NACE 82.2 – Activities of Call Centres | Public Tenders

Definition: NACE 82.2 covers the provision of call centre services, i.e. telephone contact with customers, citizens or public authorities on behalf of third parties — including inbound hotlines, outbound campaigns and omnichannel communication services. In the public sector, this area is gaining significant importance through citizen hotlines, public-authority service numbers and digital administrative channels.

Legal basis: NACE Rev. 2 (Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006) · Last updated: January 2026

What does NACE 82.2 cover?

NACE 82.2 (Activities of call centres) classifies companies that provide telephone and multimedia communication services for third parties — in the public sector, primarily citizen communication, crisis hotlines and administrative services.

Group 82.2 forms a single class within Division 82:

Public contracting authorities under NACE 82.2 are federal ministries, authorities with citizen contact (tax offices, job centres, vehicle registration offices), municipal administrations, health authorities (e.g. infection-control hotlines) and public utility providers.

Public Tenders: NACE 82.2 in Practice

Call centre services for public bodies are tendered as service contracts or framework agreements — frequently with requirements for data protection, availability and quality assurance.

Typical types of contract

• Citizen hotlines and service hotlines: Operation of single public-authority numbers (e.g. D115 in Germany), municipal service telephones, enquiry services for administrative services
• Crisis hotlines and special communications: Operation of hotlines during disasters, pandemics, extreme weather events or social emergencies (social counselling, suicide prevention)
• Health counselling hotlines: Medical and nursing telephone and video counselling on behalf of health insurers or health ministries
• Omnichannel communication services: Integration of telephone, email, chat and video communication for citizen service portals
• Outbound communication: Appointment reminders, satisfaction surveys, recall campaigns on behalf of public bodies
• Interpretation and translation telephony: Multilingual call centre services for communication with non-German-speaking citizens

Thresholds and procedure types

Call centre service contracts are subject to EU-wide tendering above EUR 221,000 (EU services threshold for service contracts of public contracting authorities). Larger framework agreements — for example for the operation of national public-authority hotlines — regularly exceed this threshold considerably. Procedures: open procedure or restricted procedure following a call for competition.

Relevant CPV Codes for NACE 82.2

For searches for call centre tenders by public bodies, the following CPV codes are relevant:

Current tenders with these CPV codes are published on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) and on national procurement platforms such as DTVP, evergabe.de or the Austrian Federal Procurement Portal.

Who is NACE 82.2 relevant to in procurement law?

Public Contracting Authorities

Call centre services are awarded at all administrative levels. In Germany, the Federal Government Commissioner for Information Technology (BfIT) and the Procurement Office of the Federal Ministry of the Interior are responsible for central call centre framework agreements. The D115 network (single public-authority number) links the federal level, the regions and municipalities and is operated by regional call centre providers. Health and social ministries regularly award hotline services. In Austria, ministries and the social insurance providers operate their own or outsourced service telephones.

Companies and Bidders

Providers of call centre services for the public sector typically need to meet the following criteria:

• Data protection and data security: GDPR-compliant systems, ISO 27001 certification, and where applicable BSI Grundschutz compliance for security-relevant content
• Availability and SLA: Evidence of defined service levels (e.g. 80% of calls within 20 seconds), redundancy and resilience
• Personnel and qualifications: Specialist knowledge of administrative processes among agents, training records, and where applicable security clearance
• Technical infrastructure: ACD system (Automatic Call Distribution), CRM integration, accessibility (e.g. relay services for the deaf)
• References: Comparable contracts from the public or regulated sector

NACE 82.2 in Context: Section N and Division 82

NACE 82.2 is part of Division 82 within Section N (administrative and support service activities).

• NACE N – Administrative and support service activities: Parent section
• NACE 82 – Office administrative, support and other business support activities: Parent division
• NACE 82.1 – Office administrative and support activities: Postal services, records management
• NACE 82.3 – Organisation of conventions and trade shows: Event management
• NACE 82.9 – Business support service activities n.e.c.: Debt collection, credit checks

Frequently Asked Questions on NACE 82.2 and Public Tenders

Which companies fall under NACE 82.2?
All companies whose economic focus is the operation of call centres — i.e. inbound and outbound telephony, written customer correspondence and multimedia communication on behalf of third parties. Pure IT service providers without their own agents are not generally included.

Are call centre services for public authorities subject to special data protection obligations?
Yes. Call centre providers for public contracting authorities act as data processors and must conclude a data processing agreement (DPA). For particularly sensitive data (health, social benefits), heightened requirements apply; personnel may be subject to security clearance.

How is the quality of call centre services assessed in procurement procedures?
In addition to price, evaluation typically considers concepts for quality assurance, training measures, availability guarantees (SLAs), escalation procedures and reference projects. Mystery calling tests can form part of performance monitoring.

Can freelancers or micro-enterprises participate in call centre tenders?
Usually not directly, since capacity requirements (number of agents, redundancy, 24/7 operation) can frequently only be met by medium-sized companies. Forming bidding consortia or acting as a subcontractor, however, offers entry opportunities.

Last updated: January 2026
All information is provided without guarantee. For legally binding advice, please consult a law firm specialising in public procurement law.