Call centers eat up resources. You need facilities, equipment, staff, training, and ongoing operations costs. For many businesses, outsourcing looks like the obvious solution: let someone else handle the overhead while you focus on your core business.
But outsourcing isn't always the right move. You lose control over agent training, customer data, and quality. Plus, the costs can add up faster than you'd think, especially if your needs are specialized.
Before you sign with an outsourcing provider, you need to know what you’re paying for, and whether an in-house contact center or AI agents would cost you less.
Should you outsource your call center?
The decision to outsource your call center will depend on your business’ resources and needs. These considerations can help you determine whether outsourcing is right for your business:
- Cost: This is the number one reason many businesses outsource call centers, which require facilities, equipment, staff, training, and more. Outsourcing to a professional call center can be more cost-effective because multiple clients share these costs, so your business isn’t solely responsible.
- Staffing: This refers to the number of employees needed to run an effective contact center, and it depends on your client base and will impact the overall cost. Additionally, consider how long agents’ shifts will be and whether you’ll offer 24/7 service. If you want round-the-clock coverage, outsourcing your call center can help ensure you have the appropriate staffing without hiring lots of new employees. However, an in-house call center gives you more control over agent training and brand consistency.
- Quality assurance: Quality makes or breaks the customer experience. Professional call centers bring trained agents and usually monitor calls to check that agents follow your procedures. On the other hand, in-house agents tend to know your products better and can answer tougher questions.
What are the call center outsourcing costs?
Outsourcing a call center or customer service team typically costs $0.50 to $1.75 per minute for inbound support and $10 to $50 per hour for outbound calling [source]. Your rate depends on where the provider operates, how complex your calls are, and whether you pay per minute, per hour, or per contact:
- Upfront setup costs: The initial costs typically cover new hardware or software the agency needs to acquire to serve your business and customers. Plus, there could be additional costs associated with hiring and training new employees to handle the volume of calls for your business.
- Fixed or usage-based rates: The call center rates can be fixed monthly or based on the time agents spend speaking with your customers. Either way, the rate typically covers:StaffEquipmentOperationsReportingMonitoringSupport for your customers on multiple platforms
- Staff
- Equipment
- Operations
- Reporting
- Monitoring
- Support for your customers on multiple platforms
- Per-contact or per-resolution rates: Some providers, especially those using AI agents, charge per conversation handled or per issue resolved. This model ties your cost to outcomes instead of agent time.
If you decide to outsource your call center, carefully review the pricing structure to understand what the pricing covers and where you might incur additional costs.
Average outsourced call center cost
Outsourced call center pricing will vary depending on whether it’s inbound versus outbound or both. For example, an inbound call center that handles technical support will require the agents to have technical knowledge about your product. On the other hand, an outbound call center that handles sales calls will require the agents to have sales experience. In both cases, the agents’ expertise will impact the price.
Let’s look at the average price ranges for each type of call center.
Inbound call center cost
Depending on the country where the call center operates and the type of service you require (such as customer service, technical support, order processing, or healthcare advice), you can find rates from $0.50 to $1.75 per minute.
Many call center companies offer flat-rate packages based on expected usage, such as 1,000 minutes for $1,100 (which is roughly $1.10 per minute). Typically, the more minutes included in the plan, the lower the cost per minute.
Outbound call center cost
The costs for outbound call centers will similarly depend on your company’s location and the services you require. As we discussed above, outbound call centers often charge by the minute or the hour, ranging widely from $10 to $50 per hour.
Pricing can vary quite a bit from country to country. For example, a call center based in the Philippines will generally have lower prices because wages for agents are lower than what you’ll find in the United States. This is due to the cost of living and market rates for call center agents in each country. So consider your language needs for your call center and whether you want to support your local economy when deciding where to outsource.
How to calculate cost per contact
Per-minute and per-hour rates are hard to compare across providers. Cost per contact makes it easy:
Cost per contact = Total contact center costs ÷ Total contacts handled
Include everything in the costs: agent wages or provider fees, software, telecom, facilities, and management. For example, if your contact center costs $150,000 a month and handles 50,000 calls, chats, and emails, your cost per contact is $3.
