{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-categories-mega-index-jsx","path":"/categories/call-center-services/","result":{"data":{"props":{"adsense":true,"adsenseMobile":false,"byLine":"","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/categories/call-center-services/","cardDescription":"Improve call quality and reduce wait times to keep customers happy when they call your business.","created":"2012-10-12T19:39:47.000Z","docType":"category","hasVwo":false,"displayModified":"2021-02-26T14:22:00.000Z","displayModifiedText":"This page has been updated to include recent market research projections for the global call center industry, revised to account for increased adoption of call center services amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.","published":"2019-12-30T16:00:00.000Z","slug":"call-center-services","status":"published","stream":null,"structuredData":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do call centers work?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The companies we reviewed are U.S.-based and available 24/7. All of them have bilingual agents who speak Spanish, as well as English, and several can help your customers with other language needs. You can instruct representatives to do any number of things with your calls. They can take messages from inbound calls or transfer calls to you, they can set appointments and help with order processing, or you can have agents handle technical calls following a custom script about your business and its products or services. Some companies charge extra for custom scripts, especially for complex ones. Keep this in mind when shopping for a call center service. You can have the call center perform outbound calls in addition to taking inbound calls. Outbound call services include administering surveys, placing scheduled calls to customers for follow-up purposes, lead generation services and even cold-calling, though some call centers no longer participate in cold-calling if you do not have the customer's information in your system already."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How much do call centers charge?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Call centers vary significantly in their cost from company to company. While many advertise per-minute rates, more goes into pricing than just the rate alone. Many charge a setup fee, and some charge additional fees for certain services. Some round usage up, which can inflate costs; some round to the nearest 6-second increment, while others round up to as much as the nearest minute. A call center that rounds up usage might have a lower rate, but your total bill will likely be much higher. The best call centers will explain your rate and any additional charges. The features you choose and your average monthly call volume also influence how much you will pay for a call center service. On average, call centers charge 75 cents to $1.15 per minute, which, depending on your call volume, could total several hundred dollars a month. Further, if you want a dedicated agent, you'll pay an hourly rate, which can range from $25 to $65 per hour."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What companies outsource call centers?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Businesses that commonly outsource customer service to a call center include retail businesses, banks, property management businesses and more. Some businesses might prefer using an answering service, which tends to be more narrowly focused on a specific type of answering, such as for an attorney's office or a medical practice. The best candidates to work with a call center are businesses that have trouble managing their day-to-day communications with customers or those that have unexpected spikes in call volume. Additionally, some businesses partner with call centers for after-hours support so their customers have a professional representative to reach around the clock. For some businesses, call centers serve as a tool to drum up new leads and business, helping them to grow when they've reached a plateau."}}]},"subtitle":"Call Center Services","template":"mega","title":"The Best Call Center Services for 2021","type":"category","widget":{"__typename":"SectionWidget","widget":{"widgetId":"10094"}},"guid":"category_5a147ac9a7c88c4adb3408b2","sections":[{"__typename":"SectionBestPicks","id":"best-picks","isInToc":true,"type":"bestpicks","megaBestPicksTopCardLimit":5,"bestpicks":[{"bullets":["Dedicated and shared agents","Inbound and outbound services","Variety of pricing plans"],"description":"XACT offers flexible plans and services, making it a good choice for businesses of all sizes and growth stages. Both shared and dedicated agent options are available. Solutions include a range of answering and call center services. Inbound and outbound call center services include those for customer service, help desks, appointment setting, hotlines, email management and web chat. Among the answering services available are live agent answering, message taking, order taking and appointment setting. XACT services are available to businesses in all industries.","descriptionTest":"","fullTitle":"Featured Sponsor","isFeaturedBestPick":true,"isJumpLink":false,"tabTitle":"Featured Sponsor","review":{"displayName":"XACT","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/xact-telesolutions-call-center-services/","id":"3972a0231a6b815783bb01e3428ace22","url":"http://www.myxact.com/","review":{"pros":null,"cons":null,"fullReviewTest":"<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=252&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=best-answering-services&amp;aff_sub=bestpick|no&amp;aff_sub2=lineuprank|10&amp;aff_sub3=deal|no&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|BZ-RFQ&amp;aff_sub5=pos|text&amp;url_id=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow  noopener external\">XACT </a>offers a variety of answering and call center services that can service businesses of all sizes in all industries. Multiple pricing plans are available, and businesses can use either shared or dedicated agents. Among the inbound and outbound call center services businesses can choose from include those for customer service, help desks, appointment scheduling, hotlines, email management and web chat. Live agent answering, message taking, order taking, and appointment scheduling are among XACT&rsquo;s available answering services.</p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=252&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=best-answering-services&amp;aff_sub=bestpick|no&amp;aff_sub2=lineuprank|10&amp;aff_sub3=deal|no&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|BZ-RFQ&amp;aff_sub5=pos|text&amp;url_id=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow  noopener external\">XACT</a>&nbsp;is a flexible answering service and call center with a variety of plans and services suitable for businesses of all sizes and growth stages. It is moderately priced, and includes both shared and dedicated agents. The company has 22 locations across the U.S.</p>\r\n<h2>Pricing</h2>\r\n<p>XACT&nbsp;offers both shared agents (XACTreps who work on your account and other XACTclient accounts), as well as dedicated agents, who work solely for your company. Dedicated agents cost more, but they perform more advanced services and go off-script. Shared agents are suitable for companies that have more basic needs and lower call volumes.</p>\r\n<p>The rate for shared agents starts at 89 cents per minute for monthly plans ranging from 2,500 minutes to 10,000 minutes. For plans ranging from 10,001 minutes to 25,000 minutes, shared agents cost 85 cents per minute. These costs are higher compared to the fees charged by other call center services we evaluated, but they are not excessively high.</p>\r\n<p>However, XACT bills in 12-second increments, which means it rounds usage up to the nearest 12-second mark. For example, a call lasting 1 minute and 1 second will be recorded as a 1-minute and 12-second call, or 1.2 minutes. This is a common practice in the call center and answering service industry. The average incremental billing time we noted with the services we evaluated was 6 seconds. Some companies do not charge in increments, while others charge much higher increments.</p>\r\n<p>Monthly fees for two to 10 dedicated agents equal $26.95 per agent, per hour, while teams of 11 to 25 are priced at $25.95 per agent, per hour. If you require 26 or more dedicated agents, XACT can provide you with a price quote.</p>\r\n<p>Besides agent fees, XACT charges setup and programming fees at a rate of $75 per hour for call center services. Setup commonly takes about 10 hours, for a total of $750, which was comparable with the other services we reviewed.</p>\r\n<p>Agent training is $22 per hour, which could ultimately cost $1,000, according to a company representative we spoke with. This makes upfront expenses to launch a program with Xact Telesolutions higher than average among the call centers we reviewed.</p>\r\n<h2>Call Center Service Features</h2>\r\n<p>When answering services aren't enough to meet a client's needs, XACT offers inbound and outbound call center services. These services take on more of a client's communication needs, including follow-up over email and web channels.</p>\r\n<p>Here's a look at some of XACT's call center services:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Customer service:&nbsp;</strong>Beyond simple live answering, XACT agents can act as an outsourced customer service department. Customer care involves answering frequently asked questions, fielding complaints and feedback, and ensuring customer satisfaction.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Help desk:&nbsp;</strong>XACT&nbsp;offers basic help desk services, extending Level 1 tech support to troubleshoot products and software with consumers. If Xact agents can't help, they forward the caller directly to the appropriate person in your company.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Appointment reminders:&nbsp;</strong>You can use XACT for outbound services, such as appointment reminders.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Hotlines:&nbsp;</strong>XACT&nbsp;agents can manage various hotlines for your business, including emergency hotlines and employee call-out hotlines.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Locate a dealer:&nbsp;</strong>XACT agents can coordinate with your business's consumers to find local vendors and connect consumers to those vendor partners.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Email management:&nbsp;</strong>XACT&nbsp;agents can engage in a multichannel approach that goes beyond helping you manage your business's call volume. Xact's agents can take the burden of sifting through a full email inbox so you can focus on other aspects of running your business.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Webchat:&nbsp;</strong>Live web chat can be implemented on your homepage and is manned by a live XACT agent around the clock.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<h2>Answering Service Features</h2>\r\n<p>XACT offers some, though not all, of the services, we sought out in an answering service.</p>\r\n<p><i>For all of our answering service recommendations, visit our&nbsp;</i><a href=\"https://www.business.com/categories/best-answering-services/\"><i>best picks page.</i></a></p>\r\n<p>Here's more about XACT offers:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Live operator answering:&nbsp;</strong>XACT agents are available 24/7/365 for round-the-clock service. They can answer calls during regular business hours, after hours and assist with overflow calls. Agents rely on a script developed by you and Xact to stay on message, and handle each call in a personalized, professional manner.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Message taking:</strong>&nbsp;Agents take down callers' names, contact information, their reason for calling and forward the message to you by phone, email, or text message.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Order taking:&nbsp;</strong>Agents walk customers through e-commerce transactions, explain your business's products and services, and answer questions. They can also accept payments, verify the accuracy of payment information, in addition to upselling or cross-selling other products or services offered by your business.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Appointment setting:&nbsp;</strong>XACT&nbsp;agents can set new appointments (using your company's calendar) and notify you when a new appointment has been added.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>XACT answering services are available for any business, but the company has experience servicing businesses in the financial services, property management, healthcare, hospitality and tourism, and e-commerce industries.</p>\r\n<h2>Limitations</h2>\r\n<p>XACT's biggest limitation is the upfront cost of its call center service, primarily due to the cost of agent training. At nearly $2,000 for setup, programming and training, the initial investment can be quite steep. However, the agent training fee goes to ensure agents are fully trained on your brand messaging and company details, which is key if you have a complex business model. Ultimately, if you have the budget, the training could be worth the cost.</p>\r\n<p>A second concern with XACT is its 12-second incremental billing policy. While it is not the highest rate, it could significantly inflate usage. Most of the services we evaluated had a 6-second incremental billing rate, while a few did not employ incremental billing at all.</p>\r\n<h2>Customer Service</h2>\r\n<p>Our customer service experience with XACT was satisfactory. With our initial call, the representative we spoke with asked a lot of questions about our hypothetical business to learn more about the scope of service. She was forthcoming about XACT's services, which helped us understand the onboarding process and the typical dynamic between XACT and its clients. However, we did not initially receive the follow-up proposal we requested after the call.</p>","fullReview":"<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=252&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=best-answering-services&amp;aff_sub=bestpick|no&amp;aff_sub2=lineuprank|10&amp;aff_sub3=deal|no&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|BZ-RFQ&amp;aff_sub5=pos|text&amp;url_id=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow  noopener external\">XACT </a>offers flexible plans and services, making it a good choice for businesses of all sizes and growth stages. Both shared and dedicated agent options are available. Solutions include a range of answering and call center services. Inbound and outbound call center services include those for customer service, help desks, appointment setting, hotlines, email management and web chat. Among the answering services available are live agent answering, message taking, order taking and appointment setting. XACT services are available to businesses in all industries.