Unions and their allies in the General Assembly have cleared a first hurdle for legislation setting new rules for how telephone call centers are staffed.


The legislation, which tries to halt job losses, was denounced by phone companies that as an attempt to micromanage their business.

The legislation would require telephone company employees to identify the city, state and country where they work when they call customers for repairs or services or when they are called.

If the employee is not in Connecticut, the customer can be transferred to a call center in the state when possible.

In addition, the state Department of Information Technology, when buying products or services, would be required to give preference to telecommunications companies with a high percentage of service calls directed to in-state call centers.

Call centers deserve all the praise and kudos to create almost a utopian state for organizations. Media, insurance, finance, accounting, healthcare etc. every sphere of industry has gained from the expertise and technology of BPO. They have saved time, enhanced the quality of customer service and increased the productivity when deployed.

Outsourcing has become a household name for everyone now. Call center operates on the basis of function, location and volume. The set up can be either in house or based at the remote server of service provider which can be accessed from your desktop. Call center leaves no stone unturned to meet customer service demands, information requests and technical aid which results in increased benefits and maximum return on investments. You save extra costs to hire a full team in house, to train them and setting up a complete infrastructure for them. You do not have to focus your energies and concentration on least important management issues. You spare efforts, time and money for real issues related to your business.

Large, small or medium businesses are taking help of contact centers to enhance the efficiency of services and getting in touch with their customer base.  The nature of call centers business
is highly specialized and skillful.  Be it for promotional product, service, business development or lead generation, call centers are better than the best method to take the route to advancement and success for any business and industry specific sphere. The employees of contact centers are highly skillful and proficient in English. Language, time and geographical boundaries cease to exist when it comes to call center services.

Generally contact centers can be classified in two major parts- Inbound and Outbound. Inbound call center specialize in answering responses related to product or services. Their services can minimize the need of skilled manpower with the help of technical support. The services provided by inbound centers are telephone communication, live chat, instant messaging, email and faxing. An outbound call center takes care of reach of your product through telemarketing. The advanced features such as Predictive Dialer, Call Tracking & Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Call Detail Record (CDR) Reporting, Call Detail Record (CDR) Reporting and Real Time Telemetry help to maintain the quality of services provided by offshore call centers.

Call Center industry has been on an exponential growth rate and expanding from mere offering customers oriented support to much more comprehensive strategic restructuring service providers. From wide array of services, quality technology, infrastructure; call center outsourcing has evolved in a larger than life way but the only thing which has remained in- situ is their backbone that is their customer representatives. Call center deploys highly qualified and skilled manpower to ensure seamless operations. Strict schedules, rigorous disciplines and pressurized atmosphere lead to the attrition of agents. Keep them motivated and dedicated long enough is what call centers struggle about most.

To keep your workforce on the wheels and motivated try these sure shots success formulas:
1) Give them their due recognition for their work. This will help them to improve their work and develop a healthy competition. A pat on back or just two words ‘Well done’ can make them loyal worker. A face to face approach or personal ‘Thank You’ has magical aura around it.

2) A candid atmosphere and freewheeling no holds barred conversation between supervisors and agents can vent up work frustrations and negative feelings. Timely sports camps can also be good getaways for your agents.

3) Call centers offer great compensations and salary to the employees. To prevent the job hopping tendency, your invested money and efforts, you should develop a framework of consistent quality approach. Cultivate their skills and give them opportunities to grow professionally.

4) Improve and fill the gaping holes the communication between management and agents. Try to implement a communication draft where problems, issues and tiffs should be addressed and solutions encouraged. Make team meetings regular and fun things.

5) A supervisor should know the positive and negative traits of his team. He should try to bring the strengths more strongly. They should be part of annual management surveys and goals.

6) The last but the most important part is to deal with your always unmotivated staff members who can ruin the overall efforts you have done. Try to talk to them and figure out the key problems. Force them to make a decision about a project. This can help them to realize the responsibility a work place holds.

An American call center company located in Ottawa is slowly laying off hundreds of workers.

