When someone else answers your phone, your callers hear them as you. Start with who does this work in Australia, then take the brief to each call centre you speak to.
Who you'll be hiring
Call centre businesses in Australia trading at the end of June 2025: 360, by how many people they employ. The class also counts telemarketing, telephone answering and voice mailbox services.
Hiring a call centre. Have the first half ready before you call. Put the second half to every business you speak to.
Tell them
Which calls you want them to answerOverflow, after hours, bookings, enquiries.
The hours you need coveredBusiness hours, evenings, weekends, public holidays.
How busy your phone getsA rough sense of calls each week, and when the busy times fall.
What a caller should hearHow to greet them, and how to describe what you do.
What should happen after each callA message to you, a booking in your calendar, a transfer to your phone.
When you'd like calls to startThe date your line should switch over.
Ask them
01How will they learn your business before taking calls?Ask what they need from you: common questions, prices, who to put through.
02How is each call handed back to you?A message, an email, a transfer, a note in your booking system, how quickly, and what a weekly report would show.
03What will a caller hear when the call is answered?Ask for a demonstration call like the ones you get, and what happens when every line is busy.
04What is the price per call, per minute or per hour, and what costs extra?Set-up, after-hours calls, messages sent on, calls past an agreed number.
05Where are your calls answered, and where are recordings and customer details kept?Who sees them, what callers are told about recording, and what happens if you leave.
06If they call or message people for you, which rules apply, and who answers for a breach?Ask for the answer in writing before any calls are made.
07How do you leave if it isn't working?How much notice to give, whose account any phone number they set up is in, and whether you can take it with you.
From callcentres.com.au, a concept page.
Listening before you choose
The voice on the line becomes the voice of your business. Send each call centre a few facts ahead, ring them as a caller would, and listen for warmth as well as accuracy.
Notice what happens when you ask something they cannot answer. A good call takes a clear message and tells the caller when to expect a reply.
Using the brief
Send the first half before your first conversation, so each call centre can price the calls you actually get. Put the same questions to each one and compare the answers side by side.
It prints on a single page, with space beneath each line to write their answers.
Shows whether a business's ABN is active or cancelled, its business type and its GST status, and the Register says the public can use it to check a business before buying.