Key takeaways
- Colombia's outsourcing sector passed 705,000 jobs by the end of 2021, and BPO exports topped USD 1.98 billion that year, with the United States the main destination (Invest in Colombia).
- Colombia keeps UTC-5 all year, so a Colombia team works US Eastern hours in winter and US Central hours in summer.
- English levels vary by city, so judge a vendor on each agent's assessment, not on a national ranking.
- Call Force Global charges $13 to $19 per agent hour, all-in. A bilingual seat costs the same as an English-only one.
Last updated by Miki Furman, Founder & CEO.
Colombia call center facts, with sources
Colombia is one of Latin America's larger outsourcing markets. Its BPO sector passed 705,000 jobs by the end of 2021, according to MARO and Colombia Productiva as published by Invest in Colombia, and BPO exports exceeded USD 1.98 billion that year, up 26%, with the United States the main destination.
| Fact | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| BPO sector jobs, end of 2021 | 705,000+ | Invest in Colombia, citing MARO and Colombia Productiva (2022) |
| BPO exports, 2021 | Over USD 1.98 billion, up 26% on 2020; main destinations the United States, Spain, Mexico and Chile | Invest in Colombia |
| Metro areas with over 1 million people | Six: Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cartagena | Invest in Colombia, citing DANE |
| Submarine fiber optic cables in operation | 10 | Invest in Colombia |
| Legal time | UTC-5, all year | Instituto Nacional de Metrología |
| English proficiency (EF EPI score) | Colombia 480, global average 488; Medellín 516, Bogotá 513, Barranquilla 506, Cali 482 | EF English Proficiency Index |
Two rows matter more than the rest for a US buyer. The clock means no overnight shift and no twice-a-year drift when US clocks change. The English scores mean the national average undersells the main hiring cities and oversells the rest, so ask any vendor for each agent's assessment instead of a country ranking.
Why US companies choose a Colombia call center
US companies use Colombia call centers to put English and Spanish on one roster, to get a live US business day without night shifts, and to hire from a workforce large enough to add seats without stalling. Cost comes after those: $13 to $19 an hour all-in, against $35 to $48 for a US in-house seat.
The bilingual roster is the main reason. A Colombia team can take English and Spanish calls from the same seats, so you do not run two rosters or route Spanish callers to a small side queue. Companies that mainly serve Hispanic customers usually start with our Spanish call center program. If your customers are almost all English-speaking, we usually staff from Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize or Guyana instead, where English is the first language. For English and Spanish calls on one agent, see our bilingual answering service.
The clock is the second. Colombia stays on UTC-5 all year, which is US Eastern Standard Time from November to March and US Central Daylight Time from March to November. Your supervisors and the team share a working day, and escalations get answered the same afternoon.
Scale is the third. With six metro areas of over a million people and a sector that passed 705,000 jobs, a program can grow from two seats to twenty without exhausting one city's pool. We recruit remotely across those cities rather than filling one building.
Then cost. Against a US in-house seat at $35 to $48 an hour fully loaded (a Call Force Global estimate built on BLS data, documented in our loaded cost index), the $13 to $19 band is about 46 to 73 percent lower. Where you land depends on your own fully loaded cost per seat, which is worth working out before you compare vendors.
What Colombia call center teams handle
Most Colombia programs are bilingual customer support, outbound sales and SDR work, appointment setting, healthcare and insurance intake, or virtual assistant and back-office work. The desk sets the price, not the function. Regulated work such as healthcare is the exception and runs above $15, up to $19 per agent hour.
| Program | What the agents do | Usual desk |
|---|---|---|
| Bilingual customer support | Inbound support in English and Spanish from one roster, in your CRM and help desk | $13 to $15 |
| Outbound sales and SDR | Prospecting Anglo and Hispanic-owned accounts and setting meetings for your closers | $14 Scored or $15 Open, on our dialer |
| Appointment setting | Booking into your calendar from inbound and outbound calls | $13 to $15 |
| E-commerce customer service | Order status, returns and pre-sale questions during US shopping hours | $13 to $15 |
| Healthcare | Patient scheduling, eligibility intake and member services under a BAA; clinical and licensed work stays with your staff | Above $15, up to $19 (regulated) |
| Medicare | AEP lead pre-qualification and member services intake; plan recommendation and enrollment stay with your licensed agents | $13 to $19, by desk and regulatory scope |
| Insurance | Policy servicing and FNOL intake in both languages | $13 to $19, by desk and regulatory scope |
| First-party collections | Payment reminders and early-stage recovery in both languages | $15 to $19 (regulated) |
| Virtual assistants and back office | Scheduling, CRM updates, inbox work, data entry and ticket triage on US hours | $13 to $15 |
HIPAA-bound healthcare programs go live 10 business days after a completed kickoff, because the BAA and HIPAA setup come first; everything else goes live in 7. Medicare work follows the AEP calendar, and the Colombia AEP page covers the timing.
