A brick-and-mortar contact center is a service-oriented place where customers and others seeking help are aided by a trained work force. The contact center is managed by a professional organization that provides and manages the basic infrastructure needed to run the operation smoothly. The center has the expertise and ability to handle a large number of calls. The contact center agents have to screen the calls and transfer them to the concerned department on a regular basis.

Companies across the globe are increasingly turning to call centers for the various needs of their organizations. Businesses dealing in utilities, mail-order catalog firms, and organizations managing the customer support for computer hardware and software are profiting from this innovative concept. There are two types of calls in a contact center – the inbound calls and the outbound calls. Inbound calls are made by the customers who want some information, file a complaint or seek help for the product or service. Outbound calls are primarily made by agents to sell something to the customers.

The latest concept is the foray of ‘virtual’ contact centers in the industry, wherein the latest Internet technologies use the company’s telecommunications network to get the same work done. Companies in the US and UK are increasingly turning to outsourcing contact centers to Asian countries like India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Putting up a call center in these countries provide a cost-effective alternative to an otherwise expensive project.

Big names in business like GE, HSBC and Aviva have already outsourced their business to these regions, giving employment opportunities to thousands of people. This has lifted the overall economic scene of these countries. The flip side is adjusting to the time lag as these contact centers operate during the night to match with the business timings of the UK and USA.