Role of Technology

Technology plays a major role in the call center. Most call centers will have a computer terminal for each customer service agent to use while taking calls from customers. These computers are used to access customer records, product information, ordering status, transaction history and many other types of data. For medical or technical call centers, these computers will help the customer service agents access medical records or technical data.

For call centers that accept email from customers, computers are the primary tool for the call center agent. A customer service agent will read the email from the customer, access data, conduct research and reply to the customer all from the computer terminal. In state-of-the-art centers, the call center management team has the choice to blend email with phone calls and other customer contact work such as mail, fax and text chat. In this environment, a customer service agent may answer an email one moment and be on the phone for the next customer contact. This is why some call centers use the term "contact center" instead of call center because it is more than just phone calls.