FAQs

1	What is BPO?

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a broad term referring to outsourcing in all fields. A BPO differentiates itself by either putting in new technology or applying existing technology in a new way to improve a process. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the delegation of one or more IT-intensive business processes to an external provider that in turn owns, administers and manages the selected process based on defined and measurable performance criteria. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is one of the fastest growing segments of the Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) industry. Few of the motivation factors as to why BPO is gaining ground are: Factor Cost Advantage Economy of Scale Business Risk Mitigation Superior Competency Utilization Improvement Process Improvement Generally outsourcing can be defined as - An organization entering into a contract with another organization to operate and manage one or more of its business processes.

Source : www.bpoindia.org

2	Services offered by Bpo industry

Customer Support Services : Customer service offerings create a virtual customer service center to manage customer concerns and queries through multiple channels including voice, e-mail and chat on a 24/7 and 365 days basis. Service Example: Customers calling to check on their order status, customers calling to check for information on products and services, customers calling to verify their account status, customers calling to check their reservation status etc. Technical Support Services : Technical support offerings include round-the-clock technical support and problem resolution for OEM customers and computer hardware, software, peripherals and Internet infrastructure manufacturing companies. These include installation and product support, up & running support, troubleshooting and Usage support. Service Example: Customers calling to resolve a problem with their home PC, customers calling to understand how to dial up to their ISP, customers calling with a problem with their software or hardware. Telemarketing Services : Telesales and telemarketing outsourcing services target interaction with potential customers for 'prospecting' like either for generating interest in products and services, or to up-sell / promote and cross sell to an existing customer base or to complete the sales process online. Service Example: Outbound calling to sell wireless services for a telecom provider, outbound calling to retail households to sell leisure holidays, outbound calling to existing customers to sell a new rate card for a mobile service provider or outbound calling to sell credit or debit cards etc. Employee IT Help-desk Services : Employee IT help-desk services provide technical problem resolution and support for corporate employees. Service Example: of this service include level 1 and 2 multi-channel support across a wide range of shrink wrapped and LOB applications, system problem resolutions related to desktop, notebooks, OS, connectivity etc., office productivity tools support including browsers and mail, new service requests, IT operational issues, product usage queries, routing specific requests to designated contacts and remote diagnostics etc. Insurance Processing : Insurance processing services provide specialized solutions to the insurance sector and support critical business processes applicable to the industry right from new business acquisition to policy maintenance to claims processing. Service Example: New Business / Promotion: Inbound/outbound sales, Initial Setup, Case Management, Underwriting, Risk assessment, Policy issuance etc. Policy Maintenance / Management: Claim Processing, Record Changes like Name, Beneficiary, Nominee, Address; Collateral verification, Surrender Audits Accounts Receivable, Accounting, Claim Overpayment, Customer care service via voice/email etc. Finance and Accounting and Book Keeping Services : F&A services provide specialized solutions to organizations to manage the complete finance and accounting function of the organization including general accounting, transaction management (accounts Payable and receivable management), corporate finance (treasury, risk and tax management), statutory reporting and compliance management etc. Service Example: General Ledger Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payable Financial Statements Bank Reconciliation Assets / Equipment Ledgers etc. Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) : Legal process outsourcing (LPO) firms provide litigation support, risk-assessment, scrutiny of  financial transactions, patent writing, intellectual property, transcription, document review and drafting services, corporate governance and legal research services. Services Example: High-end legal research Analysis and drafting of documents Patent and immigration visa services Document discovery and review Drafting of contracts and patent writing Litigation support Risk assessment and scrutiny services HR Services: HR services include payroll and benefit administration, talent management and acquisition, self-delivery services and workflows, communication design and issue resolution. Service example: Compensation and Benefits administration Employee HR Issue Resolution Travel and expense requests/reimbursements System support and workflows for HR self service delivery Analytics and KPO : These services include ‘high-end’ knowledge processing like financial research, analysis of debt/equity/derivatives markets, investment and fund management services and other niche services to various industries. Service example: Econometrics Data analytics Business research Market research Competition analysis Animation and game development Internet Search, Product Research, Surveys and Analysis. Web and Mailing list research etc. Clinical data management for Pharmaceutical companies Actuarial Analysis for Insurance Industry Merchandising and Demand Intelligence Supply Chain/ Procurement Services : This includes managing the clients supply chain activities like Order to Cash (O2C), Procure to Pay (P2P), logistics, forecasting and planning services. Service Example: Vendor/Sourcing Management Tendor Management/E-tendoring Order Management Procurement – purchase order, purchase requisition, delivery cycle management Inventory management Contract management Logistics support Transaction Processing : Transaction Processing services include data entry/conversion or indexing services to organizations of various verticals like Medical Industry, Publishing Industry, FMCG Businesses, Research Companies or ERP divisions of any company which processes large amount of data. Data Entry Service Example: Business Transaction Data entry like sales / purchase / payroll. Data entry of E-Books / Electronic Books Data Entry from Paper/Books, Image files, website, yellow pages, business cards,catalogs Data Capture / Collection Application Data Entry into Software Program and application Transcription services - Manuscripting typing in to word ,  Taped Transcription in to word. Data Conversion Service Example: Conversion of data across various databases on different platforms , word processors, spreadsheets, and many other standard and custom-made software packages as per requirement. Data Conversion via Input / Output for various media. Data Compilation in PDF from Several Sources E-Book Conversion etc Indexing Service Example: High speed large volume/Image-Scanning and Data capture services OCR Data from Scanned page/image Scan & OCR paper Book in to CD ADOBE PDF Conversion Services Conversion from paper or e-file to various formats

