Call Center Knowledge Base
Below you’ll find our call center knowledge base with definitions and answers to common questions about call centers, answering services, and the client experience across the industries we serve, such as legal, healthcare, retail, and more.
Call Center Basics
A call center is a centralized department that handles inbound and/or outbound communications for a business, typically over the phone. Call centers can help manage customer service, appointment scheduling, sales, and technical support. At Westpark Communications, we specialize in helping companies streamline communications with 24/7 support and industry-specific expertise.
Inbound call centers focus on answering incoming calls from customers or clients. These calls are usually for support, scheduling, or inquiries.
Outbound call centers, on the other hand, make calls to potential or existing clients — for follow-ups, lead generation, or surveys. Westpark Communications is primarily an inbound call center, offering customized support for industries like healthcare, legal, and more.
A virtual receptionist is a real person who answers calls remotely on behalf of your business. They can greet callers, take messages, transfer calls, or schedule appointments just like an in-office receptionist, but without the overhead. Westpark’s live agents provide 24/7 coverage to ensure you never miss an important call.
Call centers can offer a wide range of services, including:
- 24/7 answering services
- Appointment scheduling
- Call routing and dispatch
- Bilingual support
- HIPAA-compliant message taking
- Lead capture and qualification
At Westpark Communications, our services are tailored to industries where reliability and responsiveness are critical.
Not necessarily. Outsourcing to a call center is often more cost-effective than hiring in-house staff, especially for 24/7 availability. With Westpark Communication’s customized plans, you only pay for the coverage you need — helping you reduce missed calls, improve customer satisfaction, and grow your business.
This is the total time it takes to handle a call, including talk time, hold time, and any after-call work. It’s one of the most important metrics for tracking call center efficiency.
This measures whether a customer’s issue is resolved during the first call without the need for a follow-up. High FCR is a strong indicator of customer satisfaction and call center effectiveness.
This is an automated phone menu system that helps route callers to the right department or allows them to complete tasks using their keypad (like checking a balance or scheduling an appointment). Westpark offers IVRs to improve call routing and reduce wait times.
This is a contracted performance metric that defines expectations for response time, resolution time, and uptime. For example, a call center SLA might promise to answer 80% of calls within 30 seconds.
Call routing is the automatic process of directing incoming calls to the right department, agent, or voicemail box. This can be based on caller input (via IVR or live agent), time of day, or client-specific rules.
This refers to the tasks an agent completes after the call ends. Examples are: entering notes, updating CRM records, or sending follow-up emails. Keeping ACW times low helps improve overall call efficiency.
This is the percentage of callers who hang up before reaching a live agent. A high abandonment rate can signal long wait times or understaffing. Westpark Communication’s systems are optimized to reduce abandonment with efficient queue management.
A call center primarily handles voice calls. A contact center includes multiple communication channels such as phone, email, chat, and SMS. Westpark offers hybrid services that cover both call and contact center solutions.
An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a tool that allows two applications to communicate. It acts as a bridge for your business information systems to interact and exchange data seamlessly.
Legal Industry
Law firms receive high volumes of calls — many of them time-sensitive. A legal answering service ensures that no call is missed, even during lunch breaks, meetings, or after hours. At Westpark, we provide professionally trained agents who can answer, qualify, and route calls so attorneys stay focused.
Yes! Westpark Communications specializes in legal intake support. Our agents follow your customized script to gather client information, determine case type, and schedule consultations. This helps your firm streamline client onboarding and reduce admin time without sacrificing professionalism.
Absolutely. Westpark Communications follows strict confidentiality protocols, and our HIPAA certified staff is trained to handle sensitive client data. With encrypted messaging and call logging, your firm stays compliant with legal and ethical standards while ensuring clients feel secure.
Yes. Legal emergencies don’t stick to a 9–5 schedule. Our 24/7/365 answering service ensures your firm is always reachable — whether it’s a late-night criminal case, a personal injury inquiry, or a client calling from custody. We act as your firm’s professional voice, day or night.
Definitely. We can route calls to the correct attorney or paralegal based on practice area (e.g., criminal, family, civil litigation). We’ll work with your firm to build a call tree or routing protocol that fits your internal structure.
Medical & Healthcare Industry
When a patient calls after hours, during a lunch break, or when your front desk is busy, our agents step in. We take messages, forward urgent calls, schedule appointments, or transfer to on-call staff — all while following HIPAA-compliant procedures.
Yes. All of Westpark Communication’s agents are rigorously trained on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and certified by an independent proctor. In addition, agents are all cross trained on how to securely and responsibly handle sensitive caller payment information.
We support a wide range of healthcare providers including:
- General practitioners
- Dentists
- Pediatricians
- Mental health professionals
- Specialists like cardiologists, dermatologists, and OB/GYNs
- Large hospital networks
Each call script is tailored to the specific needs of your practice.
Yes! We integrate with many common calendar and CRM systems; whatever your preferred method is. Our trained agents follow your availability rules and booking protocols to schedule, confirm, or reschedule appointments seamlessly.
Our agents are trained to identify emergencies and follow escalation protocols, including paging on-call staff, transferring urgent calls, or instructing the caller to dial 911 when appropriate. Your protocols are built into every interaction.
Westpark Communications
We proudly have a fully developed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section here.
Yes! Westpark has in-house Spanish-English bilingual staff. For callers that speak other languages, we have a partnership with a secure translation agency that supports dozens of other languages.
Westpark Communications is headquartered in Houston, Texas. We have agents both in-house and remotely across the United States.
Westpark hires on and off throughout the year. To see open positions or apply, please visit the careers page.
Please submit a quote form in order to speak with an Account Executive!
Yes! We have a large variety of case studies that is constantly added to. See here.