Many people still prefer to use the phone to call somebody. Also when they want to get information from the public authorities, from companies, etc.

At the same time it is very practical for government departments, local councils and companies to concentrate all incoming calls for information in ONE place.  To create a One-Stop-Shop.  With ONE telephone number. One web address. And ONE e-mail address.

The service can and often is a combination of telephone, e-mails andon-line dialogues on the web    

Read more:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_centre 

One European example is  EUROPE DIRECT Call Centre. It was created by the European Commission in 1998 and has developed ever since.

Any citizen inside the European Union can free of charge  and in his or her own language  call the number:  00800 6 7 8 9 10 11    And get answers on anything to do with the EU in the same language. All for free.

It is also possible to consult the website of EUROPE DIRECT:

http://ec.europa.eu/europedirect/index_en.htm

And via this site it is also possible to send questions by e-mail.



Another example of a public Call Centre is Liverpool Direct:

http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Contact/index.asp