As a business or organisation, every call matters because a missed call can mean a frustrated customer, a lost business opportunity or extra work in the long term.
No doubt, running an in-house contact centre takes people, time, technology and money. Building and maintaining that call centre infrastructure is no mean feat, so more and more businesses are now looking to outsource their calls to private organisations.
According to experts at Gartner, 77% of customer service leaders use outsourcing to reduce costs and achieve greater scale.
When Should You Outsource?
Outsourcing can make absolute sense when your team is in any of the following situations:
- Missing calls during busy periods.
- Spending too much time answering routine calls.
- Struggling to provide out-of-hours cover.
- Growing faster than your customer service team.
- Finding recruitment and training costly.
- Unable to provide the level of service customers expect.
Outsourcing does not have to mean giving up control. The right contact centre should work as an extension of your own team. Taking time at the beginning of the contract to study how you operate as a business means that the Call Centre services can emulate how you already work with clients. Then the right services can be cherrypicked to give your business or organisation the ideal support you need.
In-House or Outsourced?
While an in-house team gives you direct control and may seem like the safest options, there are actually numerous costs beyond just paying salaries each month.
You may also need to pay for:
- Recruitment and training of staff.
- Management and supervision.
- Telephone systems and software infrastructure.
- Office space and equipment.
- Holiday and sickness cover.
- Extra staff during busy periods of the year.
These costs all add up in the long run. The CBI said in March 2026 that increased business costs are still a massive challenge for UK companies,
“This month’s data suggests that rising business costs remain a top challenge confronting the UK labour market, with many firms struggling to create jobs and help more people to enjoy the benefits of work.”
Source:
CBI, March 2026
That is why an outsourced service can save you money because it gives you access to trained staff and existing systems. The good thing is you don’t need to build the whole operation yourself or invest in the technological infrastructure and staff training, which can be very expensive.
Choosing a Contact Centre Partner
Price obviously matters, but it should not be the only question that you are asking yourself as a business, public sector organisation or NHS Trust.
After all, you are trusting another organisation to communicate directly with your customers and represent your brand.
You should ask:
- Can they work the way we work?
- Can the service grow with us?
- What happens if our call volumes suddenly rise?
- Can they provide 24/7 support?
- How resilient is their technology?
- How will they protect our data?
- How do they recruit and train their staff?
- How will they represent our brand?
- What reporting will we receive?
- What happens if their service is disrupted?
- Can they show real experience and client results?
The
Contact Centre Management Association (CCMA) also recommends looking at areas such as experience, cultural fit, quality assurance, technology, data security, scalability and business continuity when choosing an outsourcing partner.
Gartner
recommends carrying out an internal review before outsourcing too. Look at your current processes, systems and staff before deciding what you need from a partner.
Put simply, outsourcing works best when you know what you need and choose a partner that can deliver it.
A Service Built Around You
At CallEEAST, we do not believe in one-size-fits-all call handling.
We take the time to understand your organisation, your customers and your goals. We then build a managed service around the way you already work.
Whether you need help during busy periods, out-of-hours cover or a more fully managed solution, you choose the level of support you need.
With 24/7 support, experienced people and resilient contact centre infrastructure, we can work as an extension of your team while you focus on running your organisation.
Thinking about outsourcing your calls? Talk to CallEEAST today for the right solution.
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