Convergys tells CTV News, 600 employees remain but another 400 will be cut by April 18th.

The company is moving the work to the Philippines.


Operations manager Paul Carr says there is no sign of a new contract in Ottawa to provide work for their employees.

They have been holding job fairs at their Heron Road offices where other call center companies have come to see who they might hire.

The city of Ottawa recently passed a motion urging city staff to see what could be done to keep the jobs in Ottawa.

Is there a way to actually – gasp – improve the level of customer service in the call center?

How does one normally improve a procedure? Some folks like to put it in the hands of experts. In this case that might mean call center outsourcing.

By adding customer relationship management to call center customer service, businesses are finding success with outsourcing. Many are keen to reduce costs and provide better service in a down economy.

But this doesn't have to be the case. One thing keeping quality up in the outsourcing sector is a renewed focus on specialization. "If businesses could adequately handle their customer service duties, customer service outsourcing would be a non-issue. "As operating budgets continue to tighten, leaving the responsibility to expert is logical."

It’s the year 2010. Thinking ahead, many things in business have changed and will continue to change as technology advances and businesses become more competitive and global. Business outsourcing, both domestically and internationally, is a reality and frequently is a smart and cost efficient decision for many businesses regardless of their size, since they realize certain services are not their core business and would be better outsourced to another agent. One such frequently outsourced service is the business call center.

However, businesses need to always carefully consider what services they should outsource. Call centers are intrinsic parts of many businesses, but they can be difficult to operate and maintain. Most companies choose to outsource the service of a Call Center considering all the logistics needed to operate a successful one: the amount of space needed, the expensive phone equipment needed, the support staff needed to back-up and service the equipment, and all those important operators and telemarketers, customer service support professionals and other layers of management needed to ensure all is running smoothly, and hopefully at a profit.
Many companies are utilizing the services of a professional Call Center. When they choose an industry leader, like 1-800 We Answer, they’re engaging in domestic outsourcing at its best. Choosing a US-based call center is a both a business-savvy and customer-friendly option. The call center that your company ultimately chooses should prove to you that they are constantly thinking ahead, upgrading their equipment, adding support staff, and providing many cost-efficient services to their diverse client base. They should believe in partnering with their valuable clients to get them the results and cost savings they are seeking.

Forward thinking call centers provide services ranging from answering service, outbound telemarketing, voicemail service, fax to e-mail service, to mail receiving, to business systems installation of phones. Their installation staff might handle all the aspects of phone systems installation, from running cables, to creating an entire infrastructure for your business, to the planning and purchase of telecommunication equipment.

A call center can support and also help your sales force by making telemarketing calls, making follow-up calls, handling and recording incoming calls that come in requesting more company or product information, and even creating an enquiry log for you. As a result, a call center then becomes an extension of your sales force. A call center also allows your national or international clients the ability to pick-up their phones and call your company at any hour since when you’re a progressive company and not a traditional 9-5pm company, you are better poised to grow your company. Call centers such as 1-800 We Answer never closes and are available whenever you need them; after-hours, 24/7, 365-days a year if need be.

Sure customers and prospects can e-mail your company at any hour. Frankly speaking, isn’t it a pleasure to be able to place a phone a call to the company of your choice,  and be able to speak with a live and pleasant professional who’s there to help you at any hour , on any day of the week?  Find a call center who makes it a point to only hire well spoken operators and telemarketers who have excellent communication skills. These important staffers should be articulate, well trained and thoroughly screened. The call answering service that you hire should realize that the voice callers hear truly matters.  

Thinking past 2010, it’s progressive thinking to allow a call center to be an important part of your business plan as you advance your business. When you team-up with the right call center partner, they will give you the added sales and customer service support you need to move your business forward. They also should realize that client satisfaction, both now and forever, is the most important ingredient to keep you in business, as well as growing it. A professional Call Center allows you to beef-up, build and better support your company without incurring the major expense of having an expensive call center or hiring all the staff needed to provide the all services they offer. Professionals like 1-800 We Answer will provide the space needed, the skilled staff and the new technology necessary to help your business profitably advance itself.