Is there a way to actually – gasp – improve the level of customer service in the call center?

Hm. Good question. How does one normally improve a procedure? Some folks like to put it in the hands of experts. In this case that might mean call center outsourcing.

By adding customer relationship management to call center customer service, businesses are finding success with outsourcing. Many are keen to reduce costs and provide better service in a down economy – 'two things that might seem mutually exclusive,' according to a good summary of the issue at VendorSeek.

But this doesn't have to be the case. One thing keeping quality up in the outsourcing sector is a renewed focus on specialization. 'If businesses could adequately handle their customer service duties, customer service outsourcing would be a non-issue,' VendorSeek says, noting that 'as operating budgets continue to tighten, leaving the responsibility to expert vendors seems logical.'

TMC's (News - Alert) Stefania Viscusi reported that, 'as more and more companies consider outsourcing their customer care services in a bid to cut down on costs and to ensure quality, the need to partner with the right outsourcing vendor has become more critical than ever.'

VendorSeek cites a recent study by TEAM International, saying to look for certain call center outsourcing trends in 2009, including nearshoring, the tendency for companies to partner with providers within geographical shouting distance, instead of assuming India or the Philippines is the automatic option.

Contract partnerships and short-term projects should become common as well, TEAM finds, saying that call centers will specialize in specific industry niches – 'quality increases while costs decrease.'

'Chief among the mistakes a company can make is choosing an outsourcing vendor that is unfamiliar with the industry,' Viscusi warns. 'Not only should the vendor and business be “on the same page” but, the expert knowledge can be used to better address customer inquiries.'

The customer relationship management process 'involves collecting consumer data at various customer touch points and using it to shape communications between company and contact,' TEAM says. Done correctly it creates a profile of the target market, and allows for better handling of challenges 'by recognizing them before they become real problems.'

And of course there are the hard numbers businesses love - especially ROI. A recent survey by Hewitt Associates finds 82 percent of the companies surveyed have achieved benefits from outsourcing, 62 percent of respondents who outsourced for financial reasons met their cost-saving objectives and 34 of respondents say they're 'more likely' to outsource than they were just two years ago.