The concept of business process outsourcing has gained favor with all industries. Organizations prefer to outsource their operations to third-party vendors and channelize the internal resources effectively on the core functions. The important aspects of the outsourcing industry that are worth a mention are:

• The BPO vendors handle a variety of functions that includes both front-office back-office functions. The list is endless covering processes such as payroll, telemarketing, customer support, accounting, and many more.
• We also find that organizations are going beyond the con-core functions and outsourcing the core operations and critical tasks.
• The BPO industry is on a fast growth trajectory. Leveraging the technological advancements is essential for the BPO service providers to retain their competitive advantage.

Why should you outsource?

The primary benefit of outsourcing is the enormous cost-saving. BPO services would also bring a flexible mode of functioning that responds faster to the dynamic markets. Outsourcing increases the competitiveness of businesses as they can focus intensely on their core functions improving the quality and efficiency of operations. Besides, since the BPO service providers are experts in their domain, they can include the latest innovations in their services and increase the competitive advantage of the client.
Organizations should identify the overall benefits that would result from using BPO services and decide on the processes that might respond efficiently to outsourcing.

What are the key services supported by the BPO industry?

When you look for BPO service providers, there is a wide range of choices from offshore vendors to onshore and nearshore vendors. Though onshore vendors are cost-effective options, certain critical functions would require offshore or nearshore support.

Here are a few selected services that provide maximum returns on outsourcing to reputed BPO service providers.

• Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) – Organizations outsource functions and activities related to knowledge collection and analysis. The KPO firms handle all services such as research and analysis, data mining, data analysis, consultancy, and intellectual property.




• Customer services – The entire gamut of customer service functions that include voicemails, appointment scheduling, telemarketing, email services, quality assurance, and customer support. By outsourcing these functions, companies can assure quality service round the clock to their customers.




• Online transcription services – Businesses frequently require internal audio or video files to be converted into text format. The video or audio source could be recordings of a conference, seminars, lectures, interviews, and TV or radio talk shows. The BPO companies convert these files over the internet into text documents at an optimal cost. In this service type, the entire process is executed online and the client has real-time access to the finished work. Online transcription services extend to legal transcription, medical transcription, financial transcription, academic transcription, and other business transcription needs.




• Offline transcription services – Offline transcription is the traditional method of converting media files to text format in offline mode. Processors such as Microsoft Word are used for the purpose. It covers the same services as online transcription, but the difference lies only in the method of execution of the work. Offline transcription services do the entire transcription offline and upload the finished documents to the client’s server. Many vendors also undertake proofreading and copy-editing of documents.




• Product image editing services – Businesses need high-quality images on their website for branding, building credibility, attracting customers, and increasing sales. BPO service providers offer professional image editing services to improve the attractiveness of website images. Photo resizing, image retouching, image masking, background removal, color correction, and image enhancement are some widely used methods in product image editing.




• e-Publishing Services – Publishing on the electronic media is an accepted technique to attract a huge audience base. BPO companies can convert old books into ebook format to preserve it for posterity and also to increase their circulation. Similarly, organizations also outsource their document conversion and digital publishing requirements to experienced third-party vendors.




• Human resource functions – Several BPO services companies handle the entire human resource processes efficiently. They cover all services including payroll processing, recruitment and hiring, performance appraisals, training, and onboarding formalities.

Before you choose a vendor for your outsourcing requirements, review past projects, and testimonials of the company. Thorough research is required to finalize the best vendor. You should also ensure that the contractual agreements are well-defined and lay down the quality standards and milestones.

SBL is an established BPO services company in India providing Transcription services, image editing services, and ePublishing services for over a decade. Contact us to discuss your requirements. We could help you decide on which processes to outsource and how to derive optimal results. Our cost-effective services have delivered high ROI for our clients across the globe, establishing SBL as the preferred outsourcing partner of many leading companies.