</p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=252&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=best-answering-services&amp;aff_sub=bestpick|no&amp;aff_sub2=lineuprank|10&amp;aff_sub3=deal|no&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|BZ-RFQ&amp;aff_sub5=pos|text&amp;url_id=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow  noopener external\">XACT</a>&nbsp;is a flexible answering service and call center with a variety of plans and services suitable for businesses of all sizes and growth stages. It is moderately priced, and includes both shared and dedicated agents. The company has 22 locations across the U.S.</p>\r\n<p><i>For all of our call center service recommendations, visit our&nbsp;</i><a href=\"https://www.business.com/categories/call-center-services/\"><i>best picks page.</i></a></p>\r\n<h2>Pricing</h2>\r\n<p>XACT&nbsp;offers both shared agents (XACTreps who work on your account and other XACTclient accounts), as well as dedicated agents, who work solely for your company. Dedicated agents cost more, but they perform more advanced services and go off-script. Shared agents are suitable for companies that have more basic needs and lower call volumes.</p>\r\n<p>The rate for shared agents starts at 89 cents per minute for monthly plans ranging from 2,500 minutes to 10,000 minutes. For plans ranging from 10,001 minutes to 25,000 minutes, shared agents cost 85 cents per minute. These costs are higher compared to the fees charged by other call center services we evaluated, but they are not excessively high.</p>\r\n<p>However, XACT bills in 12-second increments, which means it rounds usage up to the nearest 12-second mark. For example, a call lasting 1 minute and 1 second will be recorded as a 1-minute and 12-second call, or 1.2 minutes. This is a common practice in the call center and answering service industry. The average incremental billing time we noted with the services we evaluated was 6 seconds. Some companies do not charge in increments, while others charge much higher increments.</p>\r\n<p>Monthly fees for two to 10 dedicated agents equal $26.95 per agent, per hour, while teams of 11 to 25 are priced at $25.95 per agent, per hour. If you require 26 or more dedicated agents, XACT can provide you with a price quote.</p>\r\n<p>Besides agent fees, XACT charges setup and programming fees at a rate of $75 per hour for call center services. Setup commonly takes about 10 hours, for a total of $750, which was comparable with the other services we reviewed.</p>\r\n<p>Agent training is $22 per hour, which could ultimately cost $1,000, according to a company representative we spoke with. This makes upfront expenses to launch a program with Xact Telesolutions higher than average among the call centers we reviewed.</p>\r\n<h2>Call Center Service Features</h2>\r\n<p>When answering services aren't enough to meet a client's needs, XACT offers inbound and outbound call center services. These services take on more of a client's communication needs, including follow-up over email and web channels.</p>\r\n<p>Here's a look at some of XACT's call center services:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Customer service:&nbsp;</strong>Beyond simple live answering, XACT agents can act as an outsourced customer service department. Customer care involves answering frequently asked questions, fielding complaints and feedback, and ensuring customer satisfaction.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Help desk: </strong>XACT&nbsp;offers basic help desk services, extending Level 1 tech support to troubleshoot products and software with consumers. If Xact agents can't help, they forward the caller directly to the appropriate person in your company.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Appointment reminders:&nbsp;</strong>You can use XACT for outbound services, such as appointment reminders.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Hotlines: </strong>XACT&nbsp;agents can manage various hotlines for your business, including emergency hotlines and employee call-out hotlines.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Locate a dealer: </strong>XACT agents can coordinate with your business's consumers to find local vendors and connect consumers to those vendor partners.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Email management: </strong>XACT&nbsp;agents can engage in a multichannel approach that goes beyond helping you manage your business's call volume. Xact's agents can take the burden of sifting through a full email inbox so you can focus on other aspects of running your business.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Webchat:&nbsp;</strong>Live web chat can be implemented on your homepage and is manned by a live XACT agent around the clock.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<h2>Answering Service Features</h2>\r\n<p>XACT offers some, though not all, of the services, we sought out in an answering service.</p>\r\n<p><i>For all of our answering service recommendations, visit our&nbsp;</i><a href=\"https://www.business.com/categories/best-answering-services/\"><i>best picks page.</i></a></p>\r\n<p>Here's more about XACT offers:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Live operator answering: </strong>XACT agents are available 24/7/365 for round-the-clock service. They can answer calls during regular business hours, after hours and assist with overflow calls. Agents rely on a script developed by you and Xact to stay on message, and handle each call in a personalized, professional manner.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Message taking:</strong>&nbsp;Agents take down callers' names, contact information, their reason for calling and forward the message to you by phone, email, or text message.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Order taking:&nbsp;</strong>Agents walk customers through e-commerce transactions, explain your business's products and services, and answer questions. They can also accept payments, verify the accuracy of payment information, in addition to upselling or cross-selling other products or services offered by your business.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Appointment setting: </strong>XACT&nbsp;agents can set new appointments (using your company's calendar) and notify you when a new appointment has been added.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>XACT answering services are available for any business, but the company has experience servicing businesses in the financial services, property management, healthcare, hospitality and tourism, and e-commerce industries.</p>\r\n<h2>Limitations</h2>\r\n<p>XACT's biggest limitation is the upfront cost of its call center service, primarily due to the cost of agent training. At nearly $2,000 for setup, programming and training, the initial investment can be quite steep. However, the agent training fee goes to ensure agents are fully trained on your brand messaging and company details, which is key if you have a complex business model. Ultimately, if you have the budget, the training could be worth the cost.</p>\r\n<p>A second concern with XACT is its 12-second incremental billing policy. While it is not the highest rate, it could significantly inflate usage. Most of the services we evaluated had a 6-second incremental billing rate, while a few did not employ incremental billing at all.</p>\r\n<h2>Customer Service</h2>\r\n<p>Our customer service experience with XACT was satisfactory. With our initial call, the representative we spoke with asked a lot of questions about our hypothetical business to learn more about the scope of service. She was forthcoming about XACT's services, which helped us understand the onboarding process and the typical dynamic between XACT and its clients. However, we did not initially receive the follow-up proposal we requested after the call.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Editor's&nbsp;Note: Is your business looking for a call center&nbsp;service?&nbsp;Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.</strong></p>\r\n<div id=\"bz-form-widget-0\" class=\"bz-form-widget\" data-bz-category-id=\"10094\">&nbsp;</div>"},"pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":false,"selected":"affiliate-widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=252&aff_id=1000&source=call-center-services&aff_sub3=deal|XACT-Telesolutions&aff_sub4=revenue|QT&url_id=1","name":"QT Program"}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5f15f4947b437425578b4567/xact2_LOGO.png"}}},{"bullets":["Several pricing plans to choose from","Custom packages are available","Offers inbound and outbound services"],"description":"Go Answer is our pick as the best inbound call center due to its services, exceptional customer support and competitive pricing structure. Go Answer offers multiple pricing packages that support any call volume, from 100 minutes to 10,000 minutes. If one of their pricing plans doesn't suit you, you can negotiate a custom plan that includes the services you need at the call volume that your business typically experiences.\r\n\r\nGo Answer offers outbound services as well, including customer follow-ups, market research and lead qualification, if you provide a list of precaptured contacts. Beyond its exceptional inbound services, Go Answer is a great all-around partner and should be considered a contender by any small, mid-sized or large business needing to outsource its calls.","descriptionTest":"Go Answer is our pick as the best inbound call center due to its services, exceptional customer support and competitive pricing structure. Go Answer offers multiple pricing packages that support any call volume, from 100 minutes to 10,000 minutes. If one of their pricing plans doesn't suit you, you can negotiate a custom plan that includes the services you need at the call volume that your business typically experiences.\r\n\r\nGo Answer offers outbound services as well, including customer follow-ups, market research and lead qualification, if you provide a list of precaptured contacts. Beyond its exceptional inbound services, Go Answer is a great all-around partner and should be considered a contender by any small, mid-sized or large business needing to outsource its calls.","fullTitle":"Best for Inbound Services","isFeaturedBestPick":false,"isJumpLink":false,"tabTitle":"Best for Inbound Services","review":{"displayName":"Go Answer","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/1-888-go-answer/","id":"d358667670ca7b0dec6e092601f2af53","url":"https://1888goanswer.com/","review":{"pros":["Several pricing plans – including a pay-as-you-go option – are available to accommodate the needs of small and large businesses.","It has a comprehensive offering of inbound services and some outbound services."],"cons":["A one-time setup fee of $75 is required."],"fullReviewTest":"<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=235&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=call-center-services&amp;aff_sub=bestpick|inbound-services&amp;aff_sub2=lineuprank|1&amp;aff_sub3=deal|1-888-go-answer&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|QT&amp;aff_sub5=pos|text&amp;url_id=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external nofollow noopener sponsored\">Go Answer</a> is our pick as the best call center for inbound services. It offers multiple plans that support any monthly call volume, from 100 minutes to 10,000 minutes. If one of their plans doesn't suit you, you can negotiate a custom plan that includes the services you need at the call volume that your business typically experiences. Go Answer's customer service was exceptional &ndash; we found it to be the best of all the companies we contacted as part of our review of call centers.</p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>","fullReview":"<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=235&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=call-center-services&amp;aff_sub3=deal|1-888-go-answer&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|QT&amp;random_url=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external nofollow noopener sponsored\">Go Answer</a> is our pick as the best call center for inbound services. It offers multiple plans that support any monthly call volume, from 100 minutes to 10,000 minutes. If one of their plans doesn't suit you, you can negotiate a custom plan that includes the services you need at the call volume that your business typically experiences. Go Answer's customer service was exceptional &ndash; we found it to be the best of all the companies we contacted as part of our review of call centers.</p>\r\n<p><strong>July 2020: </strong>Go Answer now offers a starting pricing plan of $50 per month. &nbsp;As we reported last June, Go Answer's starting pricing plan cost $110 per month for 100 minutes. This updated pricing plan will be taken into consideration during our next full update of this category.</p>\r\n<p><i>To see all of our call center service recommendations, visit our&nbsp;</i><a href=\"https://www.business.com/categories/call-center-services/\"><i>best picks page.</i></a></p>\r\n<h2>Pricing</h2>\r\n<p>Go Answer offers competitive pricing; however, the best per-minute usage rates are found at the highest volume levels. Go Answer is not a tiered service, meaning all core features are included with your plan regardless of the monthly subscription that you select. Some call centers restrict features based on the selected package, so this is a welcome aspect of Go Answer's services.</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Pay as you go:</strong>&nbsp;$50 per month, plus a $1.15 per-minute overage fee<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>100 minutes:&nbsp;</strong>$110 per month, plus a $1.10 per-minute overage fee<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>250 minutes:&nbsp;</strong>$250 per month, plus a $1.00 per-minute overage fee<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>500 minutes:&nbsp;</strong>$475 per month, plus a 95 cent-per-minute overage fee<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>1,000 minutes:</strong>&nbsp;$900 per month, plus a 95 cent-per-minute overage fee<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>2,500 minutes:</strong>&nbsp;$2,200 per month, plus a 90 cent-per-minute overage fee<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>5,000 minutes:</strong>&nbsp;$4,200 per month, plus a 90 cent-per-minute overage fee<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>10,000 minutes:</strong>&nbsp;$8,200 per month, plus a 90 cent-per-minute overage fee<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Custom plan:</strong>&nbsp;If you require more minutes or specialized service, Go Answer's sales department can develop a custom package for your business.