Hotline
A telephone information and advice service is referred to as a hotline ( Anglicism ; from the English hotline literally for " hot wire ") or customer telephone.
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The service on the customer telephone is often chargeable. The time on hold is always free. Some companies also offer this service free of charge, the number then starts with 0800 . Banks give z. B. Information or help with problems with accounts. In order houses about orders and complaints can be submitted.
Publicly available hotlines can also be requested by the state. These include the HDSW ( Harmonized Service of Social Value ), for which there is a specific social need within the EU. These start EU-wide with 116 and are free of charge for the caller.
If it is a customer service for technical problems, then this is also referred to by call centers as a technical call center or help desk .
Technical call centers
Depending on the industry, relevant knowledge is required for the job as a technical call center agent. Good PC skills are usually a basic requirement. Assistance is provided to customers with technical questions. A network installation can, for example, be supported by the network operator's technical call center. There are also technical customer hotlines for technical household appliances such as washing machines or digital scales. Technical call centers are particularly common in the IT industry. The call center should endeavor to keep any waiting times on the telephone line as short as possible. Waiting times when connecting do not cause any higher costs for the caller.
The employee must grasp the caller's problem and find a solution. The conversation should be kept short. Furthermore, the problem should actually be solved so that the customer is not forced to call a second time. The technical call center solves technical problems by remote diagnosis and is an important part of a company. Some technical call centers have chargeable numbers.
- see call center , for the functionality and structure of such a facility
- see customer service , for their tasks and the classification in a company structure