How To Open A Call Center In India

How To Open A Call Center

Call support and sales are still prominent options to provide support to the customers. According to a report on the customer experience rate of 2020, almost 66% of customers use a phone support system instead of any other support channel. After seeing this fact, you might be thinking of starting a call center but starting a call center is not an easy task. It requires careful planning, and it’s easy to get tripped up along the way.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to establishing the finest call center for your business.

List of Steps On How To Start a Call Center in India

Determine Your Objectives

Before you get into the details of running a call center, first of all, find out or question yourself that why you need one. Consider what you’ll need to run a successful call center business after you’ve established the key goals of your call center. Your particular organizational needs will determine your primary goals:

  • If you own a small business or a startup, your primary aim may be to enhance lead generation, get new customers, or simplify payment and order processing.
  • If you manage a larger company, perhaps your primary aim is to improve client happiness and general support.

Once your primary goals have been defined, you must utilize call center metrics that may serve as key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the effectiveness of your call center services. It’s also vital to remember that your call center’s aims will most likely differ from those of your contact center.

  • Contact centers utilize a variety of channels (email, social media, live chat, etc.)
  • Call centers only provide service through standard telephone lines.

A call center must be more efficient because everything happens in real-time, and there isn’t always time to think about a response. In fact, phone assistance has the highest expectations of any channel, with approximately half of the consumers expecting a response in less than five minutes.

Set Your Budget

You must first set a budget before proceeding with the setup process of your call center for your company. Determine how much money you can reasonably invest in operating a contact center. This can assist you in determining specifics about how your call center will function, such as:

  • Team size 
  • Size of office and location 
  • Types of tools and software

To obtain a better understanding of how much money you can spend, compile your monthly income streams, fixed expenditures, and variable expenses before creating a budget for your contact center. You may discover that creating an on-site call center is not financially easy, which can assist you in deciding on a great remote workforce choice.

Decide the Call Center Type

Determining the primary goal(s) of your contact support center can help you determine which kind of call center will best suit your business needs. Depending on your requirements, there are a few different types of call centers to choose from.

Inbound vs. Outbound Call Centers

Inbound Contact Centers

Do you make cold calls to targeted clients with telesales offers? Or are you totally into resolving client complaints? The answers to these questions will help you decide whether to set up an incoming (inbound) or outgoing (outbound) call center for your company. Inbound Call Center Solution handle incoming calls and are often managed by customer service representatives. These representatives assist callers in resolving difficulties with your product or service.

Normally, this kind of call center is perfect for:

  • Product and/or technical assistance
  • Order and payment processing
  • Inquiries about upgrades and renewals
Outbound Contact Centers

 Outbound Call Center Software perform outgoing phone calls to individuals. They are normally performed by sales teams looking to promote a product or service or gather market data that is relevant to broader business concepts.

In general, this kind of call center is suitable for:

  • Making an appointment
  • Telemarketing 
  • Telesales
  • Lead generation
  • Telemarketing 

There’s also the option of using a hybrid call center, which can handle both inbound and outgoing calls. Some businesses choose a hybrid strategy so that they can provide a consistent client experience from a single call center.

Inbound & Outbound Call Center Software

Also Read: Guide on What are Inbound & Outbound Call Center Software

On-site vs. Virtual Call Centers

On-site Contact Centers

Do you need an in-house call center with a large office area, or are you seeking a remote call center? Which is a more cost-effective solution. Both choices are now available to company owners, and each has its own set of advantages. On-site call centers are actual premises where agents answer or make calls to the client or customers. The whole crew, as well as all of the equipment, is in one place.

Some of the benefits of an on-site call center include:

  • Employees and management must communicate quickly and in person. Because everyone is in the same building, it’s simple to communicate with one another and handle any employee or customer difficulties.
  • Real-time technology updates and training are more convenient. You are more capable of explaining the complexities of various technologies effectively and in person.

Setup On-Premise Call Center

Also Read: How to Set Up an On-Premise Call Center Business in India?

Virtual Contact Centers

Virtual call centers are hosted in the cloud and have no physical infrastructure. Members of the team work remotely and may be located anywhere in the globe as long as they have a reliable Internet connection. Some of the advantages of a virtual call center are as follows:

  • Having access to the best applicants from all around the world. The top prospects are not usually from your home nation. Examining overseas applicants with more experience might be beneficial.
  • Having agents in several time zones allows for more flexible call center hours. Your clients may relax knowing they don’t have to sneak away at lunch to make a support call; they can do it whenever they have time.
  • Spending less on buildings and more on call center software and personnel wages. You may keep your workforce satisfied by providing items like corporate laptops and better compensation while keeping your facilities and office supplies to a minimum.

