Although both of these terms seem to be similar, both of them have some key differences. Many entrepreneurs often get confused about whether to choose a contact center or a call center. If you are going to choose any one of these, then this is the right article for you. So keep on reading:
What is a Contact center:
Employees working in a contact center manage customer interaction & provide service as well. They handle communication over various channels like Phone calls, E-mails, Social handles etc. In other words, contact center employees handle inbound, outbound and digital channel customers.
These contact centers use cloud/internet-based services to communicate and provide effective solutions. All the channels through which they communicate are integrated with one single system. Both customer service representatives and customers can interact seamlessly without facing any disruption in between. Since customers do not face any issues while interacting, they prefer to connect according to their preference and comfort. Results of which are great customer comfort, good conversations and excellent customer satisfaction ratio.
What is a call center?
The main channel of communication for a call center is phone calls. Call centers usually take care of incoming and outgoing calls. Unlike contact centers, call centers work through an on-premise facility to interact with customers looking out for solutions.
A major drawback of traditional call centers is that they do not use any digital or social channels to communicate. This restricts the customers to choose whatever their preferred channel is and rather simply stick to phone calls. The image that call centers usually have is longer phone call ques which aren’t actually favoured by most of the customers.
Difference between the two:
Communication channel:
Call centers usually interact using phone services whereas contact centers on the other hand, use digital channels too. These assist the customers to interact with each way possible. This saves a customers time to wait in longer call ques and instead get instant response from the service department.
Miss no opportunity
Chances for Call center agents to remain uninformed about any missed calls by customers is relatively high. Likewise interaction remains a bit congested too. While with contact centers, interacting with the customers is relatively easy. Also, with smart cloud services, agents can interact with customers without using phone calls too. They need not call customers and convey special offers and promotion deals. Rather, simply send them a message and stay connected.
Database with call & contact center
Contact center uses cloud services which are integrated with their systems. So whenever a customer call comes, the details get stored in the system. Details like customer name, phone number, preferences, language preference, problem areas etc get stored. This, on the other hand, helps to understand the customer in a better way. This is not possible with the traditional setup used by call centers
What will you choose? Call center or Contact center
A communication channel should be strong enough to support customer interaction. Customers should not struggle to get answers for their queries at any point of time. Call centers and contact centers have their own set of benefits as well as drawbacks. It is you who should decide what to choose according to your business demands.
