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Small Scale Call Center - Costs?

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  • 01-05-2017 11:12am
    #1
    ironclaw
    Registered Users Posts: 8,004 ✭✭✭


    Hi Folks,

    We currently run a brand which is entirely online. Some feedback has suggested having someone to talk to and even take the order over the phone could be very lucrative. We're in a good position that we can cover a large period of time in Ireland between having staff in continental Europe and the US e.g. 8am to 10pm is easily possible between the two.

    So, what is the best way to go about having a call center with perhaps one or two operators? Volume won't be that high, but we'd need some call queueing and the ability for someone to leave a message as the average 'checkout' will probably be 5 to 10 mins.

    I'd prefer not to out source as we're happy to manage the phones ourselves.

    Any suggestions?


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    #2
    davindub
    Registered Users Posts: 1,447 ✭✭✭davindub


    look up call center software, there have been leaps in terms of minimising equipment needed, you can install IP phones now quite cheaply and use software to call queue.

    But its kinda of going opposite the trend, simple alternate options might include chat boxes on your website or call me back buttons while you assess the concept.


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    #3
    listermint
    Registered Users Posts: 33,975 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    Apps like telegram or zendesk are the future for online. It may be another avenue to examine


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    #4
    ironclaw
    Registered Users Posts: 8,004 ✭✭✭ironclaw


    davindub wrote: »
    look up call center software, there have been leaps in terms of minimising equipment needed, you can install IP phones now quite cheaply and use software to call queue.

    But its kinda of going opposite the trend, simple alternate options might include chat boxes on your website or call me back buttons while you assess the concept.

    Thanks davin. Would you have a link for any in particular? Anything I'm turning up appears to be basically CRM software. I'm looking for a plug n' play to test the concept e.g. Open CRM and a phone they give me is linked to that e.g. Answer on the App.

    Or does such a thing exist?

    Edit: Appears to be what I'm looking for: https://www.bitrix24.com/prices/
    listermint wrote: »
    Apps like telegram or zendesk are the future for online. It may be another avenue to examine

    We already have a pretty powerful chat suite on the site with triggers based on the user action e.g. Checkout, time on a product page. Even with live chatting, the return is non-existent. The industry we are in is still behind in terms of the technical curve and from talking to people who have booked, or gone direct and booked by phone, they wanted to talk to someone to get some more information. Usually a basic question that is on the site, they just arn't bothered to read it.

    The problem is, once someone picks up the phone, we lose the sale as the agent. Hence, we want to open the telephone route as a POC to see what the conversion rate would be like.


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    #5
    davindub
    Registered Users Posts: 1,447 ✭✭✭davindub


    ironclaw wrote: »
    Thanks davin. Would you have a link for any in particular? Anything I'm turning up appears to be basically CRM software. I'm looking for a plug n' play to test the concept e.g. Open CRM and a phone they give me is linked to that e.g. Answer on the App.

    Or does such a thing exist?

    Edit: Appears to be what I'm looking for: https://www.bitrix24.com/prices/



    We already have a pretty powerful chat suite on the site with triggers based on the user action e.g. Checkout, time on a product page. Even with live chatting, the return is non-existent. The industry we are in is still behind in terms of the technical curve and from talking to people who have booked, or gone direct and booked by phone, they wanted to talk to someone to get some more information. Usually a basic question that is on the site, they just arn't bothered to read it.

    The problem is, once someone picks up the phone, we lose the sale as the agent. Hence, we want to open the telephone route as a POC to see what the conversion rate would be like.

    https://www.8x8.com/uk


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