Dealing with call centres is something we all do from time to time, but how much do we really know about them? Clue: It’s not all sales!

At italk, wepride ourselves on providing you with quality UK-based support direct from ourBrighton offices. We believe that friendly local call centers are intrinsic tomodern British business, but digging into the history of the humble UK callcentre shows that it hasn’t always been that way.

The rise ofthe Great British call centre began with the creation of “Automatic CallDistributor” technology in the 1960s, which automatically assigned incomingcalls to the best available agent. This made it possible for for companies tohandle far greater numbers of calls, and to employ greater number of agents asa result.

Thistechnology led to the spread of “Private Automated Business Exchange” systemsover the 1970s, adopted by companies such as Barclaycard and British Gas tohandle incoming calls. It wasn’t until 1985 that Direct Line opened the firstcall centre to deal exclusively with outbound calls and telesales.

By the late1980s, the UK was home to one of the largest call centre industries in theworld, and the number of British workers employed in contact centres soared. Bythe turn of the millennium, larger companies began cutting costs bytransferring calls abroad - a trend that made it far more common to hear anaccent from the other side of the world on the phone than one from your ownlocale. 

The influxof international call centers soon raised concerns amongst customers of UKcompanies, frustrated by language barriers and looking for a more personalapproach to their problems. In recent years, many UK contact centres haveresponded by returning to their homeland, resulting in 3.5% of all Britishemployees currently working in call centres.

But what islife behind the switchboards really like? “Working in a call centre certainlyprovided me with a different kind of education than going to University wouldhave,” says Gary,  “I studied at collegeand then went in to full time employment in a call centre, earning more thanmost of my friends! Call centres provide staff with consistent training,development and mentoring, whilst opening the door to several different careerpaths.”

The futureis certainly bright for Britain’s call centres, with increased training andresources contributing to happy agents and satisfied customers. “Call centresremain strong even in the digital age, as people who need further information,advice or assistance with their purchase or service may wish for a personaltouch,” concludes Gary.

Our in-houseteam in Brighton is always on hand to deal with queries or talk you through theideal package for your requirements, so why not continue the tradition ofBritain’s call centres and give us a call now on 0845 373 4290?