As your business grows or you expand into other areas, the time may very well come when assembling a dedicated call center to handle customer care just makes good business sense. Making this decision comes with its own set of subsequent considerations – namely whether you should keep the task of handling incoming and outgoing calls in-house or outsource it to an English call center. If you’re on the fence, here are a few pros and cons of hosting your own vs. using an outsourced call center.

In-House Call Center

Pros

Branding – Having your own employees handling calls ensures a more consistent branded experience. Keep in mind, however, that some outsourced call centers offer dedicated agents who can represent your brand just as if they were on your payroll.

Security – Keeping call center activities in-house can seem like a good idea from a data security standpoint, since no external parties will be handling or accessing confidential customer files and other sensitive information. If you find a reputable outsourced call center, however, this concern can be easily put to rest.

Cons

Cost – Running your own call center comes with a hefty price tag. There’s equipment to purchase and maintain, employees to pay and overhead to worry about. In fact, it’s an expense many businesses don’t realize until it’s too late.

Maintenance – Setting up an on-site call center is only part of the game. There’s also ongoing training of employees and constant maintenance of equipment to have to worry about.

Business Continuity Risk – What would happen in the event of a system outage or other type of disaster? If your call center is part of your internal operations, it too would be affected, which means your customers would have nowhere to turn for support.

Outsourced Call Center

Pros

Cost-Effective – One of the biggest reasons businesses choose an outsourced call center is because it’s much more cost-effective than hosting one in-house. There’s no overhead, expensive equipment to purchase or employees to train and pay.

Productivity – When you have an external party handling the task of incoming and/or outgoing calls, your staffed employees can focus their efforts and skills on core business functions, such as increasing sales or improving internal operations.

Scalability – What will happen when you run that huge promotion next month? Will your internal staff be able to handle the influx in calls? It’s not so easy to hire additional staff and train them at the drop of a hat. Likewise, when call volume decreases, you’ll have to let people go. With a call center, you can instantly scale up or down on-demand based on needs.

Reduced Risk – By outsourcing your call center activities, you effectively distribute the risk so that should something unforeseen happen your customers will not suffer as a result.

Cons

Language Issues – It’s a common misconception that outsourced call centers are all based in non-English speaking countries. To the contrary, enlisting the services of an English call center is much easier and more accessible than you may think. For instance, agents based in the Philippines are culturally well-suited to the English-speaking service sector due to their neutral accent.

Confidentiality – Many business owners are concerned about the risk associated with sharing sensitive information with external parties. If you choose an established outsourced call center with an existing reputation for handling confidential materials with the utmost care, this issue is easily resolved.

As you can see, there are more advantages than disadvantages to working with an outsourced English call center. To learn more or to receive a free, no-obligation quote, we invite you to contact us today.