There are several different kinds of call center and we need to consider the needs of every stakeholder when implementing a solution to offer a specific set of services. Since today we all use call centers in one way or another, such an analysis is crucial to the successful deployment of a solution.

This might seem a strange question but there is a simple answer. We all do. We are all consumers of call center services in one way or another. If we consider the question in more detail, we might also think of the people who work in them and those who manage and deploy such solutions in the first place. The end result is that we have a clear ecosystem of consumers of call center services – both external and internal.

This is a crucial question, however. Call centers must be designed from the perspective of all users – the agents and operators and the people who either call in or are called - and the needs of users and agents alike are constantly evolving. In this series of articles we’ll consider how different stakeholder needs can be satisfied with the flexibility and agility to ensure that future needs can also be accommodated. To get things started, let’s think of a number of different cases that call for different capabilities and operational requirements in order to define present a form of classification or taxonomy.

Let’s start with the obvious. Of course, many call centers are deployed in commercial environments. They are a crucial way to service the needs of many thousands of actual and potential customers. Such call centers are now the effective link between consumer and provider, whether the service is a utility or whether it’s a product being acquired. But as consumers increasingly move to online purchasing, the need for contact with an individual can be overlooked. The call center must play an integrated part of the consumption experience, becoming a seamless part of the process. This means we have two basic commercial call center types – those to support services such as utilities or insurance, and those that support online channels and online merchants.

But we also have call centers whose purpose is to provide technical support and deal with warranty issues. These are the support call centers, which are contacted when customers need help. And, there are public services that must provide essentially the same function – help with tax issues or help with medical services, for example. Support call centers have a range of widely differing needs, depending on the urgency of the issue and the priority that it is given.

There are also call centers that work in the other direction – agents are tasked with calling out to consumers or businesses and they generally have to operate under different pressures. We can define this category as outbound call centers and their needs can be considered as particularly distinctive.

The first place to start when thinking about call center requirements is to think of what kind of call center it is designed to be. We have four basic kinds to consider, according to our classification:

• Service call centers
• Retail call centers
• Support call centers
• Outbound call centers

The second aspect to consider is the target market. The focus can be either on servicing the needs of businesses that is, B2B, or on consumers, or B2C. Again, these have different needs – outbound B2B is different from outbound B2C.

jtel is a vendor of call centers that meet the needs of all cases, requirements and stakeholders. We understand the different challenges that face providers of B2B and B2C call centers, which can be particularly in the outbound category. In this series of articles, we’ll discuss these different situations and show how our solutions can help deliver outstanding call center capabilities to suit any environment and need. If you can’t wait to learn more, contact us today!