Customer service is the backbone of any business, but building an in-house support team can be costly and time-consuming.
On average, a call center employee costs between $10K and $21K. Many organizations are also challenged by agent staff shortages, which can represent up to 95% of contact center costs.
This is where call center outsourcing helps.
Now, this could mean hiring a vendor or using conversational AI voice agents or advanced AI receptionists that can take away the weight of customer management off your shoulder.
Whether you’re a small business, a startup or an experienced entrepreneur, call centre outsourcing allows you to focus your energy and resources on scaling your business without having to build an in-house support team.
This ultimate guide will help you get a closer look at what call center outsourcing is, how it works and ways it can help your business scale your operations.
AI’s emergence in call centers
Artificial intelligence tools in the contact center are worth $1.8 billion in 2023 and are expected to reach $17.05 billion by 2032.
The rise of generative AI helps businesses utilize machine learning to create human-like interactions. Garter forecasts conversational artificial intelligence (AI) deployment in call centers will reduce agent labor cost by $80 billion in 2026., helping your human agents focus on calls that need their undivided attention.
Use of AI in call centers represents convergence of technology and customer service. It’s not just about technology, but a change in mindset. 9 out of 10 companies are investing in AI-driven personalisation and voice-bots to free up human agents for handling complex issues.
AI-driven platforms like Synthflow leverages machine learning and natural language processing to automate and enhance call center operations. You can choose from hundreds of voices, accents and languages that provide personalized, quick, and accurate resolution to your queries at 1/4th the price of a human agent.
Get started with Synthflow
What is Contact or Call Center Outsourcing?
Call center outsourcing means handing over your customer support tasks to a third-party service provider, to handle incoming and outgoing calls, surveys and other customer service activities on your behalf.
Generally, call center outsourcing services are divided into two separate categories:
- Inbound calls: An inbound call center will include calls made by customers to your organization. This can consist of technical support, customer support and other customer calls placed to your organization.
- Outbound calls: In contrast, an outbound call center will do customer outreach on your behalf. This could include cold-calling potential leads, taking customer surveys, or conveying marketing offers focused on building customer relationships.
Now that you have decided which part of your call center you want to outsource, it’s time to choose your outsourcing partner. There are three types of outsourcing available to modern business:
- Onshore outsourcing involves delegating business processes to companies within the same country.
- Nearshore outsourcing refers to outsourcing to neighbouring or nearby countries, often sharing similar time zones and cultural similarities.
- Offshore outsourcing entails hiring external firms in distant countries, usually to reduce costs, despite potential challenges in communication and time zone differences.
- The best option would be to hire an AI voice agent. It eliminates all communicational challenges and reputational risk at a lesser price than human outsourcing.
Given that customer call center employees engage with customers all day, they know more about customer needs than any other group in your organization. Outsourcing to companies that understand your business’s user demographic and language can help you nail customer experience.
How Does Call Center Outsourcing Work?
From selecting a vendor to setting up operations, outsourcing call centers is a fully-fledged process that requires multiple steps. Let’s go through these steps one by one:
Step 1: Know your needs: Trusting an outside provider to handle your customers is a big deal. Before you can reach out to your partner, make sure you know what you need. Are you looking to outsource inbound or outbound calls? Should the provider be from a local or distant country?
Step 2: Vendor selection: Choose a reliable outsourcing partner with a proven track record in the industry. Evaluate their experience, technology (voice system, CRM, AI tools), and customer reviews to ensure they meet your specific needs.
Step 3 Contract agreement: The contract agreement is critical to maintaining accountability and preventing any misunderstanding. Sign a comprehensive contract outlining the services, pricing model (per-call vs. per-minute) and performance expectations.
Step 4: Knowledge transfer: Provide your selected vendor with a comprehensive knowledge base and customer service training. It’s crucial that your agents not only understand your brand voice and customer service management expectations but also feel connected and aligned with them.
