call center

American  

[kawl sen-ter] / ˈkɔl ˌsɛn tər /

noun

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of call center

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Both are large workforces, roughly comparable in size, though truck drivers are disproportionately men and call center workers disproportionately women—and as you'd guess, truck drivers earn substantially more.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 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

Dealing with a call center or an automated teller might have been exasperating.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

All those things can and will be done by a call center far away.”

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