Why “IT” Does Matter in BPO: Information Technology’s Key Role in the Success of Business Process Outsourcing

Really, does IT matter all that much? Oh sure, large organizations are known to spend a lot of money investing in the best that technology has to offer, but should small BPOs take the risk of such a large investment? Now this is a debate, which can have endless conclusions. However, it is important that organizations, may it be big or small, recognize their strengths so that they know what exactly they should invest in. BPO India makes a constant effort to make optimum utilization of IT when it comes to checking the transactions that need processing, constant analysis, total quality control, etc.

Technology always acts as a defining aspect when it comes to helping the BPO industry in aspects such as commercial management, communication management, issue management, compliance management, etc. However, one thing that you have to remember is that technology is one thing that can never be substituted for skill and effective labor. For any business process outsourcing company, it is important that they recognize their IT requirements and their capacity to perform in order to ensure the success of the company. Telegenisys is one business process outsourcing company that makes effective use of its technology thereby assuring overall client satisfaction and client satisfaction is all this business is about, isn’t it?

BPO 2008 – Key Trends for The Outsourcing Industry

It is definitely not a well kept secret that the US dollar rate is weakening although slowly, but gradually. This was more than evident during 2007 especially when the Indian currency appreciated to almost 11% during that year. This clearly sent a message to the media that the US markets were going to be hit real hard. Although experts predict the same trends for the year 2008, investors still stand strong and filled with optimism. All thanks to the predictions made by the financial analysts, companies have already started implementing fool proof plans in order to counter any obstacles posed by the market forces. BPOs have already taken their stand in this matter by having a clear vision of the upcoming trends.

One of the most important trends that we believe is likely to stir things up would be that small outsourcing companies will be considerably affected since it would be literally impossible for them when it comes to increasing their commodity prices. The most important setback would be that they would be losing out on talent to much bigger competitors. On the contrary, as seen in 2007, in 2008 too, small cities will in fact, benefit due to these margin pressures brought about by the market. Cities like Pune are already favorites with respect to the outsourcing industries, which in due course is seen to surpass the demand even in a city like Bangalore. Some business process outsourcing companies like Telegenisys have all geared up to expand its activities thereby using different tactics and research in order to give a boost to their business.

How Technology Impacts the Cost of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

Alright, lets get something straight. If you want to understand how technology is going to impact your business, it is important that you understand the cost incurred by the BPO company that you have contracted for providing you with their services. This would include costs such as the cost incurred for the software licensing, i.e., 3% of the complete BPO services. Costs incurred for the various hardware and connectivity equipments forms about 15% of service fees. Then of course there is the cost to be incurred with respect to the manpower and related equipments that are for employee benefits, etc.

BPO India companies like Telegenisys are known to make processes a bit easier for their clients by cutting costs due to its knowledge about the technological podium. One thing that this company understands pretty well is that the cost should be shared by both, i.e., the BPO service provider as well as the BPO customer. It is a known fact that technology can surely reduce as well as control costs for any business process outsourcing company, so then why not make use of it?

Business Process Outsourcing: Current Trends and Best Services

Lets admit it, the BPO industry is constantly changing and the best part is that it is all for the good, and of course, for the benefit of the client companies. Clients are always thriving to meet their customer requirements within a given time frame and if they fail to do that, the company obviously incurs losses, unless something is done to correct this anomaly. Business process outsourcing companies are constantly striving to focus their activities on being customer centric and of course minimizing unwanted expenditure. Clients are known to approach business process outsourcing companies like Telegenisys because they find these companies pretty gripping when it comes to satisfying their business expectations. By contracting these BPO companies for their services, companies often notice a decrease in the cost incurred for investment in technology, which would help in the concentration of its capital to other productive activities. BPO service providing companies are trained 24/7 so that client companies are provided with the best of all services.

Owing to these advantages provided by the BPO industry, many companies are approaching these outsourcing companies, which thereby help in improving their services. Therefore, outsourcing to India, especially to a company like Telegenisys would help the client company provide a range of services thereby representing it in a growing marketplace, i.e., the BPO industry.

Few Important Ways to Protect Sensitive Data While Outsourcing

Well, may it be any outsourcing company, protecting the data that your company is dealing with should be your first and foremost priority. You can be sure that your employees are an asset to your company, but how sure can you really be? Lets face it, it doesn’t take much time for any vital company information to leak out, which could easily turn the tables with respect to an open business competition. When it comes to outsourcing to India, Indian companies should do all that they can to maintain the privacy of their clients. In order to achieve this, it is important that companies comply with the outsourcing rules and guidelines. Protection is the key aspect here and companies shouldn't allow their employees to carry portable drives and PDAs since this measure assures that company is really serious about maintaining the privacy of its clients as well as itself. Many British and American companies are involved in offshore outsourcing especially contracting some of their activities to Indian companies. Protecting these companies’ interest is important for maintaining your reputation in the market. Another way of ensuring data protection is by making the agents aware about the importance of the data. This way, the company can remain assured about any possible data leaks. Assigning each agent with unique login and passwords is another way to go on about it.