Step 5 Regular reporting and feedback loops: Your service level agreements (SLAs) should already define the estimated response time, resolution rate and other performance metrics, setting clear standards for optimal reporting. You can also gather feedback from your customers and agents to identify areas for improvement.
A Quick Case Study in Contact Center Outsourcing
Companies that outsource customer service have one goal in common–reduced prices and increased operational efficiency while keeping a positive cash flow.
One of those high-growth companies that have benefited from contact center outsourcing is JP Morgan.
The second-biggest bank in the US, JP Morgan Chase, outsourced customer service to support its various financial products and services. Right now, JP Morgan outsources over $400 million worth of IT and customer support projects.
To manage a large number of enquiries, the bank has established service centers in the Philippines and India. Specialized staff train these call centers to ensure that each agent is equipped with the necessary information to assist customers with their financial needs.
Offshoring has helped JP Morgan save 30-40% of costs, which are then spent on employee training and development. The strategy is to retain and attract talented employees, which is important for the bank to maintain a competitive edge over its competitors.
And it’s not just JP Morgan; many successful brands, such as Dell, Amazon, American Express, Hootsuite, and Google, use call center outsourcing.
5 Benefits of Outsourced Call Centers
According to Salesforce, 88% of customers say good customer service makes them more likely to purchase. As your business grows and the number of customers increases, outsourcing makes it easy to provide 24/7 support, which is not possible for most in-house teams.
While it’s scary to release control of any aspect of your business, call center outsourcing offers various compelling benefits:
Cost-effectiveness
Offloading customer calls to outsourced companies can lower your overhead cost significantly.
As a general rule, the hourly rate for an in-house call center is around 2- 2.5 times the agent base wage rate since it also includes the cost of management, executives, benefits, insurance, hiring, training and more.
So, if you’re paying agents $15/hour, then your in-house rate all-in hourly rate is likely $30 – $35/hour or higher. While outsourcing, this cost can come down to $6 and $9 per hour, depending upon the geographical location. For AI voice agents, this could be as low as 12c per minute, easily saving upto 30-50% on operational costs.
Also, the risk of attrition and turnover when hiring in-house should not be forgotten. A trusted outsourcing partner will offer complete transparency in pricing and utilize your method of payment, whether it’s a pay-as-you-go pricing model or a month-to-month contract.
Provide 24/7 Support
Whether it’s because of international customers or you simply want to be more accessible, providing 24/7 support is a great reason to outsource. However, keeping in-house agents or staff to make that happen is costly.
Luckily, most contact centers provide 24/7 support or extended-hour capabilities. When looking for a call center, look for vendors that have a team of agents who are available 24/7. That way, your customers will get the highest level of support no matter what time it is.
Better Quality of Service
There’s always a new piece of call center technology that makes interacting with customers simpler and more efficient.
Phones, headsets, omnichannel connections, CRM systems, AI-driven chatbots and voice bots, and self-service and AI concierges are some of the many tools that continually improve. Outsourced call centers spend heavily on getting the latest technology and platforms to remain competitive.
When a business chooses to outsource, it gains direct access to state-of-the-art technology without any hefty expenditure. Of course, they also handle the nuance of tech support, maintenance, and updates. The best call centers actively search for, train, and deploy the latest technology to continuously improve their quality of service.
Scale easier
As your customer base expands, your customer support needs will grow too. Not to forget, seasonality is especially important for many types of businesses. Having to ramp up your call center from 20 agents to 50 (or 100+) during the holidays and other busy periods can be exceptionally difficult.
You’ll need more office space, headsets, and managers to oversee your progress. In short, you’ll need to invest more time and resources to provide quality-level customer support.
The best call centers are designed to handle fluctuations in the number of calls without any risk of damaging your customer relationships. A simple negotiation with your partner can take care of the upgrading or downgrading level of customer service in your organization.