BFSI programs from Colombia
BFSI is the industry's shorthand for banking, financial services and insurance, all sectors Colombia's BPO industry serves according to Invest in Colombia. Call Force Global staffs the non-licensed side in English and Spanish: member and policyholder service, claims and FNOL intake, first-party collections, payment reminders, document chase and lead pre-qualification.
The line that matters in BFSI is which side of the license the work sits on. Our agents are fronters. They answer, verify, document, schedule and warm-transfer. They do not advise on a product, quote a binding rate, recommend a plan or close a regulated sale. Anything that needs a license stays with your licensed staff and reaches them on a warm transfer, with the call qualified and the notes written. Our first-party vs third-party collection guide explains where that line falls for recovery work.
Best fit: a BFSI operation with a US Hispanic book that wants English and Spanish on one roster, on a live US business day, and keeps the licensed step in house. If you need licensed agents rather than fronters, Colombia nearshore is the wrong shape for that step, and we will say so on the first call.
How to choose a call center company in Colombia
Choose a call center company in Colombia on five checks: a documented English and Spanish assessment for each agent, a shift map in your own time zone, an all-in hourly rate, a written replacement window, and data security you can verify. Then run a paid pilot on real calls before you sign a longer term.
- Language assessment per agent. Ask how each agent's English and Spanish were assessed, not for a "bilingual" line on a résumé. Call Force Global assesses spoken English from a recorded voice introduction and certifies every agent before live calls.
- US time coverage. Get the shift map in your own time zone. Colombia sits at UTC-5 all year, so Eastern and Central coverage should need no split shifts.
- All-in pricing. The hourly rate should include recruiting, supervision, coaching and reporting. A lower rate that bills those separately is not cheaper.
- Replacement window. Get it in writing. Ours is 5 business days, and the seat is not billed until the replacement is live.
- Data security. Verified home offices, role-based access to your systems, and a signed BAA or DPA where the data requires it. Our security page lists what we run.
Four kinds of company show up under "outsourcing in Colombia"
Search the phrase and the results mix four different businesses, which is most of why comparisons feel slippery:
- Colombian domestic BPOs serving Colombian and regional clients in Spanish. Large and capable, but the contract, invoice and account management are built for a local buyer.
- Investment promotion pages published to attract foreign operations into the country. Useful for sector background, not a vendor you can hire.
- Directories and listicles ranking vendors they have not run a program with. Fine for a shortlist, weak for judging whether a team will hold a schedule.
- Nearshore providers selling to US buyers, contracting in USD on US terms and staffing English and Spanish against a US business day. Call Force Global is this one.
The fastest filter is three questions: who contracts the agent, who invoices you, and in what currency. Ask them in the first ten minutes.
Nearshore outsourcing in Colombia vs offshore
Nearshore outsourcing in Colombia means your team works from a country on UTC-5 all year, in the Eastern and Central time band, so agents work your business day rather than an overnight shift. The Philippines and India run roughly 9.5 to 13 hours ahead of US Eastern, which pushes US-hours support onto night shifts and slows escalations, in exchange for a lower hourly rate. The trade is cost against overlap. Our Colombia call center outsourcing guide works the numbers, the Colombia vs Philippines comparison takes the two head to head, and nearshore vs offshore vs onshore covers the full trade-off.
How Call Force Global runs Colombia teams
Call Force Global recruits Colombia-based agents remotely, certifies them, and manages them under the same QA framework as its Caribbean programs. Agents are independent contractors working from verified home offices. Operations are managed from the Caribbean by our director of operations in Jamaica, and every program has a named senior ops manager.
Recruiting runs across Bogotá, Medellín, Barranquilla, Cali and other cities, which keeps us out of the single-city competition for agents. Every home workstation is vetted for reliable internet and backup power before onboarding. On HIPAA-bound programs, agents work in a private room on an encrypted device we manage, with no paper or pens and personal phones off the desk.
Before any client hears them, agents complete our two-day internal certification. Your agents then get 4 to 24 hours of training on your program, depending on complexity, plus daily pre-shift meetings and coaching for as long as it runs. On bilingual programs, scripts exist in both languages and QA reviews calls in both. From the $14 Scored Desk up, every call is recorded and 100% AI QA scores it; on the $13 Staffed Desk your own system records.
