The Evolution of Call Center
It is tremendous how call centers are creating a better customer-company relationship. With modern technologies and advancements, it is improving even more. Call centers are the crucial unit of an organization as they are the one who handles the customer and addresses them with their solutions.
It is terrific how contact centers have managed customer service through the typical calling process: inbound calls and outbound calls. Call centers are in high demand as they are profoundly able to look after the customer journey in real-time. Today, cloud technology and multiple channels, together with phone calls, live chats, and other communication channels, have refined customer engagement.
Considering the significant demand for call centers, this editorial has been composed to look back at the history and get acquainted with where this call center culture started and how it is evolving over the years.
The Dawn of the Call Center- the 1960s to 1980s
The major asset for the call centers is the device through which the contact center agent has their conversation with the customer. So, it all started with a telephone. The telephone was invented and presented to the world in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. Followed this, telephone switchboards were invented in 1894, then after this Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) was introduced in 1960, which brought the idea of the call center.
During the 1960s, the Private Automated Business Exchange (PABX) system came into the league in England, and then PABX was introduced as an automated telephone switching system in private enterprises. The primary objective of this system was to offer services for subscriptions and travel industries.
PABX systems started including ACD technology, which developed a wide-range contact center. In 1965, the first event of a call center using GEC PABX 4 ACD was built in England at Birmingham Press and Mail.
By the 1970s, the elevation of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) was implemented in the call centers. This technology allowed a computer (automated system) to interact with callers through voice and so on.
In the 1980s, the name call center became promptly popular among the masses, and after the great progress, the outbound dialer was proposed into the industry; this inclusion allowed more sales and marketing for the call centers. This is how it got expanded and tended to grow more computer integrated.
The Internet Era- 1980s to 1990s
During the 1980s till 1990s, the call center industry grew dynamically, all thanks to the Internet. The Internet helped the business industry in many ways. Giving call centers the facility to get enacted with multiple communication channels that included chats and various other threads that handled complaints, queries, feedback, etc.
Since the call center industry began leveraging several other tactics, the call center was started as a contact center (as there were many other ways to communicate rather than just phone calls).
In the 1990s, online chat turned more famous, facilitating online webchat possible. Through this time, CRM software was also in progress to improve the business system. The businesses hailed all these, and it marked the commencement of a new level of providing a better customer experience to the people.
By the 1990s, emails also stepped in, adding a layer of qualification for the businesses. Emails added the extra factor in the communication approach, giving a great interaction for the customers worldwide.
The growth of the Call Center- 1990s to 2000s
By this time, organizations started implementing different approaches and experimenting with the working techniques. They started taking advantage of all the tricks and techniques available at that time. Marketers started ads and other practices, but they lacked metrics of how to calculate and analyze things. This led the companies to struggle to meet up the demands and other aspects of the customers.
However, technology got enhancing over time. It allowed businesses to try different operations and innovations that helped them grow in the call center forte, the customer support system improved, and agents answered the calls more efficiently.
The Private Branch Exchange (PBX), a private telephone network in the companies, maintained its improvements. These improvements lead to cost-savings for internal phone calls and much more. Then from the 1990s to the early 2000s, cloud technologies become popular.
Through the early 2000s, social media and mobile use were at the peak. Social media offered a new platform for the customers to get into the products or the services, and mobile phones encouraged it, taking it to a whole new level and vice-versa.
The Present Scenario
In 2007, the first-ever iPhone was introduced, making the communication system way more accessible. The switch from simple mobile phones to smartphones favored a lot, making it easier for both company and the customer. By then, they had various modes to get in touch and enjoy the growth.
By 2011, Workforce Optimization (WFO) solutions were initiated. This initiative helped the call center agents manage their time and create a better structure for their calls.
In 2014, software solutions were designed to overhaul the websites, email, mobile/phone, social media platforms, text messages, and other channels. The upgrades are continuously taking place, making the call center services one of the most prominent departments for a perfect business strategy. The excellence of call centers kept growing vividly, and it boosted the culture of outsourcing. Today, business outsources their customer services to a reliable outsourcing company that handles the call operations on the company behalf.
The Promising Future of the Call Center
As you see, call centers evolved rapidly and composedly. The rise of call centers is truly appreciating today. With AI bots and other technologies, it is growing much more, making call centers more convenient and accessible. Looking at the crucial contribution of call centers, it is undeniably certain that call centers are here to survive, and it will continue ruling with their exceptional services.
For better service, call centers are now using multiple approaches to know the customer’s feedback. This includes asking the customer’s review via email or text messages, ratings, surveys, and many more. Customer satisfaction is monitored through how quickly an agent answered the phone and gave a response, and so on.
Call centers started with a minimal asset, and now it has stretched incredibly. Today, call centers have become the core part of any business, regardless of their size and niche. The history of the call center has witnessed a lot of transformations in both operational developments and technological advancement, and all these transformations have made what the call center is today.
Today, we can access any of the sectors that are probably because of the magnifying work of call center agencies. The covid-19 pandemic made us realize that even a virtual call system can handle customer care services anywhere and anytime.
Outsource Your Call Operations
By now, you may have learned the importance of call centers. Today, no business is lagging, and every organization is searching for a comprehensive, third-party service provider who will take charge to handle their call process, and why not? After all, doing so gives you a lot of flexibility and privilege to focus on either side of the business.
If you are also looking for a credible outsourcing company to hand over your non-core activities, get in touch with us and gain all the information.