Run the same math on every option you’re considering, including in-house, outsourced, and AI-assisted, and compare.
Where AI agents fit in your call center costs
Outsourcing isn’t the only way to cut costs anymore. AI agents can now handle a large share of routine calls, like order status, appointment changes, and password resets, around the clock.
Most teams don’t replace people entirely. They run a hybrid model:
- AI agents handle routine requests: Simple, high-volume questions get answered instantly, any time of day.
- Human agents handle complex issues: Escalations go to in-house or outsourced agents, with the conversation context passed along so customers don’t repeat themselves.
- Costs track usage: AI agents are usually priced per minute or per conversation, so you pay for volume instead of headcount.
With Twilio Conversation Relay, you can connect phone calls to the large language model of your choice. Twilio handles speech recognition and text-to-speech, so you can build a voice AI agent on top of your existing contact center.
Build an in-house contact center with Twilio Flex
Outsourcing a contact center works well for some businesses. However, if your business requires agents with highly specialized knowledge of your products or services, you may prefer to create a contact center in-house.
Other benefits of in-house call centers include:
- Increased oversight over operations and quality
- Seamless integration with your systems, like your customer relationship management platform
- Enhanced flexibility to iterate and customize your contact center based on performance and customer needs
- Greater control over customer data and privacy
- Streamlined communication and collaboration between contact center agents and other team members
Does an in-house contact center sound like the right fit for your business? With Twilio Flex, you can deploy a contact center in a matter of days and tailor it to your business needs and existing processes.
Flex enables you to add new channels, like email and SMS, as your needs grow. Plus, it plugs into your existing tech stack, so agents and customers get a consistent experience.
A free trial of Flex includes 5,000 hours of usage. After that, you can choose to pay hourly or monthly:
- Hourly pricing starts at $1 per active user hour and allows you to flexibly scale up or down based on seasonality.
- Monthly pricing starts at a $150 flat rate per named user, such as an agent, supervisor, or administrator. This gives you a predictable spend, regardless of call volume or agent activity.
With these flexible pricing models, you get all the benefits of an in-house contact center at competitive prices. Plus, Flex offers volume discounts, giving you a fair price as your usage increases.
See full Twilio Flex pricing, or start for free and build your contact center today.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to outsource a call center?
It depends on whether you need inbound, outbound, or both. Inbound centers typically charge $0.50 to $1.75 per minute, depending on the complexity of support required. Outbound centers usually run $10 to $50 per hour. Location matters too. Call centers in the Philippines cost less than U.S.-based operations due to wage differences.
What's included in call center outsourcing costs?
Most pricing covers staff, equipment, operations, monitoring, and reporting. You'll also pay upfront setup costs for any new hardware, software, or training the provider needs to handle your volume. Read the fine print to understand where additional costs might pop up.
Is outsourcing cheaper than running an in-house call center?
Sometimes. Outsourcing spreads costs across multiple clients, which can save money if you have straightforward needs. But if you need highly specialized agents or want tight control over quality and data, those benefits disappear fast. An in-house center might cost less in the long run.
What are the downsides of outsourcing a call center?
You lose control. Outsourced agents might lack deep product knowledge, and you have less oversight over training and quality. Plus, customer data lives with a third party, which creates privacy concerns. If brand consistency and specialized support matter to your business, outsourcing can hurt more than it helps.
Can I build an in-house contact center without massive upfront costs?
Yes. Platforms like Twilio Flex let you deploy a contact center in days with flexible pricing that scales with your usage.
How much does it cost to outsource customer service?
Outsourced customer service usually costs $0.50 to $1.75 per minute for inbound calls, with offshore providers at the lower end. Chat and email support is often priced per contact or per hour instead.
How do you calculate cost per contact?
Divide your total contact center costs by the total number of contacts handled in the same period. If you spend $150,000 a month and handle 50,000 contacts, your cost per contact is $3.
Are AI agents cheaper than an outsourced call center?
For routine, high-volume requests, AI agents usually cost less per contact than human agents. Most teams use a hybrid model, with AI handling simple calls and human agents taking complex ones.
