Contact Center vs. Call Center: What’s the Difference?

You may have heard about the contact center and call center in the world of customer service. As customer service businesses strive to enhance and simplify the customer experience, choosing between a call center and a contact center can be challenging.

84% of companies that focus on improving customer experience see an increase in their revenue.  In this article, we’ll dive deeper and find out about contact center vs call center. Figure out the secret of making customer service work and help you choose the right fit for your business.

What is a contact center?

A contact center is a place where a company’s customer interactions are managed across various channels. It’s a busy operation center where agents handle phone calls with the help of SIP trunks. In today’s remote world, VoIP plays a significant role, allowing you to communicate with customers through different channels such as emails, chats, social media messages, and more.

In other words, it is also a cloud contact center where you can integrate with all your different communications channels, routing inquiries to the right agents and providing tools for managing interactions. Due to VoIP numbers, you can easily use advanced features like:

• Automatic call distribution (ACD)
• Interactive voice response (IVR),
• Call recording
• Call queuing
• CRM integrations
• Other data analytical tools

These tools provide you with insights into customer interaction. You can benefit from using a contact center in ways such as operational efficiency, valuable data insights, enhanced sales and revenue, cost savings, etc.

Contact centers come in many shapes and sizes that can be suitable for any scale and scope of business requirement. There are six types: inbound, outbound, multichannel, omnichannel, On-premises, Virtual, and Cloud. As per research, 88% of businesses prioritize customer experience in their contact centers.

What is a call center?

A call center is a place where a team of customer service representatives or agents handles a large number of direct incoming and outgoing calls. It is a communication center where agents answer questions, resolve issues, and provide information to customers. 

Unlike traditional call centers, which mainly focus on voice-based communication. However, now it often uses additional communication channels such as 

• Email,
•  live chat,
•  social media
• Web chat 
• Video conferencing and 
• SMS etc.

These communication channels enhance the customer support experience. It helps to improve customer service, leading to an increase in sales and revenue. It helps to get insights from the call interactions.

You might also be interested in: How to Use Virtual Numbers for Inbound Call Centers?

What is the difference between a contact center and a call center?

The differences between a contact center and a call center are as given below:

Based on	Contact center	Call center
Main channels	Phone calls only	Multiple channels
Others channels	It has limited channels (email, web chat).	Phone, email, web chat, social media, SMS, video conferencing
Customer experience	Focused on phone interactions or disjointed customer experiences.	Use of omnichannel where customers are more connected.
Agent skills	Strong phone communication skills	Adaptable across multiple channels
Costs-effectiveness	Potentially, it has a lower cost due to limited technology needs	It has a higher cost due to investment in technology and training for multiple channels

Contact center and call center similarities

Despite the difference between call and contact centers, they provide incoming and outgoing customer services. The similarities between contact centers and call centers are as given below:

Both focus on customer service:

They both aim to provide efficient and helpful customer service. Also helps in resolving inquiries, offering support, and addressing problems. These both utilize trained agents to interact with customers. Also, make sure to improve customer satisfaction and build positive brand relationships.

Both use technology and data insights:

They both rely on technology platforms to manage calls, route inquiries, and track interactions.

It utilizes data analytics to gain insights into customer behavior, identify trends, and improve service delivery. Therefore, both can integrate with CRM systems and other business software for better customer management.

Both have operational goals:

Automation, streamlining processes, and reduced response times improve operational efficiency. These both focus on agent performance and productivity, measuring metrics like call handling time and customer satisfaction. Meanwhile, both seek to maximize resources and ensure efficient customer service operations.

Both require training and skills:

They both require agents to possess strong communication and interpersonal skills, including active listening, problem-solving, and empathy. There is a need for training in customer service principles, product knowledge, as well as software applications. Hence, both may require specialized training for specific channels.

Contact center vs Call center: Which is the right choice for your business?

While knowing or choosing the right choice for your business among contact and call centers. Remember to analyze your customer base and communications channels. Here are the following measures to anticipate while choosing effective centers.

1. While choosing a contact center

If you have a large customer base or diverse communication preferences and aim to prioritize customer convenience, efficiency, and data analytics., or if you want to invest in improving customer experience and long-term business growth, then using a contact center is the best idea.

2. While choosing a call center

If your customer interactions tend to be complex and require voice communication and you already have a good phone system and a skilled call center staff. Also, if your budget is tight and you want to maximize efficiency, then using a call center would be the best idea.

📑Also  read: How to Choose the Best Virtual Number Provider for Your Call Center?

Conclusion

In conclusion, the choice between the call center and contact centers depends on the nature of customer interactions and the communications channels that your business aims to leverage. While both serve as a crucial hub for connecting businesses with their customers, their scope and versatility differ. 

Summing up, whether you have a call center or contact center, the key pinpoint is to adjust the choice that your business needs and your vision for exceptional customer service. No matter which option you choose for your business, remember that it’s not just a technology. But also about personalization, investing in training, and, above all, prioritizing customer relationships.

FAQs

What’s the difference between a call center and a contact center?

The difference between a call center and a contact center is 

• The call center focuses on handling incoming and outgoing calls its purpose is to manage and handle voice communications between businesses and customers. Interaction channels are limited to telephone calls. 
• The contact center includes a broader range of communication channels beyond just voice calls. It maintains its interactions through email, live chat, social media, etc.

What is a business contact center?

The business contact center is a system that allows organizations to handle customer interactions by utilizing both traditional voice and digital channels.

What do you mean by contact center services?

Contact center services refer to the various tasks and functions that are outsourced or managed by a contact center. The company offers customer support, technical support, order processing, telemarketing, and communication via email and chat.

What is the difference between a CRM and a contact center?

Here are some differences between Customer relationship management and a contact center:

• CRM mainly focuses on storing and managing custom data, tracking interactions, and automating sales and marketing processes.
• Contact centers directly deal with customer interactions through multiple channels, resolving issues, providing support and gathering data.