Call centres: interfaces between customers and logistics service providers
Call centres are service providers that call customers and users in the market. They may be separate companies or specialised units within a larger organisation. They provide all-important notifications for the logistics industry. Their standard communication channel consists of phone calls that the call centres initiate (outbound) or receive from callers (inbound). In logistics, call centres are often used to set up delivery dates. Companies are increasingly awarding contracts to specialised service providers who handle their inbound and outbound calls and are paid based on sales or call duration.
Why does it make sense for logistics provider to outsource to call centres?
Companies now outsource many activities to optimise their internal and external processes. This process always starts with one question: "Make or buy?" Call centre outsourcing, which necessarily entails the outsourcing of communication, can help improve availability and customer communication. In addition, call centre outsourcing enables logistics companies to use the resulting freed-up resources to perform mission-critical core tasks. They leave communication to specialised service providers that have specially trained and experienced personnel. This benefits freight forwarders in many ways, including easier scheduling of delivery dates for shipments that the recipient needs to be notified of. Call centres handle these time-consuming processes based on the structured workflows of logistics service providers at reasonable rates. Through integration with the freight forwarders' operational IT systems, agreed-upon dates can be incorporated directly into current shipment processing.