BPO India consists of many offshore companies such as ATM companies, Insurance companies from the UK, Fortune 500 financial companies, etc. Pune, which used to be a pensioner’s paradise, is no longer a stranger to outsourcing. Many US based companies have opened up their offices all over this city including Telegenisys Inc., one of the leaders in outsourcing. Telegenisys has taken appropriate steps to ensure data security, and comply with all the regulations in order to protect the sensitive data of their clients.

The Emerging Kpo Market In India

Several Indian companies with a major share in the business process outsourcing market have now turned to the KPO market as a means for expansion. Challenges and expectations notwithstanding, the KPO industry is said to have a bright future. Industry estimates forecast India garnering $12 billion out of $17 billion globally by 2010. Over 300,000 jobs would be created out of which the largest source of knowledge, a whopping 70% will be from India. Quality standards and the expectations of clients are very high in the KPO industry and therefore investments in higher education and training are the need of the hour.

Pune ranks third amongst the top global outsourcing/bpo hubs. Technology companies like Telegenisys, who has already established itself in the business process outsourcing industry, is now carving a niche for itself in the KPO industry as well.

CRM Working Wonders For Small Businesses:

CRM or customer relationship management is a wide term that covers all aspects relating to how companies ought to manage their relationships with their customers. This also includes other customer related concepts like collecting, storing, and analyzing customer information. Considering the fact that the success of small businesses relies so much on customer satisfaction CRM has become one of the most essential tools for small organizations. CRM has helped a lot of small level organizations implement such processes that have facilitated profit maximization. The process of profit maximization has been achieved through handling the customers efficiently by stream lining customer centric services.

Benefits of CRM:

The main advantages of CRM application for the small business units are:

CRM focuses more on customer centric services rather than product-centric services.

According to CRM strategy individual customer information are collected and stored in a single server and the authorized employees have a free access to the data anywhere and at anytime.

It is one of the best, modern one-to-one interactive and streamlined approaches, which helps enhance sales turnover and profit ratio.

CRM is a cost effective and dynamic tool that provides real time inventory and unique prices ready for the customers whenever they want.

The business units can manage their business virtually from anywhere round the clock.

CRM with its effective tools and techniques provides the users with more efficient and accurate demand and sales forecasts.

CRM also encompasses an automatic tracking facility that monitors and records all your customer’s transactions dome anywhere and at anytime.

Selecting the right CRM application:

Now that we know that small business units can benefit in so many ways by implementing CRM in their business strategy, the bigger question is how does one select a CRM application that will perfectly match the unique special requirements of the organization? Given below are few points that you need to be aware of when you go looking for the ideal CRM application:

Make sure that the CRM application does the customization of all your business specifications.

Also ensure that the CRM application provides a 360-degree view of the entire customer related transactions from anywhere and from a single database.

It should provide a flexible web base plus facilitate collaboration between the customers, management, and the vendors.

An added benefit would be if the application includes a compelling feature rich ‘click away’ technique.

A CRM application should also help in facilitating an easy customization of the organizational set-up.

And of course the application should provide complete satisfaction along with seamless customer services but within a limited budget.

The CRM application should be highly interactive with a zero risk solution.

The application should be extremely user-friendly so that time is not spend on acquiring knowledge for adapting it into the organization’s work culture.

A good CRM application should have a low maintenance.

CRM applications are known to provide world-class technical expertise. An expertise that helps an organization effectively combine consults and analyzes all its critical business problems. CRM application gives small businesses a much-needed competitive edge with its cost-effective and consumer-centric services that ensures not only to boost their image, but also increase their credibility in the market.

Data Entry

Any company, whether big or small, handles different amount of data that is crucial to its business. In today’s volatile world economy, it is very important to have timely access to relevant and correct data. Whether it is a small company that generates a limited amount of data, or a large global empire, correct data is vital to its success. However, not all companies are well equipped to carry out data entry work in-house according to their requirements.

Outsourcing data entry work is the best option for such companies that are unable to cope with the data that they generate. This can result in saving a huge amount of money as well as management headaches, thus enabling the company to focus on its core activities. Your company might require regular data entry work, or might need it from time to time on a need-basis. Setting up a separate division for data entry will make you incur huge costs in terms of employing suitable people, training them according to your needs, plus the cost of managing these resources. Getting your present employees to engage in sporadic data entry jobs that come along can leave them physically and emotionally stressed due to working long hours, and may distract them from their core jobs.

