Choosing to outsource call center services is one of the best decisions a company can make as it helps to focus on the core business activities. Using call center outsourcing services is one of the major trends followed by both small and big organizations. 

Although it can be a cost-effective solution to partner with call center providers, knowing the cost of outsourced call center companies is one of the major factors that shouldn’t be ignored. 

Is your company looking to expand its customer support operations through an in-house team or is it searching for an external call center team? Are you looking for a comprehensive guide that will help you determine the average outsourced call center service costs? 

We have covered everything for you. 

Today, companies are constantly searching for call center outsourcing providers to deliver consistently impeccable customer service and the one who fits in their budget. They will help you to build an engagement with customers by providing them with immediate support assistance. 

Setting up a call center needs a lot of resources which results in a massive budget with a lump sum amount. With call center outsourcing, businesses can streamline their operations and lower overhead costs. 

There are countless businesses out there that are looking for a positive return on investment (ROI) and want to increase their working efficiency which makes customer service outsourcing an attractive business solution. 

What are Outsource Call Center Services?

Outsource call center service is to manage all types of customer support activities from an external team that has proficient and expert professionals who resolve customer queries, conduct surveys, and manage other customer support operations on behalf of your company. 

Instead of your team members working on the customer care tasks, there will be a 3rd-party who will perform all the necessary functions for you. You can either choose to outsource some particular tasks or entire call center operations from the external company. 

It enables companies to focus on their goods and services, sales, marketing, and other important areas. Call centers have an expert and high-quality team that helps to improve the customer experience by optimizing your customer support solutions. 

Representatives of call center outsourcing companies use phone calls, live chat, social media channels, and email to communicate with the customers. Call center outsourcing comes under Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services that provide a wide range of customer care support like technical support, help desk support, telemarketing, appointment setting, marketing, finance, and many more. 

If you want to improve the quality of your service at lower costs, then outsourcing from a call center company is the right option for you. Some of the industries that frequently use call center services include marketing, tour and travel, accounting, insurance, finance, banking, IT and communication, and many more. 

Benefits of Outsource Call Center Services

Here are some of the advantages of choosing call center outsourcing services – 

1. Improves working productivity 

Customers these days need round-the-clock support and their availability from different brands they choose. However, this can be a daunting task as it is not possible for employees of a company to be present 24/7 to service the customers. 

However, this problem can be solved by choosing a contact center outsourcing services. Representatives here will deliver a fast customer care solution and handle all the major and minor tasks easily. 

2. Enhances customer retention rate 

Using call center outsourcing services, your company extends and eases its customer support operations which ultimately increases the customer conversion rates and lead generation. 

Here, you get an opportunity to improve the relationship with your customers as call center agents will always be available to solve customer queries and fulfill all the expectations on behalf of your company. This ultimately makes them come back to do business with your company which increases the customer retention rate. 

3. Less expensive solution

Outsourcing from a high-quality customer service provider opens new horizons to improve the brand image of a company and also helps to minimize its costs by using customer service software. 

By hiring in-house team members, a company spends a great amount on its administrative costs such as office space, hiring, staff salaries, training, technologies and tools, and other miscellaneous expenses. 

This way companies can save their budget and utilize it in some other important areas and as a result, will obtain a huge profit margin.

4. Get call center reports and analytics

One of the important activities performed by call center companies is to monitor analytics reports and the quality of calls. Outsourced operators provide real-time call analytics report that shows all the details about customers and how agents are performing so that you can recommend some changes later. 

You can also listen to the call recordings of agents to see how well your customers are being treated and how their problems are being resolved. 

These data will further help in product development, strategic planning, and decision-making so that companies follow the latest online marketing trends to survive in the competition. 

According to Forbes, almost 58% of customers say that they want to partner with a business with those businesses that delivers great customer support. 

5. Work with expert professionals and advanced technologies

Contact center companies have high-quality expert teams who enhance their working methods and service qualities by using advanced tools and technologies.  With this, businesses do not need to purchase technologies and software for their in-house team members. 

