The Truth About Call Center Outsourcing—Benefits, Disadvantages & Cost

Choosing between an American and an offshore call center can be more complicated than it first appears. The simple fact that draws many businesses to offshore call centers is that they’ll save them money.

But...do they really?

We've been in the answering service industry since 1932 and have seen dozens of answering services come and go. But, more importantly, we've studied the industry's trends to see what our peers are up to.

The biggest shift in the answering service industry so far has been the offshoring of the service's call taking to call centers overseas—primarily in the global South (think the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, even the Philippines).

As these call centers offshore their services, they save money. But do these savings actually translate into savings for your American business too? Do they offer any other benefits? And what are the alternatives, if any?

Let's break it down.

Benefits of Using Call Centers that Outsource their Calls

Sure, these call centers come with the promise of lower costs, but let's put that aside for now. What else can they offer?

1. They Aren't Affected by Disasters in the US

Since these call centers are usually situated in the Global South, our natural disasters won't affect their operations.

What does this really mean for your business? Well, during a natural disaster like Hurricane Milton, a US-based answering service has a lot to consider.

If they're not in Florida, they don't of course. But there may be one in their state/city in the future, though we obviously wouldn't wish that to happen. Now, if they were operating in Florida, they would have to safely relocate their team while ensuring staffing levels are appropriate, so your calls are always answered. That's a feat.

If they don't, you may lose business. No real call center wants that for you.

Of course, the solution to this is to geographically disperse their agents across the USA so staffing levels are never an issue. And, more importantly, they can support any member of their team that may be at risk. We can attest to this because it's exactly how we operated through Hurricanes Milton and Helene with one of our two call centers being located in Tampa, FL. Don't worry, our team is thankfully all safe!

Your answering service that outsources their calls to call centers in the Global South, however, won't face this problem. And that's a big plus!

Ask your future call center partner where they outsource their calls to, if at all.

While they may not have to deal with American geo-disasters, there may be other issues local to them that may affect staffing levels. Political unrest, economic uncertainty, and of course their natural disasters.

2. Scalability to Give You 24/7 Coverage

Hiring and staffing costs are lower in the Global South, on average compared to the US. You already knew that though.

How do you benefit? Good question. These call centers don't need to worry about staffing levels at all like an American call center would. They can simply have as many people as possible waiting to answer your calls—it would cost a fraction of what an American call center would have to pay! 

So, no matter what time of day someone calls into your business, you won't have to worry about whether there'll be someone there to answer your calls.

Even if you're working with an American call center, this may not be an issue. Many American call centers that have been around for decades understand the staffing levels needed to guarantee 24/7 coverage for your business' phones. If you're planning to work with an American call center, you should check with them beforehand.

Disadvantages of Offshore Call Centers

I’ve seen many American businesses come to us frustrated with call centers that outsource their services. Why? They didn’t get the quality or consistency they needed.

1. Lack of Cultural Awareness

Offshore agents may not have the same cultural background as your customers. This can lead to communication gaps.

Think about if a customer were to call into your business with a pressing issue. They're panicking and end up speaking to an agent who doesn’t fully understand the context of their problem. It may be due to language or cultural barriers, but either way your caller feels frustrated.

Would that agent be able to get them the help they need? Maybe, sure. But would that caller feel helped? Would they feel heard? And most importantly:

Would they recommend your business based on the customer service experience they receive?

2. Security Concerns

There’s also a security concern when outsourcing. US call centers follow strict security and privacy laws, but that’s not always the case abroad.

If your customers’ data is being handled overseas, you might not know where it’s stored or how well it’s protected. When I’ve spoken with businesses who previously used outsourced centers, one of their biggest concerns was data security.

I can tell you firsthand that a lot of time and resources goes into protecting client data for an American call center. Take our HIPAA-compliance for instance—we go through the usual process to certify ourselves as HIPAA-compliant annually. But we also hire a third-party auditor to really assess our HIPAA-compliance to see if there are any cracks in our data storage. That's the kind of thing an American call center would do to stand out from their competition as every other player would be HIPAA compliant too!

Can you say with certainty that your call center that outsources its calls would do the same?

Now, that we've settled that, we can finally get into...busting the myth that outsourced call centers charge you less. That's right, we said the M word.

Are Call Centers that Outsource Their Calls Really Cheaper?

This is where the rubber meets the road: is outsourcing truly cheaper for you? I’ve done the math, and let me tell you, the savings are often not as big as they appear.

We studied four popular options for an answering service that outsources their calls outside the US and studied the average answering service cost. For this study we looked specifically at their 500-minute answering service plan. Here's what we found:

Note: Company 4 only had a 550-minute plan, which we used the pricing for.

This averages out to $896/mo for 500-minutes of call taking for your business. Company 3 does price itself higher than the industry average, but even excluding that we're still averaging out at $648/mo for a 500-minute plan.

Comparing that to any all-American staffed answering service, like Ambs Call Center for instance, you'd pay $550/mo for a 500-minute plan. As you can tell, the difference isn't a lot. 

So, you may think "Okay, but what if I find a call center that outsources their calls and its cheaper than an American call center like Ambs Call Center?"

There's a chance you would! This list isn't exhaustive of course. It took time to find out these answering services outsourced their calls. Most call centers that do, don't necessarily advertise it (why would they?).

However, it's important to recognize that there are differences between a call center that outsources its calls and an American call center. Based on my 30 years in this company, and hearing the reasons why business leave their current call center for our American call center, it seems to make a big difference.

Why American Call Centers?

So, what are the benefits to hiring an American Call Center. Let's get into a couple.

1. Shared Cultural Connection

Hiring an American call center isn’t just about patriotism. There are real business advantages.

Firstly, if you run an American business, your customer base is likely made up of people that reside within America. Having representatives who understand local nuances can make all the difference. You know, little things like understanding when your caller jokes about the weather or his football team when they win—that touch of familiarity resonates with callers. 

2. Heightened Security Measures

We also understand that business owners want a high level of trustworthiness. American call centers are held to strict data privacy laws like HIPAA and PII regulations, which protect sensitive information. For industries like healthcare, legal services, and finance, that level of data security is non-negotiable.

3. Supporting the American Economy

But beyond the technical aspects, a local call center contributes to the economy here at home. You’re supporting American families, local businesses, and often, you’re working with teams that actively participate in your community.

And that's hard to put a price tag on.

So, Outsourced Call Center or American Call Center?

If the benefits of an American call center don't appeal to your priorities for your business' customer service, you could look at getting an outsourced call center to handle your calls.

But if you run an American business and care about providing the support necessary to keep your callers coming back satisfied, an American call center is probably better suited for you.

If that's you, you can read more about the benefits of an American Call Center here.

You may also be wondering "How many answering service minutes will my business need?".

And with many answering services today, American or not, you can even integrate them with the software you use today to save time and money!