When you outsource data entry jobs, professionals that are experienced in handling various data entry tasks are entrusted with your job. This ensures timely delivery of the work, as well as high quality accurate data that you can directly use. Not to mention, outsourcing data entry will prove to be a very cost effective as compared to if you were to do the task by yourself. This will leave your organization and your employees with more time to concentrate on your core business, resulting in higher profits.

Outsourcing to India has long been very practical, not only due to cost-effective services, but also due to high quality standards that you could be sure of when outsourcing data entry to India. This is possible due to the availability of a large pool of educated, and highly qualified people with a very high skill level in English language that work on your project. There are host of services that are offered in India ranging from data entry, conversion services, data capture, data processing, document-imaging services etc. All this is done with the latest technology, so that your data entry work is carried out in the best possible manner. Nowhere else will you be able to find so many advantages together.

Telegenisys enters medical insurance services

Telegenisys, the world-class international call center has always been committed towards providing the best support services to businesses and organizations worldwide. We have a proven track record in providing highly professional call center services; easily evident from the growing list of satisfied clients to whom we currently provide our services. Recently, we entered the high-end call center services segment that includes proprietary and classified support services such as medical insurance back office services.

Entering the high-end medical insurance call center services was no doubt difficult but we stood up to the challenge and did not get bogged down with the usual initial hiccups. To ensure professionalism in our international medical insurance call center services, we hired only the most talented and skilled support representatives, most having prior experience in medical insurance call centers. We also upgraded our existing infrastructure as required for providing highly efficient medical health insurance call center services. Theoretical training sessions as well as preliminary on the job training sessions also helped a lot in our efforts to achieve the desired level of professionalism and offer world class medical insurance plan call center services to our client.

So, if you have similar outsourcing needs, just contact us.

TULIX Continues Hosting Expansion with Data Center Purchase

ATLANTA, July 12 /PRNewswire/ --

TULIX Systems, Inc., a Leading company in website development,website design, customized e-solutions, website hosting, and streaming media applications for the Broadband industry, announced the opening of an additional secure data center located in Atlanta, GA.

Located in the 55 Marietta Street Carrier Hotel, this new facility gives TULIX unprecedented access to large volume, high speed connections with all of the major national internet backbones.

Attrition rate in Call Centers

In india and Philippines The attrition rate is especially high in outsourced call center where customer service operations are redirected from US and Europe.

On average, 10 percent of an Indian call center's staff will be absent from work on any given day, said the study conducted by Aspect Software.

Twenty percent of full-time workers in India quit the call center industry after a year.

The survey compared 200 call centers in India, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea on their performance in customer service, sales, revenue, operations, technology and human resources.


The survey compared 200 call centers in India, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea on their performance in customer service, sales, revenue, operations, technology and human resources.

Call Center Capabilities of Brooke Franchise Corporation.

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 2006
Qwest Communications International Inc. announced it will upgrade the call center capabilities of Brooke Franchise Corporation.

Brooke customers will be automatically directed to their nearest Brooke service agent when they call the company's toll-free numberAfter this upgradation .Self-help options AND speech and keypad recognition system will also be provided by the new Qwest system.

"We expect Qwest Web Contact Center to significantly enhance the automated call transfer process and add value to the Brooke franchise," said Shawn Lowry, president of Brooke Franchise Corporation. "We have the ability to improve customer service and reduce costs through automation."

"Qwest is excited to provide Brooke with a top-of-the-line call center solution that meets its business needs and improves customer interaction," said Tom Richards, executive vice president of business markets group for Qwest.

Call Center and Outsourcing Jobs to Increase in 2006

A recent study by Unisys, a technology services and solutions company has predicted that call center and outsourcing jobs in India will continue to grow in 2006.

New measure taken by the various big players in the call center industry such as employee welfare, competitive wages and several other facilities will promote these outsourcing jobs in the year ahead.

In the recent years political pressure and influence has not brought to light the full benefits of these jobs. However, with the government realizing the large revenue and employment generated through these outsourcing jobs, there has been a considerable increase in the political support as well.

Several major players such as IBM and JP Morgan opening call centers in the country, there is bound to be a considerable increase in the jobs generated.

Revival of Indian Act Threatens Call Centers

The revival of a long forgotten law, banning women from working through the night has threatened the outsourcing market in India.

Today, women workers account for more than 40 percent of the call center work force. Important attributes required for working in a call center, such as politeness, patience, good convincing skills and a proper working knowledge of computers can be found abundantly in the urban women of India. It is therefore no surprise that women occupy several important positions such as team leaders and managers in Indian call centers. However, the revival of this law might have dire consequences on the growth and boom of the BPO industry.

The Labor Department of the State of Haryana has cited the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act of 1958, which forbids women from working night shifts. Notices have been sent out to several Gurgaon-based call centers with regards to the same.

