Over the past couple of decades, we have seen the call centre boom take place in India as centres moved there from more developed countries like the UK. This huge growth has several explanations; firstly the cheapness of using call centres based here, which helps increase companies' incomes. In the UK, the average salary for a worker in a call centre is around £12,500 per year, whereas in India this is just £1,200. The boom was also encouraged within India as it was seen by many as a road to development and a good opportunity for graduates to find work. There is also the wealth of English-speaking workers, with more in India than in the UK and USA combined. Read more
A dialler will call a list of telephone numbers that have been uploaded to it and then connect the call to a person that works within the call centre, typically referred to as an agent. A predictive dialler takes this concept a step further by using complex algorithms that are designed to reduce the amount of time that an agent will spend waiting for the next call, whilst reducing the chances of a call being made to somebody and there being no agent to speak with them. Read more
There are many acronyms used within the call centre industry, often these buzzwords and abbreviations will regularly come up in conversation within this environment. These can be confusing to anyone new to the telecoms industry, hopefully the following glossary will explain a few of the three letter acronyms listed below. Read more
When running a call centre, or a team of call centre agents, it can be difficult at times to understand changes in performance and agent morale. Read more
The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) was formed in September 2006 with the purpose of improving the security of credit / debit card information throughout the process of a card transaction. The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council are responsible for application and management of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which is the standards and requirements that are used to ensure that all organisations that process, store, or transmit their customers' card information, do so in a secure environment. PCI compliance applies to any organisation that processes payment via credit or debit card, regardless of their size. Read more
A SIP trunk is a service offered by an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) to use Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to deliver telephone services and to set up communications for individual users as well as both small and large businesses. Read more
The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is a register which gives both business and the general public the opportunity to opt out of unwanted sales and marketing calls. This official register is completely free to join. Read more
IP telephony (Internet Protocol telephony) uses the internet to deliver calls as packets of data on shared lines. Also know as VOIP it is the real-time transmission of voice signals over the internet or private data network. Read more
Fax, also known as facsimile, involves the transmission of scanned material via electronic signals through a telephone system. Once this information has been transmitted, the device receiving the information (typically a fax machine) will convert the electronic signals into an image. The use of fax machines to transmit images and information has declined over recent years due to the emergence of internet based technologies such as email, however, there are many industries that still rely on faxes to transmit information such as financial records and signed contracts. Read more
In the contact centre industry, the importance of consistently high call quality cannot be understated. It is, after all, the fundamental purpose of a contact centre to make outbound calls to individuals, and due to the significant overheads associated with a contact centre operation, they simply cannot afford to drop calls or have bad call quality at any time. The significance of dropped calls and bad call quality cannot be understated due to the severe impact that it can have on the contact centre operation. This article explores some considerations that are necessary to ensure that call quality doesn't adversely affect your operation. Read more
