call center

American

[kawl sen-ter] / ˈkɔl ˌsɛn tər /

noun

an office or department that makes and receives a high volume of phone calls for an enterprise, as outbound sales and telemarketing calls or inbound customer service and technical support calls.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

call centers

plural

Etymology

Origin of call center

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In March 2025, the company announced a partnership with Nvidia to accelerate the development of AI technologies to drive efficiency in drive-through ordering and call center operations as well as to assess restaurant performance.

From Barron's • Jun. 16, 2026

You can only book it by calling a call center.

From Slate • Jun. 6, 2026

My mom worked a number of service jobs over the course of her life, whether it was as a baker or a florist at a grocery store or working at a customer call center.

From Salon • Apr. 27, 2026

The call center typically will retain the golfer’s name, location, email address, cellphone, ZIP Code, payment method, tee-time preferences and history of previous bookings.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

The call center is a cross between a co-ed college frat house and a phone bank raising money for the local public TV station.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023