3	Requirements of personnel looking for bpo career

Before joining the band wagon on BPO/ITES, study the industry and requirements. Think of future growth opportunities. Draw growth charts for various lines of professions you may enter. Choose the one that suits you more and the one that you are going to enjoy the most. The requirement of personnel is each area is as follows: Call center Communication , Language skills , accent Basic computing skills Working in  team /leadership Date search And  Integration Computing Skills Language Analytical skills Human Resource Services Country specific HR policies, rules and regulations Transcription- Translation, medical transcription etc Language understanding Basic computing (word processing knowledge) Understanding of various medical terminologies for Medical transcription or legal terms for Legal transcriptions etc Finance and accounting International/ country specific accounting rules Exposure to various  Accounting Software packages   If you are applying for BPO, one shall be aware of the process involved in that particular area. For Accounting BPO, you are likely to be evaluated in Accounting entries and financial statements.  Evaluation in Contact center is much more elaborate as you may be handling outbound calls to sell products/services or attending inbound calls for customer support etc.  As the candidates aspiring for the contact centers are huge, every company practically has a test/Assessment. This test is likely to cover the following sections: Quantitative Ability Verbal Ability Attention to Detail / Mental application Paragraph Typing Form Field Entry Listening Comprehension Speaking Skills / Extempore Speech Listen & Repeat Sounds Email Writing Hence prepare yourself in the following: Numerical & Analytical ability, Percentage, Profit & Loss, Proportions Grammar and Reading Comprehension Attention to Details, Rule based processing Typing test – see & Type or Listen & Type Enter data in a scanned paper form onto fields on the PC Listen to a native English Speaker and answer questions based on the conversation Accent and Voice Clarity Fluency and Grammar Ability to hear and produce sounds Composing an email for a given business scenario Source: BPO Journal

4	What is the difference between Voice & Non Voice process?

Voice Process : Involves speaking/interacting directly with the customers over the telephone. A place configured, staffed, and managed to handle a high volume of incoming calls or make outbound telemarketing calls using multiple agents. Communication level should be higher when applying for a voice process. Non-Voice : May or may not involve interaction with the customers. The interaction if there is one, is generally throught services like Chat & Email. Process like data entry, indexing, data management, analytics, chat/email support etc are carried on here. The level of communication required varies from company to company & process to process however in comparision to Voice it is a bit lower.

5	Whether undergraduates are allowed for international process?

Whether or not undergraduates are eligible for international process is subjective. There are companies which hire only Graduates however at the same time there are   other companies which do take in undergraduates but for an I2I/domestic process.