Bridging you to the right contact-center partner.
The Connected Hive hand-selects contact centers and BPO partners for payors, banks, government agencies and retailers, drawing on Tim Austrums' 20+ years placing $5 to $6 million programs. Our fee comes from the partner we place, not from you.
A trusted advisor in a market full of options.
The contact-center and BPO market is a sea of vendors, delivery models and compliance rules. As your independent advisor, we assess your goals, culture and brand, then bridge you to a partner that fits. We advise, guide and negotiate on your behalf.
Four ways we help you get contact-center work off your plate.
Each engagement starts with a business assessment. From there, we pick the right lane: sourcing a partner, matching by geography, selecting technology, or advising your own team.
Vendor Sourcing & Selection
We design your RFI or RFP, run vendor questioning, audit site visits and hand-pick the center that fits your economics and your brand.
Explore sourcingOnshore, Nearshore & Offshore
Placement across US, near-US and global delivery models. Agent-hour rates in the network run $8 to $35.
Compare delivery modelsContact Center Technology
Vendor-agnostic advice on CCaaS, IVR, WFM, chatbot and AI. Every recommendation is HIPAA and PCI-DSS aware.
Review technologyCX Consulting & Advisory
Process audits, cost-reduction analysis, disaster recovery and QA enablement. Engagements from a single day to multi-month on-site.
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Tim Austrums has closed $5 to $6 million contact-center deals for names like Humana and Discover.
Before founding The Connected Hive, Tim ran enrollment and member-experience programs at Humana and Blue Cross / Blue Shield, and led work with Discover, Ameriprise, FEMA and the State of Louisiana. That book of relationships is what you plug into when we engage.
- 20+ years executive leadership across BPO and contact centers
- MWCCA Board of Directors; PACE, SOCAP and HIMSS member
- Deep HIPAA and PCI-DSS working knowledge
- Named-client roster: Humana, Blue Cross / Blue Shield, Discover, Ameriprise, FEMA, State of Louisiana, SunSetter Products
Regulated, high-stakes industries.
We work where mistakes are expensive: healthcare enrollments, insurance member experience, financial services, government contact centers and seasonal DTC retail.
Healthcare
HIPAA-aware CX for payors and providers, including enrollment and member experience.
See healthcareInsurance
Enrollment and claims support built on Humana and Blue Cross / Blue Shield experience.
See insuranceFinancial Services
PCI-DSS-aware voice and digital support for card, wealth and retail banking.
See financial servicesRetail & eCommerce
Seasonal DTC sales, customer service and lead generation for consumer brands like SunSetter.
See retailTechnology & SaaS
Tier-1 and tier-2 support, technical help desk and self-service deflection for tech companies.
See technologyThe reach behind every placement.
Independent advice, an insider network, and no cost to you.
We are paid by the partner we place, so every recommendation is answerable to your outcomes, not a quota.
A vetted network of 3,500+ domestic and 8,000+ global centers.
Two decades of relationships across onshore, nearshore, offshore and hybrid providers. We hand-pick the shortlist, run the RFI and audit site visits so you never sit through a bad demo.
Holistic and strategic
We assess business, culture and brand together, not just cost per contact. Recommendations balance economics against how your customers actually experience the brand.
No cost to the buyer
You pay nothing to engage us. Our fee comes from the placed BPO partner, so your budget stays where it belongs, on operations.
HIPAA and PCI-DSS aware
Every partner shortlist and every technology recommendation is filtered through the compliance frame your industry requires.
A sharp closer at the table
Tim has closed contact-center engagements in the $5 to $6 million range. When it is time to negotiate scope and price, you have that voice on your side.
“As a challenging, seasonal client with unique business requirements, Tim was always innovative, flexible, and fair in creating solutions that provided cost effective programs for our changing business needs. His openness, reliability, and integrity have resulted in a lasting professional and personal relationship that has been invaluable to our business.”
The questions buyers ask us on call one.
Let's map the right contact-center path for your business.
One conversation. No cost. A read on whether we can help.