subject: Busting The Myths Of A Call Center Job [print this page] The popularity of a call center job is not new. We are all acquainted with the terms associated with it but what we really do not know what this job is all about. What are the prerequisites for such job, its nature of work and its benefits? This article hopes to shed some light on the matter as it delves into the world of a call center.
A call center job requires you to do customer service tasks on a remote basis using latest technologies. This is broadly classified into inbound and outbound calls. In the former, calls are received and the latter involves making of calls. A call center job can be home-based but most of them have an on-site location.
The business process outsourcing industry mostly caters to services such as airlines, credit card companies, cellular service companies and cable and internet providers. It is also popularly employed by firms who outsource their customer care services to a call center to save on resources. Although the call center industry has a world-wide existence, India has been a destination of choice for many companies availing the BPO service.
In general, a call center job involves working in a casual manner inside a professional set up. They are mostly centrally air-conditioned and have a cafeteria. There are a few call centers even boast of an in-house gym and other entertainment facilities for the employees. As a call center works 24*7, they are required to provide shuttle services to their employees.
A call center handling outbound customer services places calls using a database of contacts and some form of a pre-written script. This is also called telemarketing. An outbound call center may be involved in direct sales jobs like promoting a product or a service, or in other cases, they may be used to fix appointments which are followed up by sales representatives. Nowadays, an outbound call center also offers services such as cross-selling, lead generation or voice broadcasting.
An inbound call center, on the other hand, employs agents to answer queries from existing customers. Unlike the monotonous nature of the outbound call center, an inbound call center workers job is unpredictable. The surprise element in this job is the uncertainty about the caller, the nature of the problem and the search for its possible solutions. Hence it is of absolute necessity for an agent to have an in-depth knowledge of the products and parameters of the company. An inbound call center may offer various services such as helpdesk solutions, inquiry handling, chat or email support.
A call center worker can also be referred to as a Customer Service Specialist or a Customer Care Executive. This job is often described as one where an employee is required to sit and speak on the phone for long shifts. But there is more it than what meets the eye. Calling people with the same script or hearing complaints and troubleshooting a gadget on a daily basis takes a lot. Under no circumstances can a call centre agent lose his/her patience or temper with the callers.
But saying all these, a call centre job has its own benefits. It provides an exposure to people interested in public relations or mass media. A call center job requires little or no experience as a prerequisite. Although the starting salary is not that high but it often doubles in quick time when a call centre agent gets promoted to supervisor or team leader.
