Active TeleSource, Inc.

Why pay for an outsourcing firm?

Most businesses have second thoughts about paying the fees of an outside vendor to perform services that may be perceived to be more profitable if kept in-house. This concern is often voiced for services such as billing reminder calls or customer care programs involving teleservices and fulfillment. Before determining whether to do your own customer care or contact programs to save money, be sure to consider all the costs involved:

Salaries - Calculate the employee salaries while including the time needed to supervise the new department operation. In addition, take into account all benefits, sick days, family leave time, etc.

Rent - Although it may be just a corner in your office, required space should be figured at the standard rental rate for space in your area.

Utilities - Include heat, electric, and water among your costs.

Telephones - There are installation costs and increased monthly bills.

Computers, Software, and Other Office Equipment - This involves a big initial investment, and it depreciates quickly. Your accountant can figure the depreciation on the equipment that will be required. If you have call center capabilities you must keep up with upgrades, technology advances, etc. to maintain similar efficiencies to outsourcers who are staying current.

Additional Personnel Costs - The cost of recruiting and training employees and lost production during training periods should be included when figuring costs, as should the cost of employee benefits. Hiring and retaining skilled workers is becoming increasingly difficult.

Support Costs - You will need to have qualified IT and telephony staff available to maintain equipment and troubleshoot software and hardware issues.

What is the difference between Precollection programs versus Third-Party Collections?

Customers contacted for “precollect” programs are not considered to be charged-off or considered in default by our clients. This is an essential issue for working in the first party, meaning Active TeleSource’s agents calling in the name of the creditor. Because the law is very specific on what defines a third-party collector, it is very important that pre-collection programs and Collection activities are kept separate.

Pre-collection projects typically involve no collection of payments via cash, checks, money orders, checks over the phone, or credit cards. This approach keeps the program in the true first party environment and eliminates the need for trust accounts, accounting issues, etc. Some programs are designed for Active TeleSource agents to immediately capture credit card or check over the phones information from willing customers and pass the data to client daily for regular processing. All other payments are directed to the client.