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>Most features are included with Go Answer, but there are a few add-on features. These add-on services, and their rates, are as follows:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Interactive voice response menu:&nbsp;</strong>15 cents per minute<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Sub-accounts:&nbsp;</strong>$10 per month<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Additional phone numbers:</strong>&nbsp;$10 per month, per phone number</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>Go Answer&nbsp;is a month-to-month service; there are no long-term contractual commitments. You can change your plan at any time, as needed, based on expected call volume, making Go Answer a scalable service suitable for growing companies or seasonal businesses with varying call volumes.</p>\r\n<p>If your business needs dedicated agents, Go Answer has one of the lowest per-hour prices: &nbsp;$14.50 per hour. However, the call center requires you to hire a minimum of five dedicated agents on a team that works full eight-hour days, which can be pricey. But if your company has a high call volume or you conduct uniquely tailored outbound campaigns, then using dedicated agents is a cost-effective solution.</p>\r\n<p>The service charges a one-time setup fee of $75, but that fee is only charged if you take advantage of Go Answer's one-month free trial. The setup fee is higher than other call center services we investigated, but the free trial period is also longer than others, too.</p>\r\n<h2>Call Center Features</h2>\r\n<p>Go Answer provides all the major inbound services you would expect from a call center. The company also offers outbound call center services upon request. Here's more about its call center features, all of which are available regardless of the monthly subscription package you choose.</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Live answering:</strong> Go Answer offers live answering 24/7/365 to assist your company in answering calls during business hours, after hours, to handle any overflow or around the clock. Agents answer the phone using a customized script that you provide to ensure all calls are handled professionally and are consistent with your brand's messaging.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Message taking:&nbsp;</strong>Agents can take down caller contact information, their reason for calling and forward it via email or text to selected contacts in your organization.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Customer service: </strong>Go Answer&nbsp;agents can handle incoming customer inquiries or complaints without consulting representatives at your company.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>FAQs:&nbsp;</strong> Clients can provide Go Answer with 10 to 15 frequently asked questions to better assist callers.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Customer retention: </strong>Agents can also engage in extensive customer retention services, such as mollifying dissatisfied callers. Agents can mail coupons or discount vouchers on your behalf to keep customers satisfied.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Call patching:&nbsp;</strong>Calls can be patched directly to your relevant points of contact as needed for no extra charge. Transfers draw from your package of minutes, but many call center services will charge an additional fee for these calls. Go Answer does not.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Email and text message notifications:&nbsp;</strong>Email and text message notifications are included at all subscription levels. Any updates to your account, appointments, or changes to your script will be confirmed via these notifications, as well as any messages captured by agents.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Client portal: </strong>Go Answer&nbsp;includes access to an online portal where clients can view their account details in real time, including minutes used, minutes remaining, calls received, call types, call results, call duration, the average duration of calls and more. Clients can also customize the scripting used by agents in the online portal, which updates the software at the call center facility in real time as well, allowing agents to use the updated script instantly.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Outbound services: </strong>Go Answer&nbsp;also engages in outbound calling campaigns on your behalf; however, outbound services are performed on a case-by-case basis. In order to determine which outbound services are suitable for your company, you'll need to consult with your account manager and discuss your options.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>For companies with more specialized needs or higher call volumes, clients can select a team of five or more dedicated agents, which come at a competitive hourly rate. Go Answer also offers a 30-day, risk-free trial with no obligations. Companies are only charged a setup fee if they continue following the 30-day free trial, during which Go Answer observes call volume and nature to develop a more particular service plan.</p>\r\n<h2>Answering Service Features</h2>\r\n<p>Go Answer&nbsp;maintains an answering service as well.</p>\r\n<p><i>For all of our answering service recommendations, visit our&nbsp;</i><a href=\"https://www.business.com/categories/best-answering-services/\"><i>best picks page.</i></a></p>\r\n<p>Here's a look at some of the answering services that Go Answer offers:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Live answering: </strong>Go Answer&nbsp;agents are available 24/7/365 to answer the phones on your behalf in a friendly and professional way. You can develop a script to your liking through the client portal or mobile application, or you can customize your existing script. Agents will read from that script when answering your phone calls.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Message taking:&nbsp;</strong>One of the most basic services that Go Answer offers is message taking. Agents capture basic caller information like name, contact information, the reason for the call and then forward that message to the relevant people at your organization. Message taking offers a more polished approach than a voicemail box and uses very few of your minutes.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Order taking:&nbsp;</strong>Agents can fulfill more advanced customer service roles as well, such as order taking. Order taking involves walking a caller through a purchase and helping them with their order as if they were a customer in your store. Agents can also upsell and cross-sell.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Bilingual support:&nbsp;</strong>Agents are fluent in both English and Spanish, offering you and your callers bilingual support if needed.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Mobile application: </strong>Go Answer&nbsp;includes the AlwaysOn mobile application for iOS and Android devices. AlwaysOn grants you insight into your account and the ability to customize your settings.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>Go Answer's answering service includes a 30-day free trial as well. The answering service is primarily for small and midsized businesses in any industry, though Go Answer has a wealth of experience in the healthcare, legal, finance, e-commerce, real estate and publishing industries specifically. HIPAA-compliant service is available for healthcare businesses.</p>\r\n<h2>Limitations</h2>\r\n<p>We found few limitations with Go Answer's services. The only major drawback we identified with Go Answer is that outbound services, while available, are only designed on a case-by-case basis. That made it difficult to determine all of the specific outbound services the company offered compared to the other call centers we evaluated for our review. To determine the specific outbound services that would be applicable to your company, you&nbsp;need to discuss your options with a Go Answer representative.</p>\r\n<h2>Customer Service</h2>\r\n<p>Our customer service experience with Go Answer was extremely positive. The representative was not only helpful in breaking down the offerings available from Go Answer (and the typical onboarding process), but the rep provided valuable advice that our hypothetical business should keep in mind when comparing call center services.</p>\r\n<p>For instance, the representative explained typical \"gotcha\" points to ask about, including incremental billing policies and if the call center billed clients for any agent work time after calls. These are common aspects of call center services that often increase monthly costs. This information&nbsp;is indispensable to a small business investigating the industry for the first time. Many&nbsp;providers don't offer this information unless asked, despite its significant potential impact to the overall cost of a call center service.&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p><strong>Editor's&nbsp;Note: Is your business looking for a call center service? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.</strong></p>"},"pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"affiliate-widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=235&aff_id=1000&source=call-center-services&aff_sub3=deal|1-888-go-answer&aff_sub4=revenue|QT&url_id=1","name":"QT Program"}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5ec6abc69c658ab0408b456c/goanswer_logo.png"}}},{"bullets":["Pre-paid-minute pricing","Second-to-second billing","Unused minutes roll over"],"description":"TeleDirect is our pick as the best overall call center service. It offers both inbound and outbound services, plus it offers additional features, like interactive voice response, email management and live web chat support. TeleDirect's pricing model is unique in that you purchase minutes on an as-needed basis, which roll over month to month so long as you use 29 minutes of service each month.\r\n\r\nTeleDirect offers bilingual English and Spanish support, HIPAA-compliant data security and access to complete call center reporting metrics through a real-time dashboard located within TeleDirect's web portal. Reporting includes the number of calls answered, which agent answered the call, call duration and access to a complete audio recording of the call.","descriptionTest":"TeleDirect is our pick as the best overall call center service. TeleDirect offers an alternative to the typical per-minute, per-month model. TeleDirect sells prepaid packages of minutes that you buy as needed. Minutes never expire; they roll over from month to month. No monthly subscriptions or annual contracts are required. TeleDirect's rates become increasingly competitive when you buy minutes in bulk, with the largest package coming in at a low rate of 75 cents per minute.","fullTitle":"Best Overall Call Center Service","isFeaturedBestPick":false,"isJumpLink":false,"tabTitle":"Best Overall Call Center Service","review":{"displayName":"TeleDirect","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/teledirect/","id":"579706c7162cd1fd36ff55d1cbedd651","url":"https://www.teledirect.com/","review":{"pros":["Prepaid pricing model allows businesses to purchase only the minutes they need.","Any unused minutes roll over to the next month – you don't lose minutes you've already paid for."],"cons":["TeleDirect requires that you use 29 minutes each month for your account to remain active."],"fullReviewTest":"<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=103&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=call-center-services&amp;aff_sub=bestpick|best-overall&amp;aff_sub2=lineuprank|2&amp;aff_sub3=deal|no&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|BZ-RFQ&amp;aff_sub5=pos|text&amp;url_id=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow  noopener external\">TeleDirect</a> is our pick as the best overall call center service. TeleDirect offers an alternative to the typical per-minute, per-month model. TeleDirect sells prepaid packages of minutes that you buy as needed. Minutes never expire; they roll over from month to month. No monthly subscriptions or annual contracts are required. TeleDirect's rates become increasingly competitive when you buy minutes in bulk, with the largest package coming in at a low rate of 75 cents per minute.</p>","fullReview":"<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=103&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=call-center-services&amp;aff_sub=bestpick|best-overall&amp;aff_sub2=lineuprank|2&amp;aff_sub3=deal|no&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|BZ-RFQ&amp;aff_sub5=pos|text&amp;url_id=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow  noopener external\">TeleDirect</a> is our pick as the best overall call center service. TeleDirect offers an alternative to the typical per-minute, per-month model. TeleDirect sells prepaid packages of minutes that you buy as needed. Minutes never expire; they roll over from month to month. No monthly subscriptions or annual contracts are required. TeleDirect's rates become increasingly competitive when you buy minutes in bulk, with the largest package coming in at a low rate of 75 cents per minute.</p>\r\n<p><i>For all of our call center service recommendations, visit our&nbsp;</i><a href=\"https://www.business.com/categories/call-center-services/\"><i>best picks page.</i></a></p>\r\n<h2>Pricing</h2>\r\n<p>TeleDirect's pricing plans are broken down as follows:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>300 minutes for $387 (or $1.29 per minute)<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li>1,000 minutes for $1,100 ($1.10 per minute)<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li>3,000 minutes for $2,970 (99 cents per minute)<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li>6,000 minutes for $5,580 (93 cents per minute)<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li>10,000 minutes for $8,800 (88 cents per minute)<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li>20,000 minutes for $15,000 (75 cents per minute)<strong></strong></li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>When you run out of minutes, you can purchase more or part ways with the company. If you cancel service before using all of your minutes, TeleDirect will refund you up to 80% of your unused minutes. We didn't encounter this with other call centers.