Domestic call center services, as opposed to international centers, fall in two categories. There are captive centers like those of banks and financial institutions which prefer not to outsource and do it in-house, not to save cost, but to ensure the security of sensitive nature of their business. Other than that, there are outsourced centers which offer services to telecom service providers and across verticals.

Service Options
Still undecided whether you want to go for a captive call center or to outsource to an outside agency? Ask yourself some questions and do some serious homework accompanied with some research. Before deciding upon what is good for you, list out all relevant expense heads for the project, and compare the cost of handling them in-house vis-à-vis those of outsourcing. List the projected costs of everything—hardware, software, personnel, consulting, etc. Weigh the cost incurred against the end-benefits, risks involved and the flexibility it gives to your overall operation.

Consider the following options:

n Captive Call Center: Go for it if: 
The function is a core competency itself and you can manage it with your existing staff and equipment, and when time is not a factor It necessitates a high degree of integration with the company’s in-house product It involves customer-sensitive information that you won’t like to share with anybody and outsourcing might put that at a risk and benefit your competitors Budget is a constraint and the overall impact on the business will be negligible.

n Third-Party Call Center: Outsourcing your call center activities to a third party should be considered if:
The function is not your core competency
It is not a differentiator between you and your competitor
Yours is a small, start-up company and you want to save money
You lack the resources and the necessary expertise to handle a project
Time is a crucial factor and hiring staff and setting up an operation will take time
The project is short-term
You are not able to keep pace with your competitors in terms of with changes in technology

n Inbound Vs Outbound: Inbound is aimed at taking care of enquiries from customers, usually high volume calls. It also takes care of customers’ various needs—learning more about a product or solving a problem pertaining to products they have bought. Technical product support and partial troubleshooting also come under inbound.

Outbound is aimed at those companies that sell high-value products or services for high-end customers. It is used to collect feedback, to send welcome calls when a new product or service has been launched, sales and market research targeted at existing or potential customers, telemarketing, campaigns, and promotions.