The usual purpose of a call-center is to receive inbound calls for as many services that can be aided through telephone calls. Since there is much investment put into customer-care relationship by companies, call centers that have live agents answering a customer have replaced answering machines or voice mail that seem too formal and quite unfriendly. Real-person telephone answering services (such as inbound call centers) give you a more relaxed and caring image.

Inbound calls are initiated by an individual to obtain information, report a malfunction or ask for assistance. This is different from outbound calls where the agent initiates the call to a customer with purposes of selling a product or subscription. That is known as telemarketing, which carries an entirely different set of methods and requirements for smooth operation. Inbound call centers are expensive to run sometimes, but they are extremely valuable.

Many inbound call centers s are now outsourced from India, The Philippines and some parts of Latin America, where there is a large number of fluent English speakers and professionals. However, there still exist many inbound call centers domestically that are being utilized by companies great and small for customer service and sales.

Inbound call centers receive more than complaints from customers. They also are the recipients of orders for fast-food, flowers and other delivery products. Some large call center companies continue to broaden their capabilities by dealing in more and more complicated solutions aimed at low-cost service enhancements. Coupled with automated services, live inbound call centers are still very much a booming industry all over the world.