You probably outsource your payroll services, rent your office space, and even lease vehicles. You do this for tax advantages and for flexibility. One rule of small business has always been buy what appreciates and lease what depreciates; call center technology definitely depreciates.

Given the many functions that can fall under the purview of a call center (telemarketing, technical support, live Web chat, phone, e-mail, or a combination), you might think that the sticker shock on call- or contact-center technology might be too horrific to endure. Fortunately, there are numerous options for small businesses, from outright purchase to partially hosted, to fully hosted, to fully outsourced, and the prices on many of these are no longer prohibitive.

The outsourced call center is probably the kind that comes to mind quickest: a large room overseas where people with international accents and American names usually have a fifty-fifty chance of either solving your problem or driving you crazy. In this scenario, you neither own the equipment nor hire the employees (the cost varies widely, depending on how many agents you want and what services you’ll need).