centers.
Types of Call Centers
BPO call centers handle the day-to-day customer complaints and inquiries. Such call centers usually fall into one of the following types:
– Inbound — they handle all incoming customer calls
– Outbound — this team calls the customers
– Automated — an unmanned call center that relies on auto-agents
When exploring what a BPO is in a call center, we see that they are categorized depending on where they are based:
– Onshore — a call center is located within your country
– Nearshore — a call center is located outside your country
– Offshore — a call center is located in a more distant region of the globe
Primary Functions of a Call Center
While call centers are usually associated with cold calls and conflict resolution, they can serve many different functions. Outbound calls can help you enter new markets and keep in touch with current customers. Inbound calls can be used as upsell opportunities or to introduce new products. Another interesting function is research. You can get some interesting insights into your operations by paying attention to the common concerns or inquiries of your clients.
What is a Help Desk Outsourcing Service?
The help desk is a single point of contact that handles all of your company’s internal and external inquiries. It organizes customer communication to help your business respond to customers quicker and more effectively.
What separated the help desk from the call center is that the help desk is more reactionary and focuses on inbound customer interactions. It is manned by agents with IT backgrounds who do not perform any sales-related tasks, such as trying to upsell products or services, offering promotions, and many other things.
Functions of a Help Desk Outsourcing Service
The function of the help desk will depend on how you use it. If you choose to outsource help desk services, the agents will most likely focus on accommodating tech-related customer concerns like app or website glitches. If you want to set up a help desk for your employees, the agents will still provide the above-mentioned services but will also try to prevent employee downtime, monitor potential tech-related risks, and do many other activities.
Benefits of Hiring a Help Desk Outsourcing Service
Outsourcing help desk services are popular because of all the benefits it brings businesses. Let’s take a look at some of the main ones:
Reduced Operating Costs. There is no need to set up and maintain a facility or absorb other overhead costs
Faster Response Time. BPO companies have a rigorous training process for their employees which allows them to respond faster to inquires
Access to Tech Experts. Let’s face it, recruiting can be expensive. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the average cost per hire as of 2016 is $4,129. Outsourcing can help you access top-notch talent at a fraction of the price.
More Time for Core Business Processes. You will have more time to focus on your core business tasks because the outsourced agent will manage the help desk.
Fast tech BPO services allow companies to delegate repetitive administrative tasks, leading to increased productivity and better focus on core business operations.
Find Out Which BPO Service Best Suits Your Needs With Pexly
In this article, we looked extensively at what a call center BPO is and how it differs from a help desk. If you need help deciding which one is right for you, we would be glad to walk you through all of the differences and answer any questions you might have about customer service in BPO. We have extensive experience actualizing projects of various sizes and complexities, and we are confident that we can find the right solution for you.
Contact us today to learn about how we can help you!
