Outstanding customer service is an essential component of every company's growth and success. However, if your customer activity is higher than you can efficiently handle in-house, you may want to consider outsourcing this function. Call centers can help you efficiently assist your customers by fielding calls, whether they are for technical support, addressing customer inquiries, or taking orders.

The term "call center" traditionally refers to centralized areas where mass inbound or outbound phone communication takes place. A classic example is an airline reservation center. While today's "call centers" or "contact centers" can interact with customers using email and live Web chat, most still do it traditionally by phone. Outbound call centers are dedicated mostly to telemarketing; inbound call centers deal largely with existing or new customers.

When should you enlist the services of a call center? Since initial set-up costs can be quite high, you will find it is not worthwhile to use a call center for just a one-time project. It makes sense to consider a call center if your call volume is frequent, regular, and directly related to guaranteed revenue generation. For example, if you regularly receive 100 calls per day and over 50 percent of those convert to sales, contacting a call center might be a good idea, whereas a 10-call day, even if each call ends in a sale, is probably better handled in-house.

Generally speaking, a call center will set you up with either dedicated or shared agents. Dedicated agents are costlier and more specialized in their knowledge, because they will deal only with your customers. Shared agents, trained to address clients for multiple accounts, work better for lighter call volumes, less critical functions, or irregular call activity. In both cases, you will need to provide as much information on call scripts, customer habits, and your company's background as possible. Usually the center can seamlessly integrate with your company's Web site or software, entering information directly where it needs to go.

Choosing the right call center is as important to a business as hiring an employee. Ultimately what you are depending on is people skills, integrity, and character. Initially, look for centers that have experience handling calls similar to those you expect to receive. When you are down to your final contenders, get references. Ask questions like: How responsive are they to customers? Do they deliver on promises? When things go wrong, how do they handle it?

Call center service contracts can run month-to-month or up to several years. Startup costs for program set-up include agent training, and usually run about $2000-$3000. In general, a program using shared agents will be billed by call duration, usually $.70-$1.00 per minute. Dedicated agents are more expensive, usually billed at an hourly rate of about $25. These costs include basic reporting; customized reporting will likely result in extra costs.

Your business is only as successful as the people in it. By investigating wisely you can find a call center that truly adds the value you need to your customer interaction.