They have properly trained staff members who get complete training on how to resolve customer issues efficiently. They know how to easily solve all types of challenging customer issues within a few minutes which increases customer perception, satisfaction rate, and loyalty. 

6. Improves the quality of your services

The main benefit of choosing call center solutions is that you get to work with a team of specialized and skilled operators who constantly work on improving the quality of customer support by solving your client’s issues efficiently. 

If your in-house team doesn’t have all the necessary skillsets, then it is always the best decision to choose outsourcing services.

For example – If you are running a healthcare center, an outsourcing team will help in scheduling all the appointments or providing any other support.

The Pricing Breakdown of Outsource Call Center Services

Call center charges from clients as per the services they provide. The location, certification, and expertise of call center agents highly impact the price. Let’s have a closer look at what output you will get in return for working with a call center outsourcing company. 

Every call center has a different breakdown of its costs covered, however in general it looks like this – 

1. Staff costs

It is one of the most important costs that cannot be ignored as the experience level, the location, and the number of agents required greatly affect the pricing. It is a type of ongoing rate that will be charged on a regular basis. 

There are 2 types of ongoing rates – 

• Hourly rate – It will be charged by looking at the exact time of work.
• Fixed rate – These rates depend on the agreement with the call center as charges can be decided on sales, time, or anything else. 

2. Onboarding and training costs 

Training fees here are used for the growth and development of new agents. It is to be noted that a good call center doesn’t charge training fees from clients as this cost arises when companies need more agents for customer management.

3. Setup charges 

When you want to work with a call center, you will come across setup fees. It includes all types of hardware and software that the agency needs to serve both customers and businesses. For example – Phone systems, call recording software, CRM software, and many more tools. 

4. Fixed charges 

It includes office equipment, physical space, quality assurance, and many more.

What Does the Call Center Pricing Cover?

Call center pricing generally covers a wide range of costs related to customer communication and support solutions. You should clearly know what call center pricing fees cover when you select call center providers. 

The pricing list shows a clear breakdown of all the expenses that are needed to run a call center so that businesses can make an informed cost-effective decision for their customer care needs. 

These are some of the main functions that are covered in the call center pricing plan – 

• Workforce management

• Monitoring of activities

• Chat, voice, and email support services

• QA processes 

• Dedicated agents

• Real-time and daily reporting of work performed

• Workstation expenses like technologies, tools, etc.

• Agent charges

• Advanced telephone system costs

• Software license 

• Customization charges 

• Custom reporting

• Support and maintenance services

• Reports and analytics tools charges

• Scalability expenses

Factors Affecting Call Center Prices

Apart from the agent charges, there are other important items that should be considered while calculating the total price. These centers use various call center technology trends so that your customers get a great support experience. Call center prices also fluctuate during the time of high-volume seasons. 

Here are some of the factors that affect call center outsourcing prices – 

1. Call duration

The call center that you choose for your company may charge you on the basis of the duration of the calls. Depending on the nature of the calls, they can either be short or long. 

For example – If there’s any checkout or billing question by the customer, then it would take more time as operators have to do research work for it whereas if the customer wants to reset their password, then it would hardly take 1-2 minutes. 

2. Geographical location

Call center outsourcing costs vary depending on the location of the provider. For example – Outsourcing from countries like India, Vietnam, or Mexico will be cheaper as compared to Canada or the United States. 

3. Fluctuations in call volumes

It increases at the time of seasonal businesses or launching new products and lowers at the time of downturns. Here, external factors (say pandemic) also plays a major role as prices may surge at that time. Thus, the number of agents has to be adjusted as per the demand. 

4. Infrastructure charges

Infrastructure such as software, hardware, or other telecommunication devices affects the pricing of call centers. Some providers already have those technologies while others need investment for them. 

5. Level of customer support

Based upon your business requirements, you need to determine what type of work you want to be done by call center agents. If you need a highly expert staff, then it would cost you around $50 per operator per hour. It also includes 24/7 support service, multilingual support, problem-solving skills, additional support services, and many more. 