Easier Monitoring and Analysis
While call center outsourcing shifts the customer service burden to an outside company, that doesn’t mean it makes it less important. It’s crucial to better monitor and quality control customer service interactions.
Outsourced call centers provide you with a goldmine of valuable insights derived from evaluating customer interactions. For example, how quickly agents pick up the calls, how fast it takes for agents to solve technical queries, and what the customer’s experience is.
These centers deploy advanced data analytics tools that evaluate the call center’s performance and track customers’ behaviour patterns, allowing businesses to make more informative decisions.
Drawbacks of Call Center Outsourcing
But, just like any other options, call center outsourcing isn’t a one-size fit solution. If you choose the wrong partnership for your outsourcing, it can affect your customer’s experience and badly influence their purchasing decisions.
Let’s dive into the most common disadvantages of call center outsourcing:
Outsourcing brings reputational risks
One key issue that businesses face with outsourcing is becoming accountable for their vendor’s actions. Mistakes like poor customer service, data breaches, or language barriers fall on you and your brand. On top of that, managing crises becomes a challenge since they’re not in your direct control.
Rebuilding trust after an issue is difficult. It takes time to build trust between your customer and business— and between you and your outsourcing vendor. The financial cost to overcome this situation would be substantial and shouldn’t be overlooked when choosing an outsourcing vendor.
Outsourcing brings communicational challenges
Language barrier is the biggest concern in offshore outsourcing. It makes it difficult for customers to communicate with and understand your agents. Even when agents are fluent in native languages, cultural differences, different dialects, and accents can lead to misunderstandings.
Proper training can help alleviate some of these issues, but your business has to invest significant time and resources into knowledge sharing and cultivating customer relationships.
Knowledge transfer is not easy
An in-house team specialized skills knowledge is challenging to emulate and even harder to transfer, meaning you might lose some knowledge in the process. Ensuring your outsourced team is as knowledgeable as your in-house team requires in-depth training.
Facilitating and maintaining consistency is another aspect that you should look for. Your outsourcing agents should follow the same protocols and processes as your in-house team.
That’s where having Quality Assurance (QA) software is important. Solid QA software allows you to constantly monitor your agents and send personalized feedback and training, boosting service quality.
How do AI voice bots overcome these challenges?
AI voice bots like, Synthflow, demonstrate intelligence and empathy similar to human agents.
Imagine having agents who:
- have unlimited memory and work 24/7
- don’t require onboarding and training
- are obsessed with your customers
- are polite, compassionate and show great compassion
- have decent problem-solving skills
In 10 years, you’ll see 80% of calls being answered by voice bots and only 20% picked by humans.
AI voice bots are not static robots, they evolve with time. These bots learn from past conversations, and continually improve their ability to understand and solve problems. If you want to eliminate all risks associated with outsourcing to human agents and still want to get all its benefits then AI voice bots should be your preferred choice.
Typical Costs to Outsource Your Call Center
Call center outsourcing is influenced by various factors, such as:
- Type of Service: Inbound vs. Outbound
- Provider Location: Domestic vs. Offshore
- Call Complexity: Basic Support vs. Advanced Technical Help
- Pricing Model: Hourly, Pay-Per-Minute, or Pay-Per-Performance
Inbound call center:
For basic tasks, inbound call center services in the United States cost between $26 and $30 per hour. For technical assistance, rates can increase from $30 to $50 per hour. Rates for offshore contracts start at $6 to $9 per hour and average between $10 and $12.
Outbound call center:
Outbound call centers typically charge $26 to $28 per hour for basic tasks like appointment scheduling and sales. For advanced skills, these charges range between $30 and $50 per hour. On the other hand, offshore inbound call centers like India and the Philippines charge between $5 and $12 per hour.
