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call center

call center

20 2.7
A place where many people answer phone calls to help customers or take orders
  • noun
  • /kɔl ˈsɛntər/
  • US
translation icon : centro de llamadas
  • The call center received thousands of calls during the holiday season, assisting shoppers with their orders.
  • customer call center
  • call center worker
  • call center job

We're actually going to use a call center.

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Examples

  • Managing the strategic and operational functions of call centers is a huge task with unique challenges.

    Blog text (12)
  • Call Center Excellence Awards have been established to honor, recognize, and promote call centers that demonstrate true best practices.

    Blog text (12)
  • But I will say that I worked in a call center, not for a lack of work.

  • - I work in a call center.

  • Do you have call center experience?

  • I worked at a call center for three years until just recently.

    Blog text (15)
  • Today, setting up a factory or a call center requires no government license.

    Blog text (19)
  • A new title, Workforce Administrator, will be created for use in consumer call centers.

    Blog text (10)
  • Malik, the call center worker from Mumbai, has already won a cool 10 million.

  • Kumar is now a junior executive in a call center in Gurgaon that serves customers in the United States.

    Academic text (2006)

Synonyms

customer support line
vscall center
2.6

A phone line customers call for help with products or services

is a staffed facility that handles many incoming calls and processes orders

How Big

call center
  • US
20 2.7
help desk
  • Specialized
3 3.0

Surface Forms

call center singular
call centers plural

Morphology

call + center

The meaning 'a facility where telephone calls are handled' is directly and predictably built from 'call' (telephone contact) + 'center' (a place providing a service). This noun-noun compound follows a common compositional pattern found in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Call center comes from a simple picture: a single place where many calls are answered. Companies put lots of phones and people in one center to 'handle many calls' from customers, so today call center means a place that answers customer questions and takes orders.