In our experience, call centers which do well from the beginning share the following characteristics. The impact of a call center invariably crosses departmental lines. An inside sales call center will take work away from the outside sales force, change product cycle times for manufacturing, and require close liaison with the advertising department. The project team focuses on the overall process, not on the pieces. But a good call center is really an integrated system, and changes to any part can affect the whole thing in unexpected ways.
Every decision has to be evaluated with the big picture in mind.
The center has goals which are practical and achievable in the short run. You have to crawl before you walk, and walk before you run. The call center's goals must be realistic, considering your resources, experience, budget, and so on. The project team fully defines the center's requirements before asking suppliers for proposals. Customers who know what they want and insist on getting it are much more likely to be satisfied than customers who let suppliers control the process.