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The differences between contact agents and call center representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a contact agent and a call center representative. Additionally, a call center representative has an average salary of $31,549, which is higher than the $28,301 average annual salary of a contact agent.
The top three skills for a contact agent include customer service, phone calls and patients. The most important skills for a call center representative are strong customer service, customer service, and patients.
| Contact Agent | Call Center Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $28,301 | $31,549 |
| Hourly rate | $13.61 | $15.17 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 209,089 | 133,579 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | High School Diploma, 37% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Contact agents are customer service professionals who handle emails, phone calls, and live chat messages. The agents assist customers with order inquiries, bills and payments, and support questions and complaints. These agents deal with technical support, inbound and outbound sales, and appointment bookings. They must ensure to handle an appropriate number of calls per day, resolve calls on the primary contact or refer them to the correct department, and log the call accurately against the customer's account.
Call center representatives are employees who take customer calls in the company's contact center. They answer incoming calls related to their account. Call center representatives are trained on the company's products, policies, and guidelines. They are expected to know the ins and outs of every company product under their account before they are assigned to the operations floor. Once they are deemed efficient enough to handle calls, they begin to take customer inquiries and try to resolve them during the call. Call center representatives are expected to follow company policies and procedures and to meet the goals set by the company.
Contact agents and call center representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Contact Agent | Call Center Representative | |
| Average salary | $28,301 | $31,549 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $36,000 | Between $25,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Milwaukee, WI | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Washington |
| Best paying company | Idaho Central Credit Union | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a contact agent and a call center representative in terms of educational background:
| Contact Agent | Call Center Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | High School Diploma, 37% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between contact agents' and call center representatives' demographics:
| Contact Agent | Call Center Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 33.4% Female, 66.6% | Male, 27.4% Female, 72.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.8% Asian, 6.6% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 6.1% White, 55.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |