When considering a call center for your business, it’s important to have a general understanding of commonly used terms and systems in the industry. A basic knowledge on how call centers structure their support options can help save time, money, and improve the standard of service for your organization. Below are some of the different advantages of two common designations in the call center industry: shared-environment and dedicated agent.

A call center shared-environment means that agents are monitoring several accounts at the same time. This is a great solution for cost-savings and a way to standardized customer service across all of your client touchpoints. Shared environment means that agents are monitoring several client touchpoints simultaneously, but your business is only charged for the time that agents are actively handling your account. For instance, if an agent is answering a Facebook message from your customer, the charges end when the interaction is complete. Your business is not charged again until the next customer interaction, which could be minutes, hours, or days later. While shared-environment agents are monitoring several different accounts, the use of automation technology and prompted scripting means that agents can seamlessly switch from account to account while adhering to each client’s specifications.

A dedicated agent plan can be ideal if you expect consistently high call volume or want to outsource an entire department. Dedicated agents are a great solution when you want to outsource an aspect of your business, but want to maintain a strong sense of company culture with highly trained and specialized agents. This strategy is also beneficial when you require high-level help desk support or agents on your account need strong technical knowledge and training in a specific field. Dependent on your industry, agents may be required to have certain licenses or certifications to support your client base. For example, life insurance or health insurance industries often require these specific licenses. WESP agents are able to monitor all your platforms, 24/7, but the additional cost of training and the dedicated operators means that agents are billed at an hourly rate, rather than per minute, as with a shared-environment where clients are only billed when agents are actively answering and managing your account.

In some cases, a hybrid solution can be the best solution.  If you have consistently high call volume during certain hours of the day, you can opt to have dedicated agents during those hours and switch to shared support when the volume of inquiries decreases. This can be a great complement to your own staff, especially during peak calling hours such as during lunch, daily meetings, or any other routine business that makes it difficult to answer the phone simultaneously.

With WESP Communications, LLC there is a customized option available for businesses of all sizes. To learn more about the benefits of a shared, dedicated, or hybrid support, contact us today!