Programs take their first live call 7 business days after a completed kickoff, or 10 for HIPAA-bound healthcare. If you would rather start small, the Pilot Month is one live month from two full-time agents, billed at your desk's normal hourly rate (two agents for 160 hours each on the $13 Staffed Desk come to $4,160), then month to month on 30 days' notice. To size it against your own volumes, book a 20-minute call and bring your current seat count.
Price a Colombia team for your program.
English and Spanish coverage from the team described above, at $13 to $19 per agent hour, all-in. Tell us your seat count and a senior ops manager replies within 24 hours with a written, line-item quote.
Related Reading
- Bilingual customer support outsourcing: why Colombia leads
- Call center outsourcing in Colombia: the full guide
- Nearshore call center services
- Guyana call center outsourcing hub
- Hire a bilingual English-Spanish rep
- Hire a nearshore virtual assistant from Colombia
- Bilingual answering service: English and Spanish on the same agent
A Day in the Life
Inside a Colombia shift, hour by hour
Colombia runs on Eastern Standard Time year-round, with no daylight saving shift. Bilingual agents work in lockstep with US East Coast hours from Bogota and Medellin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Colombia a top destination for call center outsourcing?
Colombia combines a large outsourcing workforce, English and Spanish on the same agents, and a clock that matches US business hours. Its BPO sector passed 705,000 jobs by the end of 2021, according to MARO and Colombia Productiva as published by Invest in Colombia, and the United States was the main destination for its BPO exports.
How much does a Colombia call center cost?
Call Force Global charges $13 to $19 per agent hour, all-in: $13 on the Staffed Desk, $14 on the Scored Desk and $15 on the Open Desk, with rates above $15 only for regulated verticals or out-of-hours coverage. A bilingual seat costs the same as an English-only seat, and there is no setup fee.
Do Colombian call center agents speak English?
Many do at a professional level, but it varies by person and by city. EF's English Proficiency Index scores Colombia at 480 against a global average of 488, while Medellín scores 516 and Bogotá 513. Call Force Global assesses each agent's spoken English and Spanish before they take live calls.
What time zone is Colombia in?
Colombia's legal time is UTC-5 all year, with no daylight saving. That equals US Eastern Standard Time from November to March and US Central Daylight Time from March to November, so a Colombia team works a live US business day year-round.
Is Colombia nearshore or offshore for US companies?
Colombia is nearshore for US companies: it runs on UTC-5 all year, which matches US Eastern Standard Time and Central Daylight Time, so agents work a live US business day rather than an overnight shift.
How do I choose a call center company in Colombia?
Check five things: a documented English and Spanish assessment for each agent, a shift map in your own time zone, an all-in hourly rate, a written replacement window, and data security you can verify, including vetted home offices and a signed BAA or DPA where the data requires it. Then run a paid pilot on real calls.
Does Call Force Global operate in Colombia?
Yes. Colombia is one of six Call Force Global delivery countries, with Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize and Guyana, and it is the one we staff for English and Spanish work. Agents are independent contractors recruited remotely across Bogotá, Medellín, Barranquilla, Cali and other cities, working from home offices.
Can you run BFSI programs from Colombia?
Yes, on the non-licensed side. Call Force Global staffs banking, financial services and insurance programs from Colombia in English and Spanish: member and policyholder service, claims and FNOL intake, first-party collections, payment reminders and lead pre-qualification. Plan recommendation, binding, enrollment and anything else that requires a license stays with your licensed staff.
Ready to get started?
Outsource to Colombia with Call Force Global
Get a written quote for a Colombia team: bilingual support, outbound, scheduling or back office, at $13 to $19 per agent hour, all-in. Request a custom proposal and a senior ops manager replies within 24 hours, or book a 20-minute call and skip the wait.
Faster than a form
Book a 20-minute call instead
Pick a slot that works for you. We'll walk through your program and tell you on the call if it's a fit. No slides.
Live 7 business days after a completed kickoff · 10 for HIPAA-bound healthcare · month-to-month
Verticals we staff from Colombia
Beyond the programs above, our Colombia agents also staff home services BPO (HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical), virtual assistants (executive, ops, CRM, scheduling), and real estate VAs for transaction coordination, MLS entry and lead follow-up, including bilingual real estate VAs from Colombia for Spanish and English outreach to US Hispanic markets.