</p>\r\n<p>TeleDirect offers optional add-on services for 10% of your per-minute usage rate. These include call recordings, text notifications, patch time and IVR (per call). The company includes three hours of setup and training for every purchase of minutes. The company will alert you if setup and training will exceed three hours.</p>\r\n<p>TeleDirect bills second to second, meaning you only pay for the exact time you use, but you are billed for agent work time. For example, if a call lasts 3 minutes and the agent spends 1 minute filling out paperwork after the call, 4 minutes will be deducted from your prepaid package. The only minimum requirement for working with TeleDirect is that you must use 29 minutes of service per month.&nbsp;</p>\r\n<h2>Call Center Features</h2>\r\n<p>TeleDirect is a full-featured inbound and outbound call center service. It has all the major services we looked for in a call center at all tiers of service. These are the key services TeleDirect offers:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Live answering:&nbsp;</strong>Every call center and answering service maintains a staff of agents to answer incoming calls on your company's behalf. TeleDirect maintains over 400 employees who serve as shared agents, semidedicated agents or dedicated agents.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Message taking:&nbsp;</strong>One of the most basic services TeleDirect agents perform is taking messages, where they record the name and contact information of a caller, along with their reason for calling. They then forward the message to your provided points of contact by email.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Customer support:&nbsp;</strong>Customer support is a more in-depth inbound service, where TeleDirect agents assist callers, using a list of FAQs you provide. If agents are unable to help a caller based on the provided material, they take a message and forward it to your company or, if you opt for the additional call-patching service, transfer the call to the relevant point of contact directly.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Tech support:&nbsp;</strong>TeleDirect agents offer Level 1 technical support to incoming callers who need help troubleshooting your company's products or software. They forward any advanced technical support requests to the relevant point of contact at your company.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Order processing:&nbsp;</strong>TeleDirect agents can walk customers through e-commerce purchases, capture payment information and process orders.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Lead capture:&nbsp;</strong>Agents capture the contact information for incoming calls to help you generate a list of interested leads or previous customers. These lists can then be used in remarketing or promotional material.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Lead follow-up:&nbsp;</strong>TeleDirect's outbound call center services include following up with warm leads.<br /><br /> <strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Email and web chat management:&nbsp;</strong>In addition to manning the phone lines, TeleDirect agents can manage your email inboxes and live chat tools on your company's homepage, giving your customers additional channels for contacting your company.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Client portal:&nbsp;</strong>The TeleDirect client portal provides 24/7/365 access to a full breakdown of your account usage and a customizable script that updates agents in real time. You can also view data, including the number of minutes used, minutes remaining, number of calls, duration of specific calls and the average duration of all calls, and the outcome of calls.<strong></strong></li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<h2>Limitations</h2>\r\n<p>TeleDirect's biggest drawback is that some useful services that many other call centers include in their standard features are considered add-ons. For example, it can be extremely useful to have call recordings available to check on agent performance and ensure your company is being represented appropriately. TeleDirect charges extra for this service. Many call centers also include text message notifications in the base price, but TeleDirect charges extra for this service, too. Perhaps the additional fees can be attributed to TeleDirect's unique pricing model, but we were disappointed that these services cost extra.</p>\r\n<p>TeleDirect requires a minimum usage of 29 minutes per month to keep an account active. While this is not a hard minimum to meet and is certainly not cost-prohibitive, it is something small companies with low call volumes must monitor. Failure to reach the monthly minimum could result in account deactivation.</p>\r\n<h2>Customer Service</h2>\r\n<p>TeleDirect provided excellent customer service in our experience. It took no time at all to connect with a representative following a brief intake, which was provided by an agent reading from a TeleDirect script (as we discovered after receiving a proposal with examples of the scripting). Both representatives we spoke with were respectful and knowledgeable.</p>\r\n<p>TeleDirect agents are available by phone. An email address is also available for you to reach out to representatives. However, TeleDirect is not available by live chat, so you don't have quick, easy access to agents who could provide answers you can't find online.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Editor's&nbsp;Note: Is your business looking for a call center&nbsp;service?&nbsp;Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.</strong></p>\r\n<div id=\"bz-form-widget-0\" class=\"bz-form-widget\" data-bz-category-id=\"10094\">&nbsp;</div>"},"pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"https://www.teledirect.com/","name":""}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rev/prod/ce/66303-teledirect-box.jpg"}}},{"bullets":["Several outbound services are available","Cold-calling is available","Company offers a consultation approach to campaigns"],"description":"Five Star Call Centers offers an array of services that make it the best solution for businesses needing an outbound calling solution. Outbound services include upselling, cross-selling, recruiting, market research, cold-calling, direct mail follow-ups and fundraising. Five Star will also help you design your entire campaign, from drafting your script to organizing and carrying out each step of your campaign. Its personalized service and direct campaign assistance make it our best pick for outbound call center services.\r\n\r\nFew other call centers matched the services Five Star offers, even though it maintains a high minimum – $3,000 per month. The company customizes its services to suit the needs of the businesses it works with, and it doesn't require a long-term contract. In addition to the multiple services it offers clients, Five Star boasts exemplary customer service, with friendly, responsive and informative representatives.","descriptionTest":"Five Star Call Centers is our pick as the best call center for outbound services. It handles high call volumes with ease and offers extensive features that support an outbound calling campaign. Five Star Call Centers will work closely with you to develop and implement an effective outbound calling campaign based on your needs. The service is best suited for larger businesses; if you're on a budget, it might not be the best option for you. ","fullTitle":"Best Call Center for Outbound Services","isFeaturedBestPick":false,"isJumpLink":false,"tabTitle":"Outbound Services","review":{"displayName":"Five Star Call Centers","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/five-star-call-centers/","id":"d7390dca2a9551c54ba8f88fe1930d8f","url":"https://fivestarcallcenters.com/","review":{"pros":["Of the companies we evaluated, Five Star has one of the most comprehensive offerings of outbound services, including cold-calling services.","It offers inbound services and shared agents for incoming calls."],"cons":["A monthly minimum of $3,000 is required for outbound campaigns."],"fullReviewTest":"<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=165&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=call-center-services&amp;aff_sub=bestpick|outbound-services&amp;aff_sub2=lineuprank|3&amp;aff_sub3=deal|no&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|BZ-RFQ&amp;aff_sub5=pos|text&amp;url_id=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow  noopener external\">Five Star Call Centers</a>&nbsp;is our pick as the best call center for outbound services. It handles high call volumes with ease and offers extensive features that support an outbound calling campaign. Five Star Call Centers will work closely with you to develop and implement an effective outbound calling campaign based on your needs. The service is best suited for larger businesses; if you're on a budget, it might not be the best option for you.</p>","fullReview":"<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=165&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=call-center-services&amp;aff_sub=bestpick|outbound-services&amp;aff_sub2=lineuprank|3&amp;aff_sub3=deal|no&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|BZ-RFQ&amp;aff_sub5=pos|text&amp;url_id=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow  noopener external\">Five Star Call Centers</a>&nbsp;is our pick as the best call center for outbound services. It handles high call volumes with ease and offers extensive features that support an outbound calling campaign. Five Star Call Centers will work closely with you to develop and implement an effective outbound calling campaign based on your needs. The service is best suited for larger businesses; if you're on a budget, Five Star Call Centers might not be the best option for you.</p>\r\n<p><i>For all of our call center service recommendations, visit our&nbsp;</i><a href=\"https://www.business.com/categories/call-center-services/\"><i>best picks page.</i></a></p>\r\n<h2>Pricing</h2>\r\n<p>Five Star Call Centers offers both a shared agent and a dedicated agent model. The shared agent model operates on a per-minute monthly rate that is billed in 1-second increments. Shared agents start at 80 to 90 cents per minute, which is less than the per-minute average of some of the call centers we evaluated. If your business experiences a high call volume, you may be able to negotiate for a lower rate. As your company scales up, you can switch to the dedicated agent model.</p>\r\n<p>Five Star Call Centers charges $26 per hour for a dedicated agent. Dedicated agents offer a higher level of service and can assist with other communication channels, like email and live chat, in addition to your inbound and outbound calls.</p>\r\n<p>Setup and training fees cost approximately $20 per hour, per agent, and the amount of time Five Star requires before launching an outbound calling campaign hinges on the intricacies of your campaigns and the required service levels. Five Star does bill for agent work time, which is the amount of time an agent spends on your account handling business, even though they are not on a call. This cost is negotiable, depending on certain parameters. We recommend that you speak with a Five Star Call Center agent for further details about those parameters.</p>\r\n<h2>Call Center Features</h2>\r\n<p>Five Star Call Centers provides all the features we looked for in a call center. Specifically, Five Star's outbound services are wide ranging, enabling companies to develop a variety of outbound calling campaigns that can grow their business and improve customer satisfaction. Here's a look at some of the outbound services that Five Star Call Centers offers:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Lead generation and qualification:&nbsp;</strong>Five Star specializes in generating new leads and qualifying their likelihood to use your products or services in the future, helping you to better target your marketing campaigns and cater to those leads.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Product awareness:&nbsp;</strong>Do you have a new product you are launching, or have you restocked a popular item or brand? Make sure your customers know. Five Star Call Centers' agents can contact customers or send out robocalls to notify them of updates to your inventory.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Product and service sales:&nbsp;</strong>Five Star Call Centers can act as your outsourced sales department and place telemarketing calls on your behalf.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Market research:&nbsp;</strong>A key feature of outbound call center services is market research, including conducting polls and surveys of customers and potential clients. The insights developed from this research can inform your marketing activities and refine your business operations.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Quality assurance:&nbsp;</strong>Five Star Call Centers agents can engage in quality assurance activities to ensure that your products and services are meeting customers' expectations (and yours). Any negative feedback that is reported to agents is forwarded along to your designated points of contact for further follow-up.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Membership renewal:&nbsp;</strong>When memberships and subscriptions lapse, your business loses money. Five Star Call Centers' agents contact members when their accounts are about to lapse and can help them renew their membership or subscription.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Payment and appointment reminders:&nbsp;</strong>Late payments and missed appointments disrupt the flow of your business operations. Five Star Call Centers' agents are available to follow up with customers and remind them of invoices that are coming due or upcoming appointments to reduce nonpayments and no-shows.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Customer retention programs:&nbsp;</strong>Customer retention programs, such as loyalty and rewards programs, can boost customer satisfaction and encourage repeat business. Five Star Call Centers' agents manage these programs and ensure that customers receive the promotions and discounts they deserve.