interaction in many types of organizations. As such, they have a critical importance in the implementation of organizational strategy (Evanson, Harker, & Frei, 1998). Call centers have application in many industries offering customer service, as they can provide customers a single access point to diverse services. Many organizations use call centers to solicit clients or customers for new sales or donations and contributions. They can also be used to accomplish surveys of customer satisfaction or public opinion. Call centers can be divided into groups: those that focus on outgoing calling; those that focus on incoming calls, such as customer information and help areas; and those that are established to accomplish multiple tasks.In education, call centers can be useful to the educational institution in many ways, ranging from simple provision of information to prospective students, to fundraising, collection of survey data, and even provision of instructional services (Hitch & MacBrayne, 2003). In distance education in particular, the call center concept can be an effective communication tool, enabling the institution to provide and improve service to students in many areas, including instruction (Adria & Woudstra, 2001; Annand, Huber, & Michalczuk, 2002).At Athabasca University, call centers are used in a number of contexts, and show a good deal of potential for expansion and consolidation, to take advantage of economies of scale in technology. After a brief introduction to the place of call centers in business theory and practice, this chapter uses Athabasca University's practice and potential as an example in its exploration of call centers and distance education.