Again, a hybrid call center with both on-site and virtual components is a possibility. This is also a wonderful alternative to provide employees with—the ability to work from a remote location as well as an office space, depending on employee desire.

Virtual Call Center Software Solutions

Also Read: Get Virtual Call Center Software Solutions – SAN Softwares

Create Your Team

Once you have decided on your call center type, it is time to add some manpower in that call center that can help you to make your call center successful.  Hire the best people for your call center Finding the best individuals for your call center is easier said than done. To begin, you must have a clear idea of your requirements. Make a list of the features an ideal support agent should possess:

  • Is it necessary for them to be able to work flexible hours?
  • How much prior experience do they need?
  • Should they make small conversation or get down to business?

Answering these questions will give you a better understanding of the sorts of people you’ll want to invite in for interviews.

In a call center CV, you should also be extremely clear about your must-haves against your nice-to-haves. Many recruiters struggle to discover qualified applicants when they include too many mandatory conditions. If you believe something is valuable, include it as a nice-to-have and consider what you can educate your staff to perform once they are recruited.

Get Trained Your Agents and Supervisors

Provide agent training as part of your call center set up to ensure your representatives are adequately ready to accomplish their jobs. You may achieve this by training employees in an offsite location, such as another contact center, online, or on-site.

Agents should be trained on any headsets and phone systems that your firm utilizes. Agents in a virtual call center should be helped in setting up their remote workspace and should be familiar with all the tools and software used by your organization. You may help them by providing any call center training advice you have. Ensure that agents are also taught correct support center etiquette, and consider developing a call center script to assist newer staff and to keep the brand message consistent.

Get The Necessary Software And Tools

Outsourcing some of your company’s activities to an outside vendor or service provider is referred to as business process outsourcing (BPO). BPO in the context of a call center refers to the outsourcing of incoming and outbound services to agents who do not work for your firm.

This is an excellent alternative for businesses with limited bandwidth who want rapid assistance. If the number of calls exceeds your team’s capacity, it may be prudent to explore a BPO call center solution. You’ll be able to regulate the large volume of calls without hiring and training new personnel.

Inbound BPO call center services include the following:

  • Handling support inquiries
  • Order fulfillment
  • Dispatch

Outbound BPO call center services include the following:

  • Market research 
  • Telemarketing
  • Telesales

If you’re in a staffing jam and can’t acquire and train a large number of new employees, BPO call center solutions are appropriate. In general, these are call center agents with prior industry expertise and outstanding customer service abilities. There are much necessary software, tools, and digital resources that your call center and your agents may require, such as a powerful call center solution software, accounting software, knowledge base, and more. 

Invest Money in The Culture

In the end, investing in culture would be a great step; with so many calls going place in a single day, working at a successful contact center may be overwhelming for everyone involved. That is why excellent leadership and management are essential when it comes to the operation of your contact center.  To make your team feel supported, do the following:

  • When dealing with staff, maintain a cool manner.
  • Contact them on a frequent basis to check if they are experiencing any difficulties that you can assist them with.

When faced with a rush of calls on a busy day, these go a long way toward keeping call center personnel happy and supported. Once you’ve got all of your call center elements in place, make sure it’s a welcoming place to work. That way, you may keep your best employees while also bringing on new ones who will contribute to the company’s long-term success.

Want to Start a Call Center in India?

Are you looking for a powerful call center software but concerned about call center setup cost in India? Well, SAN Softwares have a solution for you; they have one of the most affordable call center solution providing support to many Indian call centers. Try our SanCCS call center solution that can play a huge role in serving profits in your call center. It can drastically streamline your call center’s business process and provide better efficiency. 

There are a plethora of features that support of run your call center more effectively: 

  • Automated Call Distribution
  • Real-Time Analytics and Report
  • Multilevel IVR
  • Self Designable Web-Based CRM
  • Seamless Integration
  • Skill Based Routing
  • Agent Performance MIS
  • Unified Agent Desktop
  • Click to call
  • Thoughtful UI
  • Omni Channel
  • Customer service

Frequently Asked Questions

To open a call center in India, you will need to obtain the required licenses, such as OSP (Other Service Providers) registration from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Additionally, you will need to set up the necessary infrastructure, including office space, computers, phone systems, internet connection, and call center software with essential features like dialers, IVR, CRM integration, and ticket management. 
Key features to look for in call center software include automatic call distribution (ACD), predictive dialing, call monitoring, call recording, real-time reporting and analytics, customer relationship management (CRM) integration, interactive voice response (IVR), multi-channel support (voice, email, chat), and user-friendly interfaces. 
Call center software enhances customer experience by providing features such as personalized interactions through CRM integration, quick response times via automated systems, call tracking and analytics for better service quality, and multi-channel support that allows customers to connect through their preferred method (phone, chat, email). 
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