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Rob O'Malley, the UK Managing Director of Cyber City Teleservices (Philippines) examines the past, present and future of outsourced call centre pricing.
Margins for call centre vendors have reduced steadily since the 1990’s and many have resorted to ever-increasingly complex pricing structures. Depending on the vendor and the application being outsourced, prices can be calculated per item, call, minute, contact, outcome or (as in most circumstances) per agent hour. However, even with the cost per hour calculation, there are many different variations such as fully loaded, cost plus, open-book, productive and timesheet. This variety of pricing options makes comparison difficult and many people who procure these services.
The Different Types of Pricing
Cost per hour” has many definitions. The “basic” cost is that quoted for an hour of agent’s time. The pricing model of OSP’s may or may not include the cost of management. The “ongoing” cost is the basic cost, plus the cost of all other elements necessary to provide the service, such as management time, training, systems development & management. In turn, the “fully loaded” cost is the ongoing cost, plus the cost of set-up and implementation of the programme.
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