Creating a functional call center to serve global customers is much more complicated than starting a local domestic answering service. There are specific logistical and technical considerations you must account for like the cost of taking and routing international calls. If you are thinking about opening up an international center or just want to make see of your domestic service can take on international clients, read this article.
The first consideration on setup is if your center can take international calls. Some carriers will charge extra if international routing chains are used to channel the call. If your clients are forwarding to toll free numbers that they own or that you provide, toll free numbers are usually provisioned to only work in singular countries or zones. Even if it is provisioned globally, it is usually cost prohibitive for an international client to incur international toll charges each time their calls are routed.
Another important aspect is staffing. After you see if you can technically answer these calls, see if it is feasable. It is up to the management team to estimate how many calls the center will be receiving. Based on this information, they must hire the appropriate amount of employees and make certain that there will be enough space to accompany the entire staff.
When it comes to an international call center, you are going to be interacting with callers from around the world. These callers may not all be English speaking. If a call center only offers one language, it is just as important for them to be able to understand the accents of the many people they will become in contact with. Although it is seemingly impossible to have call center employees that speak every language, it is important to have employees that can speak the more popular languages. Many of these international call centers will have specific departments that will handle calls in different languages and from different locations. It is important to have employees that can handle specific languages and geographic locations to provide their customers with the best services.
It is crucial to understand the different cultures that you will come across when dealing with international callers. In different parts of the world, there are different ways to address and socialize with each other, which can often cause confusion in the call center. Because of this, it is crucial for the employees to know how to respect the people they will be dealing with. The call center’s goal should be to make the customer feel comfortable with their conversation. Aside from the way to interact with these global customers, it is also important to keep in mind the different time zones. Having callers from all over the world means that the call center will be receiving calls at all hours and it is important for the operators to be aware of their customer’s time zone.
It is important for the call center managers to understand the many aspects of running a global call center. They must be prepared for all of the complications they will encounter to make for a successful business model.
