What it costs to open a call center: a cost checklist and the AI operator alternative

First, work out how many operators you need

There is a simple way to estimate the headcount. The calculator on our home page works the same way:

1. 1Find the daily talk time: calls × average length. For example, 100 calls × 2 minutes = 200 minutes, a little over three hours.
2. 2An operator doesn’t talk for the whole shift: there are breaks, lunch, training and sick days, waiting between calls and notes after each one. Our calculator counts about 4 hours of an 8-hour shift on calls, plus 45 seconds of notes after each call.
3. 3Add the hours you must cover. To answer around the clock, even with few calls, at least one person has to sit in each shift: three eight-hour shifts.
4. 4A week has seven days, so someone must take each seat at weekends too. That makes about 1.4 people per seat.

A hundred two-minute calls a day don’t fill even one shift. But to answer 24/7 with three shifts and cover, you need about 5 people. With more calls in the daytime, the number grows.

Salaries: the biggest cost

For example, say an operator earns 6 million so‘m a month. This is only an example: use the figure for your city and requirements. Then 5 people × 6 million = 30 million so‘m a month on salaries alone.

On top of that come payroll taxes and contributions, extra pay for night shifts and bonuses. And as the team grows, someone has to manage it.

Costs beyond salaries

• Desks: furniture, computers, good headsets, office rent and internet.
• Telephony: a number, several lines (channels) to talk at the same time, and minutes.
• Software: a PBX or virtual PBX, call recording, CRM licences.
• A supervisor who plans the shifts, listens to calls and checks quality.
• Training: a new operator needs time to learn prices, services and the script. When someone leaves, you hire and train again.
• Sick leave and holidays: someone has to cover, or calls go unanswered. What that costs: missed calls.

Outsourced call centers: what to ask

An outside call center takes care of desks and equipment. Prices are usually per hour, per call or per minute, sometimes with a monthly fee. Get several quotes and compare them for the same volume. Before you sign, ask:

• Who answers at night and at weekends, and is that in the price?
• Do the operators speak Uzbek and Russian fluently?
• Will you get call recordings and reports?
• How will each call’s result get into your CRM?
• How fast will operators relearn when prices, services or the script change?

Five questions to answer before you decide

• How many calls arrive a day, and at what hours?
• Which hours must be covered: office hours only, or around the clock?
• Which questions do customers ask most, and how often do they repeat?
• What must be recorded after each call: name, need, time, budget?
• Who handles complicated cases, and how does a call reach them?

With these answers you can compare any option (your own team, an outsourcer or an AI operator) by the same yardstick.

Compared with an AI operator

A hundred two-minute calls a day cost about 4.8 million so‘m a month with Sado, nights and weekends included. Try your own numbers in the calculator. Full comparison: AI vs call center.

People and an AI operator together

It doesn’t have to be one or the other. The AI operator takes routine, repeated calls, evenings, weekends and peak hours. A complicated complaint, a large deal or an unusual case goes to your staff by your rule. That way even a small team leaves no call unanswered. How it works: AI operator for incoming calls.

Questions