6. Knowledge and expertise of agents 

Call centers that have specialized and experienced agents in your domain would charge higher fees as compared to other providers. The level of expertise and training offered by the outsourcing companies helps to improve the quality of interaction with customers. 

7. Working scalability

Outsourcing solution providers will charge you accordingly when you want to scale up or down your business. It depends on the reputation of the call center and their experience in your field. 

8. Labor charges

Labor charges depend on the experience and skills of call center agents. Highly skilled representatives who are proficient in speaking different languages and who have great problem-solving skills will cost more than lower-skilled agents. In addition to this, labor laws and other taxes also affect the overall costs. 

9. Advanced technologies

Using advanced technologies in the call center comes with a great price. Although it needs a good amount of investment, using chatbots, artificial intelligence (AI), and IVR in call centers can significantly lower labor costs and improve working efficiency. 

10.  Overall management and quality assurance

Performing quality assurance testing, monitoring functions, and training agents can impact the overall outsourcing costs. The level of management also adds up to the total price. If you need any additional resources, then the price also spikes. 

Average Call Center Pricing Plans

When it comes to outsourcing call center services pricing, you should be aware of these three typical options offered by inbound and outbound call centers – 

• Inbound 

1. Shared type 

It is a type of call center service where a group of agents answer customer calls for various clients at once. The clients pay them on a ‘per minute basis’. Shared inbound services are perfect for clients who have huge call volume swings or lower customer activity. 

Low-cost international agencies charge $0.35 to $0.55 per minute whereas, in USA and Canada, rates go as high as $0.75 to $1.25 per minute. 

2. Dedicated type 

Here, a group of representatives manages calls and are dedicated to work for only one company. They charge clients on a ‘per hour basis’. These services are chosen by companies whose call columns are complicated, important, and predictable and pricing is higher than the shared plan. 

The charges generally vary from $8 to $15 by the international call centers and $28 to $40 in the USA and Canada. 

3. Monthly type 

This type of contact center pricing is a subset of a dedicated plan. Instead on the basis of the hourly rate, they charge on the basis of the monthly rate. Different low-cost international call centers have this type of pricing plan. 

• Outbound

1. Hourly rate 

Call center agencies charge hourly rates for lead generation, sales, and setting appointments. Rates are dependent on the location of the contact center. Call centers in Latin America or Eastern Europe charge $10 to $15 per hour. 

Agencies in the Philippines and India charge $8 to $15. In Western countries such as Germany, the US, the UK, and Canada, the rate goes from $28 to $40.  

2. Commission rate 

On a certain amount of lead generation or sales, the call center charges some amount of commission from their clients. The commission rate is totally decided on that particular situation and agreed upon by both the agency and the client. 

3. Hourly + Commission rate 

This is a perfect contact center pricing structure for sales programs. This combination structure is chosen by companies to maximize their performance. 

Outsource Call Center Pricing of Different Locations

Now that you know various types of call center pricing, here’s a general call center pricing list of different geographical locations – 

• The United States/Canada: $28-$40 per hour
• Western Europe: $35-$45 per hour
• Eastern Europe: $10 – $15 per hour
• Australia: $35-$55 per hour
• Latin America: $10-$15 per hour
• India: $8-$15 per hour
• South Africa: $12-$15 per hour
• Africa/Middle East: $15-$20 per hour
• Asia/Philippines: $8-$15 per hour
• Pakistan: $8-$11 per hour

The Bottom Line: Outsource Call Center Services With Octopus Tech

Now, things might be much more clear to you about different call center pricing plans. You can identify the type of services you need from outsourcing providers by looking at your business requirements. 

Here, at Octopus Tech, we pride ourselves in providing high-quality call center services to clients of different countries at the most affordable rates. You can directly reach out to us for a customized quote and our team will prepare it for you according to your requirements. 

We are always excited to partner with new businesses and provide their customers with a great support experience. Feel free to reach out to us for a quote.