Section 30 of the act mentions that ‘no woman shall be required or allowed to work, whether as an employee or otherwise, in any establishment during the night’. IT companies in the state of Haryana are exempted from this law. However, the state claims that call centers and not IT companies and hence the law should be applied.

Since India is a federal jurisdiction, the law won’t be applicable throughout the country and will differ from state to state. However, for cities like Gurgaon, which house several multinational call centers, the immediate future looks shaky. Although the law will not have a permanent effect on the growth of the call centers, it will hamper the boom in the industry.

The Accent Factor


Despite the acquired accent and alias being used in calls by call centres in India, the customers calling from overseas single out the Indians. It is the accent of these Indian call centre employees, which is the give away. They listen to the accent of their accent and want to know, where they are located. In fact, they seem to be aware that these call enter employees are not from the U.S.

Earlier these Indian call centre employees were supposed to hide their location, but now the company policy has changed and if the customer overseas inquires, the call centres in India disclose their identity and location.

Indian accent is easy to single out, but at the same time U.S. is a multicultural country having various accents itself. In U.S. itself the accent of a person residing in Georgia is so different from that in Pennsylvania that they do not react abruptly to the Indian accent, but the Indian intonations and jaw movements are so different from theirs that it is easy to identify an Indian call centre employee and therefore they want to know where do these call centre employees belong to.

While someone is focusing on neutralizing the accent, other is concentrating on a global accent. Thus there is no unanimity on the usage of accent in the call centre industry in India so far.

Jesmine

Call Center-The Forbidden Fruit


The lure of money is making youngsters drop out of college to take up jobs in the call centers. According to several parents, their children working in call centers blow money on the latest cars and cell phones, while they struggle to save money. Some youngsters working in these call centers project a kind of behaviour, which is shocking for some conservative Indian families. And though some of these young generation is very well aware of the fact that their family life, social life and health are getting affected, but they are ready to compromise and still want to stick by their call center jobs due to the monetary benefits.

These customer relations executives are part of the call center industry expected to employ more than one million people and account for $25 billion in exports by 2008. These call centers may well force a tradition bound country to rethink its age-old social conventions.

Jesmine

Public Dislike Overseas Call Centers

According to a new research, only 5% of people are happy to have their bank account serviced by an overseas call center. About 87% of people said that they would not be happy about having to speak to someone abroad about their account, while some 9% said they had no preference.

People’s main concern about call centers being moved abroad, was the threat to British jobs, with 82% citing this as a worry, while 78% were worried about having problems communicating.

Older people were more concerned about the call center exodus than younger ones, with 89% of over 50s saying they would not be happy if their bank moved its call center out of the U.K., compared with 80% of those under 30.

Just over half of those surveyed were concerned about the security of their personal information if they called a foreign call center, and 47% thought they would get a lower quality of service.

Jesmine

Call Centers Investing in Home Working

More call centers are gradually realizing that the best place to handle customer contacts maybe at agents’ home. Call centers are increasingly developing and investing in home working either with their own employees or by hiring outsourcers that employ home workers or that recruit self employed home agents.

More companies are realizing the value of home working compared with traditional outsourcing. These self-employed home outsourcers generally have better skills than what brick and mortar call centers can typically attract within commuting distance. These are agents who are available when clients need them. In some instances, the lower costs and greater flexibility have allowed companies to provide better customer service.

Jesmine

Indian Call Centers Pose A Challenge To UK Call Centers


A report published by Trade Secretary Patrica Hewitt revealed that call centers in Britain must improve their image. The reason being that the trend towards outsourcing jobs overseas could be accelerated, because countries such as India are overtaking Britain in IT skills.

The report predicts call center jobs nationally would increase by 25 percent over the next three years. But it follows a wave of concern that jobs are being lost overseas, where wages are much lower. The report states that the call center industry now stands at a critical point in its development.

The report further states that India is able to supply a large number of qualified graduates for complex IT help desk functions. In fact, in some areas their expertise may exceed that which would be available to a UK based call center.

Jesmine

Indian Cultural Identity Under Threat

The current BPO boom has left no stone unturned to make businesses more competitive. Apart from this, the influx of high paying jobs appeared to be a cherry on the cake. But the minus point that has accompanied this development is making our society pay an enormous price.

Starting with Indians acquiring American accents and studying their customs to work in call centers, they are now turning into Americans themselves. These call center and customer support workers have trained so hard to act American on the telephone, that they have essentially become Americans. The Indian Prime Minister laments, “ It is as if we suddenly had a huge influx of American immigrants”.

The Americanized call center workers have been demanding reduced schedules which are closer to the typical 40 hour American work week. These call center employees have also fuelled a sharp rise in fast food outlets and litigation. In fact, they are now Americans. Thus if this situation continues, India will very soon be on the verge of losing its cultural identity.

Jesmine