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Crisis management:&nbsp;</strong>In business, things don't always go as planned. When a public relations crisis hits, it's good to have a communications specialist in your back pocket. Five Star Call Centers can handle crisis management communications to help your brand control the message and stay above the fray.<strong></strong></li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>In addition to the above outbound services, the company offers these inbound services:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Live answering:&nbsp;</strong>Live answering is one of the most basic functions of a call center or answering service. Agents manage the phones and speak with consumers in a professional and friendly tone, working from a script or guidelines provided by the client.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Message taking:&nbsp;</strong>Message taking is another basic element of call center services, in which agents capture caller information and the reason for the call before forwarding it to the relevant point of contact for follow-up.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Customer service: </strong>Outsourcing your customer service to Five Star Call Centers allows them to manage customer inquiries and complaints without disturbing your staff, allowing your employees to focus on day-to-day operations rather than managing the phones.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Order management:&nbsp;</strong>Five Star Call Centers can plug into your e-commerce platform or help establish an online system for order management and inventory monitoring. Callers can place orders directly with Five Star agents without knowing they're dealing with an outsourced company. Five Star agents are PCI Level-1 certified, meaning they can securely handle caller credit card information.<br /><br /><strong></strong></li>\r\n<li><strong>Help desk:&nbsp;</strong>Help desk services are vital for companies with technical products or software. Agents cab help callers with setup and troubleshooting.<strong></strong></li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<h2>Limitations</h2>\r\n<p>Five Star Call Centers requires you to sign an annual contract, which is not uncommon among the services we evaluated. However, the company includes a 90-day opt-out clause should the service fall short of your needs. It's also worth noting that conducting an outbound campaign likely takes more than a month, so signing a contract is not necessarily a big drawback. Still, it's good to be aware that Five Star Call Centers has a contractual commitment.</p>\r\n<p>The other major limitation we encountered with Five Star Call Centers is its $3,000 monthly minimum for 24/7/365 service. Other call centers we evaluated that have a monthly minimum charge significantly less than Five Star's monthly minimum. For companies that conduct outbound campaigns or that have a high call volume, this minimum likely wouldn't be hard to meet.</p>\r\n<h2>Customer Service</h2>\r\n<p>Our customer service experience with Five Star Call Centers was exemplary. The representative we spoke to discussed the company's services and was upfront about how it would work with our hypothetical business. He was honest that our purported call volume was likely below the typical volume managed by Five Star Call Centers and was quick to refer us to another service that would handle a project like ours. However, he remained on the phone to discuss Five Star Call Centers' services and answered our questions in detail. He also provided a list of questions we should keep in mind while researching other services, which would be extremely helpful to a business owner investigating these services for the first time. Overall, our experience with Five Star Call Centers was one of the best customer service experiences we encountered during our review.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Editor's&nbsp;Note: Is your business looking for a call center&nbsp;service?&nbsp;Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.</strong></p>\r\n<div id=\"bz-form-widget-0\" class=\"bz-form-widget\" data-bz-category-id=\"10094\">&nbsp;</div>"},"pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"https://fivestarcallcenters.com/","name":""}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5e0113117b437452438b456a/Five_star_logo.jpg"}}},{"bullets":["Cost-effective, low volume plans","Customer service focus","Easy-to-understand packages"],"description":"Signius Communications is our pick as the best call center for businesses that have a low volume of incoming calls. It offers a simple, straightforward and cost-effective service. While the company doesn't offer outbound call services or features like email management, live web chat, or interactive voice response, its focus is on providing quality customer support services and order entry and processing for clients. It also provides robust reports that are updated daily at no extra cost to clients.\r\n\r\nOctober 2019: Signius Communications has updated its pricing since our last full evaluation of the call center services category. The base rate of the Starter package, which includes 50 minutes per month of answering services, is now $45 per month. Signius Communications also offers the Pro package of 125 minutes at $109 per month and the Premier package of 250 minutes at $213 per month. We will consider this pricing change in our full evaluation when we next update the call center service reviews. ","descriptionTest":"Signius Communications is our pick as the best low-volume call center service because it offers an affordable pay-as-you-go plan and competitive rates for an inbound call center. Signius does not charge a setup fee, unlike most of the other call centers we evaluated. The company offers answering services, too.","fullTitle":"Best Service for Low-Volume Businesses","isFeaturedBestPick":false,"isJumpLink":false,"tabTitle":"Best for Low-Volume Businesses","review":{"displayName":"Signius Communications","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/signius-communications/","id":"e56e55c30af0fdac22238628df3e3452","url":"https://signius.com/","review":{"pros":["Signius Communications offers very low-volume plans at reasonable rates, starting at $45 per month for 50 minutes.","Its specialty is providing high-quality live answering and professional customer service."],"cons":["This service isn't well suited for businesses with large call volumes or omnichannel customer service needs."],"fullReviewTest":"<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=250&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=best-answering-services&amp;aff_sub=bestpick|no&amp;aff_sub2=lineuprank|8&amp;aff_sub3=deal|no&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|BZ-RFQ&amp;aff_sub5=pos|text&amp;url_id=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow  noopener external\">Signius Communications</a>&nbsp;is our pick as the best low-volume call center service because it offers an affordable pay-as-you-go plan and competitive rates for an inbound call center. Signius does not charge a setup fee, unlike most of the other call centers we evaluated. The company offers answering services, too.</p>","fullReview":"<p><a href=\"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=250&amp;aff_id=1000&amp;source=best-answering-services&amp;aff_sub=bestpick|no&amp;aff_sub2=lineuprank|8&amp;aff_sub3=deal|no&amp;aff_sub4=revenue|BZ-RFQ&amp;aff_sub5=pos|text&amp;url_id=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow  noopener external\">Signius Communications</a>&nbsp;is our pick as the best low-volume call center service because it offers an affordable pay-as-you-go plan and competitive rates for an inbound call center. Signius does not charge a setup fee, unlike most of the other call centers we evaluated. The company offers answering services, too.</p>\r\n<p><i>To see all of our call center service recommendations, visit our&nbsp;</i><a href=\"https://www.business.com/categories/call-center-services/\"><i>best picks page.</i></a></p>\r\n<h2>Pricing</h2>\r\n<p>Signius Communications' pricing varies depending on the complexity of your business, average call volume and the services you require from Signius. Among the service plans available are the</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Starter package: </strong>This plan includes 50 minutes per month and costs $45 per month, plus $1 per additional minute.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Pro package: </strong>This plan comes with 125 minutes and costs $109 per month, plus 95 cents per additional minute.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Premier package: </strong>This plan includes 250 minutes and costs $213 per month, plus 92 cents per additional minute.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>Plans can be upgraded or downgraded as needed. Setup fees only come into play when Signius agents are required to update client CRMs or work with e-commerce applications. Costs vary based on the amount of training required.</p>\r\n<h2>Call Center Features</h2>\r\n<p>Signius offers call center services that are effective but that are also suitable for low-volume companies. Many call centers are focused on servicing midsized and large businesses, but Signius has options available for small businesses. Signius's call center services include the following:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Customer service:&nbsp;</strong>Signius agents can act as your company's customer service department 24/7/365. Its representatives can handle product inquiries, complaints and feedback. Customer service calls are personalized to your business, and agents use a script that is created by you and Signius.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Help desk:&nbsp;</strong>Signius' help desk serves as an IT support center for basic troubleshooting of products and software. Signius offers up to Level 3 technical support, which means its agents can field calls and troubleshoot issues without contacting you. By comparison, many of the call centers we evaluated offered Level 1 technical support.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Email management:&nbsp;</strong>Besides assisting your business with its call volume, Signius can manage your company's inbox, too. It can respond to common inquiries and forward emails that need further attention or a more detailed response to individuals at your company.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Hotlines:</strong>&nbsp;Signius can assist your business with call hotlines, including employee call-off lines, complaint lines and a whistleblower hotline.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>Signius Communications provides a client portal on its website. Here, you can learn more about all of the calls that are coming in, the type of calls, consistent inquiries and complaints, the average duration of each call, and minutes used per month. If your business operates from multiple locations, Signius' reports provide a breakdown of usage site by site as well. All messages and call recordings are stored in the client portal and are saved for up to one year. You can also download data in the client portal and export it to a spreadsheet.</p>\r\n<h2>Answering Service Features</h2>\r\n<p>Signius offers most of the key features we specifically looked for in an answering service. Agents are available around the clock, and its pricing plans accommodate varying levels of call volume and service requirements.</p>\r\n<p><i>For all of our answering service recommendations, visit our&nbsp;</i><a href=\"https://www.business.com/categories/best-answering-services/\"><i>best picks page.</i></a></p>\r\n<p>Some of Signius's most important answering services include the following:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Live answering:&nbsp;</strong>Signius Communications' live operators answer calls 24/7/365. Its answering service can assist your business with calls during regular business hours, after-hours or overflow calls. Bilingual agents are available upon request, and the company specializes in medical answering services.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Message taking:&nbsp;</strong>Signius agents can record callers' names, contact information, reason for calling and then forward the message to you via phone, email or text message.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Order taking:&nbsp;</strong>Agents can assist callers with purchases, explaining products in depth. Order-taking services can ensure your business doesn't miss a sales opportunity, plus it allows for valuable upsell or cross-sell opportunities.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>FAQs:&nbsp;</strong>Signius' agents can answer common questions relating to your products or services. For our hypothetical business, Signius said its agents could provide answers to up to 10 questions for each of our three business locations.<br /><br /></li>\r\n<li><strong>Virtual receptionist:&nbsp;</strong>A virtual receptionist is a live operator who answers calls to your business after hours, or if you or your staff are unavailable. Signius virtual receptionists are available 24/7/365 to take messages and forward calls so that your callers speak with a live person, not a recording or voicemail.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>There is no setup fee for basic services like live answering and message taking. If you add order taking, for example, a setup fee might be required, which could affect the per-minute usage rate. All services with Signius are month-to-month, and no long-term contracts are required. Clients can cancel at any time without penalty.</p>\r\n<p>Signius's agents are shared agents who work on multiple accounts; however, they are separated based on their particular specialty. For example, some agents specialize in e-commerce skills, while others specialize in customer service. For businesses (and their customers), this approach helps assure agents are providing the appropriate level of service with your customers.</p>\r\n<h2>Limitations</h2>\r\n<p>Signius Communications bills in 12-second increments, meaning that call time is rounded up to the nearest 12-second mark. For example, a call that lasts 1 minute and 3 seconds will be billed as 1 minute and 12 seconds, or 1.2 minutes.</p>\r\n<p>Incremental billing is common in the call center and answering service industries; the industry standard is a 6-second increment, but a 12-second increment is common. For businesses with a low volume of calls, the impact would likely be less severe, but incremental billing is still an important item to ask about and keep in mind when comparing different services.