AI voice bots:
The average cost per call center is around $2.50. This includes the price of the agent’s time, training and equipment. With an AI voice agent, you can automate part of these calls and save significant money. Synthflow offers a mix of subscription and pay-as-you-go models. Its starter plan starts at just $29/month. You can opt for its PAYG model for just $0.13/ min. By automating simple enquiries, companies can increase their revenue by handling more calls and successfully converting hundreds of calls a day.
Call Center Pricing Models:
The three most common pricing models determine how companies are charged for outsourced services, including:
- Hourly Pricing Model: Under this approach, businesses pay a set hourly rate regardless of the number of calls or the results of those calls. It’s a simple, easy-to-use model frequently applied to inbound and outbound services with consistent and predictable call volumes.
- Pay-per-minute model: In contrast to the hourly pricing model, businesses are billed according to the time spent on calls. This is very common for inbound calls with unpredictable call volume.
- Pay-Per-Performance Model: Under this payment model, businesses base their payment on the results of the calls produced, such as generating leads, closing deals, and resolving customer complaints. It is often used by outbound services for lead generation and sales.
These plans are created to accommodate businesses with varying volumes or specific one-time outsourcing needs. When making a choice, consider your company’s size, the number of calls you have, and your outsourcing goals.
Top Call Center Outsourcing Companies
Here are our top 5 best, most trusted outsourcing companies for customer support, Customer Experience (CX), and inbound and outbound sales operations:
- TELUS International
Known for solid customer service, TELUS International offers multilingual support and advanced AI-powered solutions, making it ideal for companies seeking global reach. Their focus on employee well-being leads to high retention and quality service. Additionally, TELUS provides digital transformation services and has expertise in analytics, automation, and cloud services.
- SupportYourApp
SupportYourApp offers outsourced customer support solutions tailored for SaaS and tech companies. With multilingual support in over 30 languages and a 24/7 operational model, it scales with business needs while ensuring high-quality service. SupportYourApp provides expert agents trained in various tools and CRM systems and customizable support channels, including live chat, email, and social media. The company emphasizes data security with ISO and PCI certifications.
- Global Response
Global Response offers comprehensive solutions for customer engagement, covering everything from omnichannel support to CRM management. It specializes in seamless customer service across digital platforms and provides real-time analytics to improve interactions. The platform’s flexibility supports companies through rapid growth while robust data insights drive better customer experiences. With a focus on client satisfaction, Global Response enhances brand loyalty and operational efficiency.
- XACT
XACT is a cutting-edge customer experience management platform that centralizes customer interactions across multiple channels, including email, SMS, and social media, ensuring seamless communication. With its robust analytics and reporting features, XACT provides actionable insights for improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The platform integrates easily with existing systems, supports the automation of routine tasks, and enhances team collaboration through a shared dashboard, making it a valuable tool for companies looking to optimize customer engagement and streamline workflows.
- TeleDirect
TeleDirect is a customer support and call center solution known for its flexibility, scalability, and 24/7 service. It offers live agents for inbound and outbound calls, appointment scheduling, and lead capture, making it ideal for businesses in sectors like finance, healthcare, and e-commerce. TeleDirect’s customizable scripts ensure brand consistency, while data analytics and CRM integration enhance customer experience.
With robust security and dedicated support, it helps businesses improve customer interactions, increase conversion rates, and streamline operations—making it a reliable, high-quality service for those needing efficient customer engagement.
Wrapping Up
Call center outsourcing isn’t just another business tactic but a strategic move towards efficiency and customer satisfaction. Up to 70% of firms consider customer service outsourcing to save costs.
With careful planning, businesses can unlock new levels of customer excellence without having to build an in-house team. Whatever your reason is, working with a skilled, outsourced customer service provider is critical. It’s all about making calculative choices for growth in this ever-evolving market.
Overall, Synthflow AI boasts a dynamic, emotive, and humanlike voice that adapts to each individual conversation. It offers advanced features like real-time bookings, multilingual calls, post-call actions, mid-call functions, and multi-human transfers. Try Synthflow for free now.
