Call Center vs Contact Center

A Contact center is similar to a Call Center, but with more features.

A call center uses either the public switched telephone network or VoIP for calls. A call center communicates only by voice.

A contact center still uses voice communication, most likely VoIP. In addition to phone calls, contact centers use email, text chat, and web interfaces to communicate with clients or customers.

If a contact center primarily uses a call button online, it is a Web Enabled Call Center.

Call centers can have divided labor between inbound and outbound agents or blended agents that handle both types of calling. Contact centers feature agents that can handle all its forms of communication.

Like a call center, a contact center can be a department within a company or it can be outsourced to a different company.

Call Center Features

PSTN or VoIP telephony
inbound, outbound, or blended agents

Contact Center Features

VoIP telephony
email
text chat
fax
web call button or interface
blended agents capable of all of the above communication
Facebook integration
Business text messaging

Because of technological trends, businesses are turning to contact centers as their mode of customer interaction. While call centers are still a viable form of communication, contact centers offer additional pathways of interaction that customers may find convenient.