</p>\r\n<h2>Customer Service</h2>\r\n<p>Signius Communications is an employee-owned company, and it shows in their customer service. The customer service representative we spoke with was very friendly and informative. When he was unable to explain something, such as more details about pricing, he was transparent about why.</p>\r\n<p>After our call, the representative followed up with additional materials, although they were not as thorough as documents we received from other services we evaluated. Still, we came away from the conversation relatively well informed about Signius's onboarding process, services and business model.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Editor's&nbsp;Note: Is your business looking for a call center&nbsp;service?&nbsp;Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.</strong></p>\r\n<div id=\"bz-form-widget-0\" class=\"bz-form-widget\" data-bz-category-id=\"10094\">&nbsp;</div>"},"pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"https://signius.com/","name":""}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5ce427f39c658a2e3f8b456d/signius.png"}}}]},{"__typename":"SectionContainer","id":"intro","isInToc":false,"type":"container","title":"","container":{"isBuyingGuide":false,"html":"<p>Today, the best call center services do more than answer the phone on your behalf. They also monitor and respond to emails, moderate social media accounts and offer live webchat services. To help you find the best service, we researched more than 50 companies, scrutinizing pricing and services offered to determine the options we think are best for various businesses. Below, see our reviews of some major call center services and the specific services we feel that stand out from the crowd.</p>"}},{"__typename":"SectionWidget","id":"get-a-quote","isInToc":true,"type":"widget","title":"Find the Right Call Center Service for Your Business","widget":{"widgetId":"10094"}},{"__typename":"SectionOurApproach","id":null,"isInToc":false,"type":"ourapproach","isActive":null,"ourapproach":{"isClonable":false,"servicesConsidered":"52","servicesTested":"10","servicesSelected":"4","linkText":"How we evaluate products and services","linkUrl":"mailto:editor@business.com"}},{"__typename":"SectionContainer","id":"compare-our-best-picks","isInToc":true,"type":"container","title":"Compare Our Best Picks","container":{"isBuyingGuide":false,"html":"<table style=\"width: 670px;\"><tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 37px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 153.957px;\"> </td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 129.043px;\">Go Answer</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 112px;\">TeleDirect</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 115px;\">Five Star Call Centers</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 145px;\">Signius Communications</td>\r\n</tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 37px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 153.957px;\">Pricing</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 129.043px;\">Starts at $50 per month, plus $1.15 per minute</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 112px;\">Starts at $1,100 per month for 1,000 minutes</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 115px;\">Varies by campaign</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 145px;\">Starts at $45 per month for 50 minutes</td>\r\n</tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 37.4444px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 37.4444px; width: 153.957px;\">Billing Increment</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37.4444px; width: 129.043px;\">Second-to-second</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37.4444px; width: 112px;\">Second-to-second</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37.4444px; width: 115px;\">Second-to-second</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37.4444px; width: 145px;\">12-second increments</td>\r\n</tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 37px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 153.957px;\">Charged for Agent Work Time?</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 129.043px;\">No</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 112px;\">No</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 115px;\">No</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 145px;\">No</td>\r\n</tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 37px;\">\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 153.957px;\">Inbound/Out-bound Services?</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 129.043px;\">Yes/Yes</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 112px;\">Yes/Yes</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 115px;\">Yes/Yes</td>\r\n<td style=\"height: 37px; width: 145px;\">Yes/No</td>\r\n</tr>\n</tbody></table>"}},{"__typename":"SectionReviews","id":"our-reviews","isInToc":true,"type":"reviews","title":"Our Reviews","reviews":[{"title":"XACT"},{"title":"Go Answer"},{"title":"TeleDirect"},{"title":"Five Star Call Centers"},{"title":"Signius Communications"},{"title":"Call Experts"},{"title":"OnBrand24"},{"title":"AnswerConnect"},{"title":"Ansafone"},{"title":"BPO American"},{"title":"Call Center Sales Pro"},{"title":"Specialty Answering Service"}]},{"__typename":"SectionContainer","id":"overview","isInToc":false,"type":"container","title":"","container":{"isBuyingGuide":false,"html":"\n<p>Call center services do more than simply answer phone calls placed to your business. (In fact, some services are rebranding themselves as \"contact centers.\") Yes, they handle incoming calls for customer service, tech support, and order processing, of course, but many also manage appointment setting, lead generation, and other outbound calling tasks. The best call centers handle email, live chat and social media channels.</p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https://www.business.com/articles/hiring-a-call-center/\">Choosing a call center</a> can be difficult: There are dozens of companies to choose from, and you need to evaluate multiple factors, including pricing, if you're bound by a contract, the types of services offered, and the quality of its customer care. Making the wrong choice is gambling with your customers' loyalty.</p>\r\n<p>If your business is in a heavily regulated industry, you need a call center that specializes in working with businesses like yours and has the necessary certifications, as well as special training or licensed agents, to provide the support you and your customers need. For example, if your business is a <a href=\"https://www.business.com/articles/how-to-choose-medical-answering-service/\">medical practice</a>, the service must be HIPAA compliant.  </p>\n"}},{"__typename":"SectionContainer","id":"pricing","isInToc":true,"type":"container","title":"Pricing","container":{"isBuyingGuide":false,"html":"\n<p>Call center services don't typically post their pricing online, because what you pay is determined by the specific services you select and your average monthly call volume.</p>\r\n<p>If your business is highly specialized (or is based in a specialized industry, like a medical practice), or you need knowledgeable agents or agents to work exclusively on your account, that also affects your pricing. Inbound services, such as customer service calls and taking orders over the phone, tend to be less expensive than outbound services, such as lead generation calls.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Providers use different pricing models<i>.</i></strong> Some charge per call or per minute, while others charge a monthly fee, which may be tied to a certain number of call minutes per month, with a smaller per-minute fee charged for call overages. Others offer pay-as-you-go plans where you pay an advance plus the call time you use.</p>\r\n<p>As you evaluate services, make sure you are crystal clear on the pricing model the company uses, how it works, what features or services are included in your plan and what costs extra. For example, if a company charges by the minute, you want to find out if it bills in intervals, such as 1 second, 6 seconds or 12 seconds. You also want to find out if there's a minimum call time and if the agent's post-call actions (such as entering notes about the call into the system or relaying messages) count toward your minutes.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Various fees and upcharges apply.</strong> When you call for price quotes, ask about upfront fees (such as a fee for setting up your account) and any recurring and incidental fees (such as overages or holiday rates) that you may be charged. Before selecting a service, ask the provider if you can review the contract in advance so you're aware of all possible fees.</p>\n"}},{"__typename":"SectionBuyingGuide","id":"negotiation-tips","isInToc":false,"type":"buying-guide","title":"Buying Guide","containers":[{"title":"Negotiation Tips","html":"\n<p><!-- x-tinymce/html --></p>\r\n<p>Because you'll most likely be working with a sales rep to design your service plan, you might be able to negotiate pricing, terms or services. These pointers can help you get a good deal.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Figure out what you need.</strong> Before you call any companies for quotes, determine your average monthly call volume and exactly what you need the call center to do. This will help you get accurate quotes.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Get a ballpark idea of how much call center services cost.</strong> Although most companies don't post their pricing online, some do. Examine pricing tiers, fees and included services, then consider which one best aligns with your business. Use this information as a gauge as you evaluate additional companies.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Gather price quotes from at least three companies.</strong> Besides monthly rates, ask how much it costs to get set up, how long the contract is, what fees you'll pay and if there are monthly minimums. Ask if the company is running any specials or promotions. Finally, ask the sales agent to email you a quote and a contract to review.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Compare rates, fees, contract terms and services.</strong> Of the companies on your shortlist, read the contract and talk with the sales rep. Ask about any fees you don't understand or that weren't disclosed in the quote. If you were quoted lower rates, fewer fees, better terms or bonus services elsewhere, ask if the service you'd like to use will match them.</p>\r\n<p>Finally, many of the services we evaluated offer a free trial period. Take advantage of it to ensure the service will truly help your business. During the trial, make several test calls so you experience their customer service firsthand. If there are issues, work with your sales rep or the customer service team to correct them. If you're pleased with the trial and satisfied that you're getting a good value, go ahead and sign up. Otherwise, consider the next company on your list.</p>\n"},{"title":"Features Offered by the Best Call Center Services","html":"\n<p>Below are the criteria we looked for when evaluating call center services. Customer support is critical, because call center representatives are ambassadors for your company, and their interactions with your customers directly affect your business.</p>\r\n<h3>Services Offered </h3>\r\n<p>The best call centers provide several types of inbound and outbound calling services. Many companies assist with lead generation, market research, seminar and event registration.</p>\r\n<p>Inbound calling services are critical, too. Some popular inbound calling services handle customer assistance and technical support for a program or software.</p>\r\n<p>Many call center services now offer live webchat support as well as email and social media management services. Consider which services your business needs by determining where your customers are most likely to contact you (and what channels are most convenient for them) and then choose your call center partner accordingly.</p>\r\n<h3>Campaign Success Features</h3>\r\n<p>Look for a call center solution located in the U.S. to ensure a positive customer experience. Many call centers are located overseas and hire employees for whom English is a second language. This may be an issue if your customers have a difficult time understanding and communicating with representatives, which can cost your business money. Every company on our list is based in the U.S. and employs native English speakers.</p>\r\n<p>Another tool that can contribute to a successful campaign and a positive customer experience is script development. The best call center services help you create a script that the service's representatives follow when speaking with your customers. This script helps call center reps provide knowledgeable, professional customer service to your clients. It also ensures that the representatives deliver consistent information, which is important for marketing and sales.  </p>\r\n<h3>Reporting </h3>\r\n<p>Many call centers provide call completion and refusal reports. A call completion report shows how many agents completed the entire script with a customer before the call ended. A refusal report shows the number of agents who were not able to complete the script or how many individuals declined to make a purchase or take the survey. Many companies offer customizable reporting options, so you can receive key statistics on the progress of your campaigns.</p>\r\n<p>The frequency of reports is another important factor, especially if you are contracting with a call center on a time-sensitive campaign. Many call center companies give you the option of receiving daily reports so you stay abreast of your campaign.</p>\r\n<h3>Help and Support</h3>\r\n<p>The support you receive from a call center service is critical. After all, call centers interact with your customers, and you want them to receive the best assistance possible. All of the services we evaluated provide phone and email support. In addition, many have online resources, such as FAQs and articles, for finding answers on your own.</p>\n"},{"title":"Our Methodology","html":"\n<p>We began our research by drafting a list of call centers. We searched the web and consulted other lists and reviews. We ended up with 50 call center services to examine. </p>\r\n<p>From there, we visited the websites of each vendor to compare pricing and features. We scrutinized services (inbound, outbound), invoice requirements, call minimums and additional features. Services that did not meet our initial requirements were eliminated.  </p>\r\n<p>Next, we contacted the remaining services, posing as a customer. We wanted to go beyond the marketing rhetoric and get a feel for how the companies handle actual customer interactions. We asked each customer service rep the same set of questions about the company's features, options and pricing, and we recorded our observations about the experience.</p>\r\n<p>Our ultimate decisions were based on several factors, including which ones offered the best balance of affordability, useful features and how professional and helpful the services' representatives were.</p>\n"},{"title":"Which Call Center Service Is Right for You?","html":"\n<p>Some call center services offer every service under the sun; others specialize in particular areas. To more easily determine which service is right for you, consider whether you need an inbound service, an outbound one or perhaps a hybrid of both types of services.</p>\r\n<h3>Inbound vs. outbound call center services</h3>\r\n<p>Inbound call center services take incoming calls from customers, clients, suppliers or partners. In other words, the call originates outside the call center and an agent is answering the phone on your behalf. Inbound call center services include message taking, customer service and complaint management. Inbound call center services can also include omnichannel support, such as live web chat support or email management.</p>\r\n<p>Outbound call center services involve a call center agent making calls on your behalf. These services are typically considered more sophisticated and generally require the skills of a dedicated agent. Outbound call center services include services like lead generation, polls, surveys and market research.</p>\r\n<p>Most inbound services can generally be performed with less-expensive shared agents, while many outbound call center services require a dedicated agent. This is not a hard and fast rule; it is a general expectation you should keep in mind when evaluating various services.</p>\r\n<h3>Contracts </h3>\r\n<p>Some call centers have minimum requirements you must meet, such as a minimum time commitment and/or a minimum number of calling hours within a defined time frame. For example, you might have to agree to at least 100 hours of representatives interacting with your customers. If you fail to meet these requirements or break your contract early, you could be charged a fee or for the hours remaining in your contract, even if you have not used them.</p>\n"},{"title":"Issues to Consider","html":"\n<p>Call centers can be great resources, but they're not always necessary. Use our checklist below to determine whether you need a call center service. If several of the statements below are true, consider trying a call center solution.</p>\r\n<ul>\n<li>My employees and I spend too much time answering phone calls.</li>\r\n<li>My company is losing sales because we don't have time to follow up on leads.</li>\r\n<li>I don't have time to run my business because I am answering customer questions.<br><br>\n</li>\r\n<li>We miss many customer calls because the phone lines are busy.<br><br>\n</li>\r\n<li>It takes my team longer than 24 hours to return customer phone calls because there's so much to do.<br><br>\n</li>\r\n<li>We have a hard time keeping track of appointments.<br><br>\n</li>\r\n<li>My team doesn't have time to call and remind clients about upcoming appointments.<br><br>\n</li>\r\n<li>Several of our customers speak languages other than English, but none of my staff can assist them.<br><br>\n</li>\r\n<li>I know we need help, but I don't think we have enough work to hire a full-time receptionist to answer phones.<br><br>\n</li>\r\n<li>Customers often call asking for help with placing their orders, and we don't have the staff or extra time to guide them through ordering processes.<br><br>\n</li>\r\n<li>We want to improve our customer service, but we don't currently have the resources to do so.<br><br>\n</li>\r\n<li>Our customers call at all hours, and we can't always answer the phones when our clientele needs us.</li>\r\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Frequently Asked Questions","html":"\n<h3>Q: How do call centers work?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A: </strong>The companies we reviewed are U.S.-based and available 24/7. All of them have bilingual agents who speak Spanish, as well as English, and several can help your customers with other language needs.</p>\r\n<p>You can instruct representatives to do any number of things with your calls. They can take messages from inbound calls or transfer calls to you, they can set appointments and help with order processing, or you can have agents handle technical calls following a custom script about your business and its products or services. Some companies charge extra for custom scripts, especially for complex ones. Keep this in mind when shopping for a call center service.</p>\r\n<p>You can have the call center perform outbound calls in addition to taking inbound calls. Outbound call services include administering surveys, placing scheduled calls to customers for follow-up purposes, lead generation services and even cold-calling, though some call centers no longer participate in cold-calling if you do not have the customer's information in your system already.</p>\r\n<h3>Q: What are the benefits of a call center?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A: </strong>Call centers free up your and your employees' time so you can focus on the important aspects of running your business while others handle your phone calls. A call center is a good way to improve your customer service without taxing your current resources, and it's a cost-effective solution, especially if you purchase a plan that lets you pay for minutes you use them.</p>\r\n<p>Call center services also help you close sales since someone is available to assist with order processing and appointment setting. You can also have call centers follow up with your customers and work on converting leads into customers.</p>\r\n<h3>Q: How much do call centers charge?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A: </strong>Call centers vary significantly in their cost from company to company. While many advertise per-minute rates, more goes into pricing than just the rate alone. Many charge a setup fee, and some charge additional fees for certain services. Some round usage up, which can inflate costs; some round to the nearest 6-second increment, while others round up to as much as the nearest minute. A call center that rounds up usage might have a lower rate, but your total bill will likely be much higher. The best call centers will explain your rate and any additional charges.</p>\r\n<p>The features you choose and your average monthly call volume also influence how much you will pay for a call center service. On average, call centers charge 75 cents to $1.15 per minute, which, depending on your call volume, could total several hundred dollars a month. Further, if you want a dedicated agent, you'll pay an hourly rate, which can range from $25 to $65 per hour.</p>\r\n<h3>Q: How do inbound call centers work?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A: </strong>Inbound call centers typically involve what is known as a shared agent environment, where several representatives handle your account alongside other clients. Inbound call centers manage incoming calls from a customer to your business, including customer service inquiries, order taking, complaints and more.</p>\r\n<p>Every call center is slightly different. Some simply capture caller contact information and take a message, while others manage the call from start to finish without transferring it over to you. Most inbound calls can be handled by shared agents, although some more advanced functions might require dedicated agents, which are more expensive.</p>\r\n<h3>Q: How do outbound call centers work?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A: </strong>Outbound call centers almost always require expensive dedicated or semidedicated agents, which are focused on only your account, or your account and just two or three other businesses. Outbound calling campaigns involve telemarketing, lead generation and market research, such as polls and surveys.</p>\r\n<p>Outbound call centers typically focus on drumming up new leads or gathering market insights to inform broader business strategies. They tend to be campaign-driven, rather than continuous like inbound call center services. Outbound call center services are commonly used by larger companies.</p>\r\n<h3>Q: How can call center outsourcing help business growth?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A: </strong>Call center outsourcing can help small businesses grow by improving customer service and the overall customer experience without detracting from operational resources. Call center agents are trained in customer service and professionalism; they are tasked with boosting customer satisfaction and increasing retention rates. For small businesses that have general staff manning the phones in addition to their other duties, a call center service agent takes the pressure off and frees up staff to focus on other tasks.</p>\r\n<h3>Q: What companies outsource call centers?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A: </strong>Businesses that commonly outsource customer service to a call center include retail businesses, banks, property management businesses and more. Some businesses might prefer using an answering service, which tends to be more narrowly focused on a specific type of answering, such as for an attorney's office or a medical practice.</p>\r\n<p>The best candidates to work with a call center are businesses that have trouble managing their day-to-day communications with customers or those that have unexpected spikes in call volume. Additionally, some businesses partner with call centers for after-hours support so their customers have a professional representative to reach around the clock. For some businesses, call centers serve as a tool to drum up new leads and business, helping them to grow when they've reached a plateau.</p>\r\n<h3>Q: What is a call type?</h3>\r\n<p>A: A call type refers to how calls are categorized. More specifically, it defines the routing scripts for calls. The call service can create and adjust call types to accommodate the kind of service the caller wants. There are both inbound services and outbound. Examples of specific types of call types include lead generation, market research, crisis management, message taking and customer service.</p>\r\n<h3>Q: Where are most call centers located?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A:</strong> According to a 2018 Statista report, <a href=\"https://www.statista.com/statistics/580729/us-call-centers-by-state/#:~:text=Texas%20had%20the%20most%20call,turn%20employed%20over%20288%2C000%20people.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Texas has the highest call center employment in the country</a>, with Florida being a close second. The United Kingdom has the most call centers, followed by the U.S., the Philippines and India, based on a report from the <a href=\"https://info.siteselectiongroup.com/blog/top-20-countries-for-foreign-direct-investment-by-call-center-and-back-office-operations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Site Selection Group</a>.</p>\r\n<p>Whether you work with a domestic or offshore call center is a key decision. Offshore call centers tend to be significantly less expensive than domestic call centers. However, they might not have as many services or as high security standards. Additionally, offshore call centers might employ agents with thick accents, which can reduce customer satisfaction.</p>\r\n<h3>Q: What are the disadvantages of outsourcing a call center?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A:</strong> When outsourcing your call center services, you may run into a few hiccups that affect your company's service and reputation. For example, if you outsource to a different country, your customers and employees may struggle to communicate through language barriers or different accents, which can affect the quality of service clients receive.</p>\r\n<p>As a business owner, you won't have as much control over the call center's employees as your in-house ones. You're entrusting a big part of your customer service to another company's team, and it could be hard to manage and guide them if they fall short of your standards. There are also inherent security risks in outsourcing, because you are placing your business and client data in the hands of a third party you don't interact with daily.</p>\r\n<h3>Q: What skills do you need to work at a call center?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A:</strong> The skills of a call center representative typically include clear communication and a welcoming and patient attitude. It is also important for representatives to be knowledgeable about the client company and its services so they're well equipped to support that company's customers. They should be fast workers who can access information quickly and understand the issues and concerns of a caller so they  can connect the caller to the right person.</p>\r\n<p>Shared agents (in call centers with multiple clients) should be familiar with call center software and capable of switching between relevant scripts quickly. Dedicated agents should be intimately familiar with the single company they represent, just as an in-house customer care agent would be.</p>\r\n<h3>Q: What is BPO in a call center?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A:</strong> BPO stands for business process outsourcing, which is when a company outsources some of its services to a separate or third-party vendor. In this case, BPO refers to a company's outsourcing of its customer service department to a call center whose agents answer or make calls on the client's behalf.</p>\r\n<h3>Why would you want to outsource call center services?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A: </strong>There are three benefits to hiring a call center. One, you won't have to establish your own in-house call center, which can be a costly endeavor to hire and train new staff, purchase the necessary equipment, and house the center in a physical location. Two, by hiring an outside call center, you don't have to keep up with new software releases, and, three, you can more easily scale your call center capacity through an outside service.</p>\r\n<h3>Should you choose a domestic or international call center?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A: </strong>The answer largely relies on expected costs, your business's needs and the reality of your customer base. By hiring a domestic call center, your local and interstate callers will likely speak with an accent-neutral agent that uses the same regional diction they do.