Early Automatic Call Distributors (ACD)

But the basic features of the modern call centre can be recognised almost ten years before this, in
the mid-1960s. Private Automated Business Exchanges (PABX) began to be used to handle large
numbers of customer contacts.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term call centre as follows:
call centre n. an office staffed and equipped to handle large numbers of telephone calls, using
computer technology to assist in the management of calls, supply of information, etc.; esp. such
an office providing the centralized customer contact and customer service functions of a large
organization.
That computer technology is the Automatic Call Distributor, and its development is closely
linked to that of the call centre. ACD systems allow calls to be filtered and assigned to the best
possible agents available at the time. An algorithm determines which agent receives which call.
The invention of ACD technology made the concept of a call centre possible. Essentially it
replaced the human operator with a far more flexible automated system capable of handling
much greater numbers of calls.
The first call centres
The first ACD systems would probably have emerged in the 1950s to handle central operator
enquiries at the main telephone companies. To date we have not been to find any concrete
evidence of this so far
The earliest example of a call centre we can find in the UK is at the The Birmingham Press and
Mail.
They had a GEC PABX 4 ACD, installed in 1965, as seen in the photos. Thanks to the British
Telephones website for allowing us to reproduce them.
Already the hallmarks of the call centre can be seen in the rows of agents with individual phone
terminals, taking and making calls.
Early adopters
By the early 1970s PABX systems were beginning to include ACD technology, allowing the
development of large-scale call centres.
In May 1972, the New Scientist magazine reported that Barclaycard had installed a Plessey
PABX at its Northampton processing centre. This included an ACD to allow up to 72 enquiries
to be dealt in cyclic order. The agents on this system were able to check the credit card records of
Barclaycards 1.6 million customers via a microfiche reference system.
At the same time, Barclaycards competitors Access installed a computerised system allowing
very fast access to customer records. It was an indication of the future direction of contact
centres.
In 1972 Gas World reported the installation of an ACD system at British Gas in Wales. The
system had the capacity to handle up to 20,000 calls per week. This may have been the first
multilingual system as it handled both Welsh and English calls. It was reported that Welsh-
speaking customers in Aberystwyth at first found it strange to be telling someone in Wrexham of
their problems.
Big names enter the market
Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s technological advances consolidated the importance of call
centres to business. Many of todays big names established themselves in the UK during this
period.
Datapoint began working with TSB Phonebank (now Lloyds TSB). [Does anyone know the date
when TSB Phonebank started ?]

Direct Line started their call centres in 1985
In 1985, Direct Line was founded by Peter Wood, becoming the first company to sell insurance
entirely over the telephone.
Call centre technology allowed these companies to base their entire business model on telephone
sales. In the USA, Aspect Telecommunications was founded by Jim Carreker.
Aspects systems improved upon the early ACDs. They allowed calls made from touch-tone
phones to be routed more efficiently, by distinguishing between types of calls and connecting
them to specialised teams of agents. This cut down call waiting times, and allowed call centres to
deal with an increase in call volumes brought about by the introduction of toll-free phone
numbers.
Aspects flagship product was the Aspect CallCenter, somewhat fittingly, as the company went
on to become one of the worlds largest manufacturer of dedicated ACDs.
Aspect entered the UK market in 1989, with Microsoft as their first customer. The deregulation
of the UK telecoms industry led to a drop in service costs, and as a result the UK contact centre
industry became larger than in any other country except the USA.
ACDs systems fuelled innovation, such as the launch of First Direct in 1989. First Direct was the
UKs first direct-banking company, and proclaimed itself the future of banking with an unusual
television advert made to seem as if it was being broadcast from 2010.
The advert can be viewed here.
When the term call centre was created
The OED lists the earliest published use of the term call centre as being as recent as 1983,
in Data Communications, in this sentence:
Each of these *call centers is staffed with agents who work with Honeywell intelligent
terminals, enabling them to quote rates and compute discounts given to large users.
Dot com mania
In the 1990s the call centre industry continued to grow, spurred on by the rise of the internet.
From 1995 onwards internet-based dot com companies attracted vast amounts of investment
from venture capitalists excited by the potential for rapid growth offered by the online economy.
As websites became the central point of contact and sales for an increasing number of
companies, call centres were essential in dealing with customer service and technical support.
Unfortunately it didnt last, and by 2001 the dot com crash saw many internet-based companies
go bust.

Rise of the offshore call centre
The call centre was still on the rise. By 2003 the industry consisted of 5,320 call centre
operations employing 800,000 people in the UK. 500,000 of these people were working in agent
positions. The industry had grown by 250% since 1995, and was still growing.
The early 2000s saw a trend for large companies to transfer customer service departments
overseas. Cheaper labour costs and in some cases better skills in the workforce made offshore
call centres attractive to businesses seeking to cut costs.
Locations in India, the Philippines and South Africa aggressively marketed themselves as
offshore call centre destinations. India was particularly popular, as a large number of graduates
available for call centre work made for cheaper and technically able agents for technical support
phone lines.
Late 2000s: a backlash against offshoring
Offshoring slowed the growth of the industry in the UK. But few companies moved their whole
customer service operations overseas, and by midway through the decade a backlash had begun.
Customers sometimes had trouble understanding the English spoken by overseas agents.
Companies with large offshore call centres attracted negative media coverage for taking jobs
away from the UK.
Over the last three years some companies have actively advertised the fact that their call centres
are in the UK. NatWest launched an advertising campaign in 2007 based around guaranteeing
that customers would speak to agents in the UK rather than overseas. Some companies have also
moved customer service operations back to the UK.
The call centre has now been an invaluable business facility for three decades. With the recent
rise of social media and technology that may allow call centres to become virtual networks of
homeworkers linked by cloud computing, it appears customer service is swiftly evolving.
Call centres are a vitally important source of jobs. As Call Centre Helper reported recently, new
figures from ContactBabel show that more than one million people are now employed by contact
centres in the UK.
Our history of the call centre is far from complete, and wed like to include your knowledge. If
you have any memories, information or stories about call centre history, drop us a line.
Many thanks to all of the people who have helped to contribute so far to this article, including
Derek Massey, Phil Wright, Dirk Speas, Steve Morell and to Bob Freshwater from the British
Telephones website.
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