How to set up a call center

Congratulations, Christina, on your impending graduation. I am a call center manager in Dallas, Texas for a dot come company. There are so many things that you must take into consideration when establishing a new call center.

What type of calls will your agents be taking? Customer Service? Tech Support? Order Fulfillment? Sales?

Will you be a 24×7 operation or open only during business hours? Will they need computer equipment to perform their duties? If so, what systems will they be interfacing with? Do they need internet access? What are your phone system needs? Do you need features like call center software for monitoring and capturing ACD information? How will you do reporting? Do you need real-time stats? Who will supervise the reps? Who will train them? Do you need a data analyst to crunch the numbers or will the supervisor/manager fill those role?

What type of expansion will you anticipate? Will they have their own cubes or will they sit side by side?

The list could go on and on. It would help to know what type of business the call center (or contact center as many call them these days) is engaging in. I’m sorry that I couldn’t give you more answers but hopefully I’ve given you more questions to ponder. Good luck!