Schools are centers of knowledge and information that enable students to achieve their dreams and goals. Although most of the learning is done in the classroom, the process is far from over in just that setting. There is a need for the students to connect to access further information.
The parents of these young individuals also need to stay informed about the activities happening in the school. Alumni and even the school staff also need a platform that allows them to assess easy and quick information. In any of these scenarios, an education call center is the perfect solution to all of these pressing needs. You can either have an in-house call center or outsource.
Choosing the second option is usually the one most educational institution picks. This is because of the challenging nature of having this in-house department. The budget might not be available to set up a center that is befitting of modern times and demands.
If you are thinking of following this path, you might be wondering how to decide on which provider to hire. Did we just read your mind? Yes, we did, and to show you just how psychic we are, we’ll reveal factors you need to look out for when you hire. We’re sure at the end of this article, you’ll know just the right call center to partner with.
Services the Call Center Must Provide
Before you make your choice, it’s expected that you get a list of providers to choose from. You can get referrals from other administrators in the education industry or even from other professionals in the industry. Your staff can even provide you with referrals.
If asking for referrals doesn’t work or you don’t get enough options to pick from, you can then use the internet. Run a simple search on Google for call centers near you. You can read this article to learn how to get Google search results that are actually useful. Although most of the work done by the center will be done remotely, it helps that they have a location close to you that you can easily walk into if such a need arises.
You need at least 5 options to choose from. Once you have them, the next thing is to compare their services. This is crucial because it determines the quality you’ll get. Therefore, below are the critical services an education call center must provide:
Switchboard
This involves the integration of the provider’s team with the school. Therefore, this goes beyond mere call routing. The integration of the team will enable them to answer simple questions as well as guide callers. Furthermore, this level of integration and understanding ensures that they know the right staff or department to transfer a call to when required.
Financial
One of the main reasons students and their parents contact call centers is to find out about financial aid matters. You can visit https://www.onlineschools.org/ for an easy guide to financial aid. You shouldn’t expect the provider’s team to be made up of financial aid experts. However, it’s expected that they can offer better responses to such matters than an in-house team would provide.
Therefore, they should be able to do the following:
- Answer general financial aid questions
- Send forms via email to parents, students, and the appropriate financial aid office
- Connect parents or students with the appropriate school staff to fix holds
- Assist the school’s staff with messages that come in after working hours
- Provide information regarding financial aid essentials to reduce the number of calls the staff members receive
Admission
The admission building/office is one of the most well-known areas in most schools. Everyone has had to go there at one time or the other. Also, it can be very busy during admission periods. As such, the staff in this department can end up with a mountain of work to deal with.
One duty that can be quite challenging is having to answer calls all through the day. Thankfully, this burden can be lessened by hiring a call center that offers admission services. When properly set up, the calls from prospective or current students go straight to an operator. The operator, as expected, is well-integrated and familiar with the admission process and can easily help such students find their bearings.
The admission services you need to look out for include:
- Call routing/call forwarding
- Email distribution after a call transfer
- Call prequalification to determine which programs match the prospective students
- Information gathering
Business Office
Although schools are regarded as educational institutions, they still run as a business. Therefore, the setup of a business office is not out of place. When you want to hire a provider, ensure they do the following:
- Advise students on the forms they need to fill out as well as how to go about it
- Distribute forms via email or fax
- Provide callers with general information and office hours
- Provide messaging after office hours
- Redirect those with account holds to the appropriate personnel
- Provide news announcement advice to students
Alumni Office
The alumni of any school are an important support group. You can check here to discover the importance of an alumni association. Therefore, the importance of the school staying in touch with the alumni cannot be downplayed. So, the call center must offer these services:
- Collection of RSVPs
- Spreading the word about announcements and events to the alumni
- Dealing with messages after work hours
Ethics
This includes services such as:
- Receiving information about bullying, harassment, ethics infractions, and all kinds of misconduct
- Processing complaints
- Complaints processing follow-up
- Transferring calls to the right staff member
Conclusion
Having a call center makes it easy for students, parents, alumni, and staff to get the information they need about activities in the school. Since the easiest option is to outsource this service, choosing the right provider can be challenging. To ease this challenge, we’ve provided you with a guide on what to look for when partnering with a call center service for your educational institution.