</p>\r\n<p>Choosing a service outside of the U.S. could lead to lower costs, since you're not managing the call center yourself. Not only do you not have to hire new employees, but related costs are lower across the board. However, your callers may experience language barriers. System uptime is an additional key consideration when determining whether to outsource to an offshore call center.</p>\r\n<h3>How do you determine whether your business needs inbound or outbound call center services?</h3>\r\n<p><strong>A: </strong>How does your current team handle calls? If your staff spends a significant amount of time fielding calls from customers that it takes away from their other responsibilities, then you may want to outsource calls to an inbound call center service.</p>\r\n<p>Likewise, if your team spends more time making follow-up calls to customers, you may want to outsource to an outbound service.</p>\r\n<p>If you prefer that your staff not field customer calls altogether, then a call center service that handles both types of calls will be ideal.</p>\n"},{"title":"Community Experts on Call Center Services","html":"\n<p>We asked some of our small business owner readers which call center they use for their businesses. Brad Cook, partner development for <a href=\"https://alfredinc.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alfred International Inc.</a>, said his company uses mindStart, based in Austin, Texas, and are very happy with their experience and their team.</p>\r\n<p>\"This is our first call center relationship, and although we did review several options before signing on with mindStart [in February 2019], their considerable experience, North American-based location and team members, as well as … existing clients in the technology sector were all critical attributes for us,\" Cook told business.com. </p>\r\n<p>Matt Schmidt, CEO of <a href=\"https://diabeteslifesolutions.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Diabetes Life Solutions</a>, said he uses VoiceNation and is pleased with the service they receive. He likes that in addition to their staff being properly trained to speak to clients, they get a text message notification and an email with a recording of the phone call.</p>\r\n<p>\"Being a virtual agency, they have helped us immensely handling these incoming phone calls instead of us assigning an employee to pick up the calls on top of their additional duties,\" Schmidt said.</p>\r\n<p>For Alistair Bambridge, founder, <a href=\"https://bambridgeaccountants.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bambridge Accountants</a>, Ruby Receptionists has been a good choice. He said their staff is very polite when answering calls and the messages they provide are detailed. \"[The] Cost is good as well, and they split out cold calls, so you don't keep getting charged for those,\" Bambridge said.</p>\n"}]},{"__typename":"SectionContainer","id":"what-to-expect-in-2021","isInToc":true,"type":"container","title":"What to Expect in 2021","container":{"isBuyingGuide":false,"html":"\n<p>With COVID-19 continuing to affect millions globally, businesses are expected to continue using call centers for the foreseeable future. Recent market research suggests that the global call center industry could <a href=\"https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/07/17/2063820/0/en/Global-Call-Centers-Industry.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grow to nearly $500 billion in value by 2027</a>, outpacing previous projections. Much of the growth has been attributed to the mass shift toward remote work and customer service amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote work is expected to remain the norm for many, even after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic wane. As a result, call center and answering services are likely to receive higher demand in the coming years than previously anticipated.</p>\r\n<p>While the introduction of automation in call center operations remains a driving force for growth, further concentration of the market is predicted to increase as well. With the rise of emerging countries as prime locations for call centers, these new bases of operation will likely become \"the primary drivers of the market,\" according to Technavio, though security threats serve as a concern.</p>\r\n<p>\"To leverage the current opportunities, market vendors must strengthen their foothold in the fast-growing segments while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments,\" the study's authors wrote.</p>\r\n<p><strong>January 2021: </strong>Artificial intelligence will make an even bigger splash in the call center industry in 2021. Research from Orion Market Reports suggests that AI solutions will be worth $2.8 billion in the industry by 2024, up from $800 million in 2019. This growth is expected to be driven by the implementation of AI chatbots for web chat customer service, as well as business intelligence solutions. Small businesses could leverage the AI capabilities of their call center partners to gain the benefits of AI software without the upfront expense of implementing it internally.</p>\n"}},{"__typename":"SectionContainer","id":"infographic","isInToc":false,"type":"container","title":"Call Centers and Answering Services Infographic","container":{"isBuyingGuide":false,"html":"<figure class=\"alignleft full\"><picture><source srcset=\"/images/content/5a8/4783451ee475b128b45a7/1200_-1746- 1200w, /images/content/5a8/4783451ee475b128b45a7/668_-971- 668w, /images/content/5a8/4783451ee475b128b45a7/320_-465- 320w\" sizes=\"668px, 100%\"></source><img src=\"/images/content/5a8/4783451ee475b128b45a7/2000-2910-\" alt=\"Understanding Call Centers and Answering Services\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2910\" data-content-img-id=\"5a84783451ee475b128b45a7\"></picture><figcaption class=\"mceNonEditable\">Credit: Grant Reinero</figcaption><div class=\"attributionLink\">Source: <a class=\"img_credit mceNonEditable\" href=\"https://www.business.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Business.com</a>\n</div>\r\n</figure>"}},{"__typename":"SectionMoreCoverage","id":"","isInToc":false,"type":"morecoverage","isActive":null,"title":"More Coverage","articles":[{"title":"Things You Should Know Before Hiring a Call Center","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/articles/hiring-a-call-center/","author":{"displayName":"Adam C. Uzialko"},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/content/5e1/499c99c658aed258b4571/1500-0-"}},{"title":"What's an Inbound Call Center? Should You Consider Using One?","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/articles/what-is-an-inbound-call-center/","author":{"displayName":"Adam Uzialko"},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/content/5e7/b50dc5a215ecb228b456b/1500-0-"}},{"title":"What's a Virtual Answering Service, and How Does It Work?","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/articles/what-is-a-virtual-answering-service/","author":{"displayName":"Adam Uzialko"},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/content/5e9/f4be17b437448448b456e/1500-0-"}}]},{"__typename":"SectionServices","id":"other-services-considered","isInToc":false,"type":"services","title":"Other Services Considered","services":[{"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/ansafone-contact-centers/","id":"55f870a4b5e1bb3dba6bbdbd4bc1601a","description":"Ansafone Contact Centers offers both answering services and call center services, with a variety of plans and features to suit a wide range of business needs. Ansafone creates custom programs for its clients, including both inbound and outbound services. Live answering is available around the clock at each of Ansafone's contact centers, which are located in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida and California.","serviceName":"Ansafone","pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"http://www.ansafone.com/","name":""}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5ce41e8e9c658af07d8b4572/ansafone.png"}},{"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/answer-connect/","id":"16349a515d97f01176f83b93fc36c4ea","description":"AnswerConnect offers answering services as well as inbound and outbound call center services for businesses of all different sizes and service level needs. Whether in its basic message-taking services or more advanced functions like order processing, AnswerConnect can tailor a program for any business.","serviceName":"AnswerConnect","pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"http://www.answerconnect.com/","name":""}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5ce41f365a215e4c518b457d/answerconnect.png"}},{"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/bpo-american/","id":"c4afd96d5564c4cf6701673070d5583d","description":"BPO American is a flexible answering and call center service that allows clients to get started immediately with its unique instant activation.","serviceName":"BPO American","pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"https://www.bpoamerican.com/","name":""}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5ce420e67b4374d1238b457b/bpo.png"}},{"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/call-center-sales-pro/","id":"cd98764c3352ac0242615aeb08219708","description":"Call Center Sales Pro offers both answering services and call center services tailored on a client-by-client basis. In addition to answering services and both inbound and outbound call center services, the company offers consulting services. Call Center Sales Pro maintains four domestic call centers in Tennessee, California and Ohio.","serviceName":"Call Center Sales Pro","pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"https://www.callcenter-salespro.com/","name":""}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5ce421b87b4374726e8b457e/ccsp.png"}},{"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/call-experts/","id":"7fd88bec95967bdc58865205cc790452","description":"Call Experts offers low-cost answering services, specializing in live virtual receptionists for inbound calls. Call Experts offers 24/7 customer service, offering overflow, after-hours and round-the-clock support for clients. The company also offers outbound services, enabling you to take a proactive approach to lead generation. Call Experts maintains a dozen monthly subscription plans that range from 50 minutes to 5,000 minutes, all of which are priced at competitive per-minute usage rates.","serviceName":"Call Experts","pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"http://www.callexperts.com/","name":""}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rev/prod/ce/66304-call-experts-box.jpg"}},{"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/onbrand24/","id":"62865781187aff87f822346860fa72b9","description":"OnBrand24 offers a strong list of both inbound and outbound call center services, with every core feature we looked for and then some. It's a great choice for businesses with a diverse set of needs, specialized requirements or the desire to scale with their call center partner. However, the company charges a high monthly minimum for its shared agent model, making it cost-prohibitive for small businesses on a budget and those with low call volumes.","serviceName":"OnBrand24","pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"http://www.onbrand24.com/","name":""}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rev/prod/ce/55165-onbrand24-box.jpg"}},{"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/specialty-answering-service/","id":"03068f21bfe1488885b194d516482318","description":"Specialty Answering Service is the best overall answering service because of its highly flexible pricing plans and exceptional service. Specialty offers inbound and outbound call center services, making it a scalable offering suitable for growing businesses.","serviceName":"Specialty Answering Service","pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10094","widget":{"id":"10094","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"http://www.specialtyansweringservice.net","name":""}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rev/prod/Specialty_Answering_Service_logo.jpg"}}]}],"tocElements":[{"title":"Best Picks","id":"top-of-page"},{"title":"Intro","id":"intro"},{"title":"Get a Quote ","id":"get-a-quote"},{"title":"Compare Our Best Picks","id":"compare-our-best-picks"},{"title":"Our Reviews","id":"our-reviews"},{"title":"Overview","id":"overview"},{"title":"Pricing","id":"pricing"},{"title":"Buying Guide","id":"negotiation-tips"},{"title":"What to Expect in 2021","id":"what-to-expect-in-2021"},{"title":"Infographic","id":"infographic"},{"title":"Other Services Considered","id":"other-services-considered"}],"author":{"id":"5e29aea39c658ab40c8b4572","name":"Adam Uzialko","bio":"Adam Uzialko is a writer and editor at business.com and Business News Daily. He has 7 years of professional experience with a focus on small businesses and startups. He has covered topics including digital marketing, SEO, business communications, and public policy. He has also written about emerging technologies and their intersection with business, including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and blockchain.","thumbnail":null,"status":"enabled","type":"Staff","user":{"slug":"adam-uzialko","imagePath":"https://staging.business.com/images/uploads/user/profile/31e1b7f1f80bd7505b1aa2e57e66edd9b9fa9.jpg"},"title":null,"image":null,"social":{"facebook":"","linkedin":"http://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-uzialko-1ab0974b","twitter":"https://twitter.com/auzialko_bdc","website":"https://www.business.com"}},"breadcrumbs":null,"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing"},"sub":{"name":"Sales","slug":"sales"}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5b99633151ee47a8528b4582/Call_center_bbernard.jpg","caption":"bernardbodo / Getty Images","isBlurred":false},"image":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5b99633151ee47a8528b4582/Call_center_bbernard.jpg","meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Our team has compared the best call center services for 2021. See up-to-date reviews for the top-rated answering services.","title":"The Best Call Center Service Reviews of 2021 - business.com"}}},"pageContext":{"displayModified":"2021-02-26T14:22:00.000Z","title":"The Best Call Center Services for 2021","template":"mega","meta":{"robots":"index, follow"},"docType":"categories","slug":"call-center-services","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/categories/call-center-services/"}},"staticQueryHashes":[]}