The demise of the call centre

1999-05-10

Over the past ten years call centres have boomed, and for good reason. Cost savings have been made by centralising customer service operations, optimising business processes and locating staff in areas of cheaper infrastructure and employment costs. How sad, then, that the internet has come along and wrecked all that good work.

How can this be? Call centres have a variety of functions, but one of their chief objectives is to manage the interface between customers and computer systems. Want to book a flight? Call our travel centre and we will type your details into our system and book it for you. Want to check your balance? Give us a call. But wait. What if you could also access such functions directly, through a Web browser, without you needing to be held in a queue and without the need for someone to take a call. Interested? Then you will understand why the demise of the call centre has been predicted.

Call centres are not dead, or even dying. However the need for call centres to take care of mundane, routine enquiries is rapidly going away. As says Tom Black of the Smith Group, this trend will accelerate with the arrival of digital, interactive television and the set top box. Call centres of the future are likely to be smaller and more focused on sales activities and proactive customer support, integrated with online services. Call centre strategists should consider provision of customer services using all access devices, not just the telephone.

(First published 10 May 1999)