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What is Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)?

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the engagement of services from a third-party provider. BPO uses various technology-enabled services to hasten the delivery of services. The business activities could be back-office such as, but not limited to, payroll, accounting, human resources, or front office jobs like customer service, sales, and marketing, etc. In the case of content providers, these business activities could mean hiring writers, remote editors, or virtual assistants.

BPO speeds up processes and enhances efficiency. Companies that outsource some of their business activities use their time on core services and competencies. With this shift in focus, companies improve their current processes that may result in improved customer satisfaction. BPO helps companies divert their resources to more critical business strategies. Often, companies find it impractical to hire a full-time position in-house because of the cost associated with doing so.

When a business engages an external specialist to manage and operate some of its internal processes, it's referred to as business process outsourcing. Such ‘processes’ include customer service, accounting and finance, or sales. It is different from hiring an agency to do specific tasks, as the outsourcing provider (BPO) is more concerned with the ongoing production of labour-intensive tasks, instead of the higher-level strategy and guidance.

Now, business process outsourcing has broadened and is more akin to staff augmentation, or staff leasing.

There are many benefits to outsourcing, as well as some downsides and risks. The common benefits include:

The business process outsourcing sector is a vast industry, generating over $200bn annually, and employing many millions of people worldwide. Some examples include:

Facebook and Uber outsource many of their operational functions, including content moderation for Facebook, and customer service for Uber

A medium business with 50-500 staff might outsource the labour-intensive accounting and finance functions to a team in the Philippines.

It is common for small business owners to have a Virtual Assistant (VA) working for hem full time, remotely from the Philippines.

The type of business process outsourcing can be characterised by their specialisation, location, and size.

Business process outsourcing is in the human resources and professional services sector. However, their services extend across all industries. The majority of BPOs are generalist, in that they offer a full range of professional services, although some specialise in certain verticals (ie accounting, or animation).

Business process outsourcing typically operates form developing nations such as the Philippines, India, and Colombia. They typically have cheaper cost-of-living and bigger populations. Different locations offer different advantages.

The bigger BPOs employ more than 250,000 people. They are huge, global operations. Medium-sized BPOs range from 500-5,000 staff and offer a full range of services. The smaller BPOs might have 1-500 people.

Collectively, business process outsourcing provides any kind of staffing solution. Common functions of BPO include:

Outsource Accelerator is the most trusted source for independent information & advisory for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). We have over 4,000 articles, 200+ podcast episodes, and a comprehensive directory with 700+ BPOs… all designed to make it easier for clients to learn about, and engage with, business process outsourcing.

What is Telephony?

Telephony is defined as the field of technology that involves the development and application of telecommunication services between distant parties through the use of appropriate equipment, whether voice, fax, or data. It is also linked to the invention of the telephone.

Telephony, as a term, is also used to refer to any computer network systems, hardware, or software, that carry out the roles usually performed by telephones.

Telephony allows people to carry out a long distance communication, and it is most commonly used to refer to telephone systems. However, there are other types of telephony:

What is Voice Response Unit (VRU)?

See IVR.

The Voice Response Unit or VRU is an automatic telephone answering device composed of hardware and software that enables a caller to navigate across a set of pre-recorded messages. When call centers started to transition to digital in the late 1990s, businesses began investing in computer telephony integration (CTI) with VRU systems.

Today, many call center companies use voice response units to handle the front end of inbound calls. VRUs usually play recorded greetings to callers and then present them with menu options. Interactive voice response (IVR) is another term for VRU.

VRUs help consumers communicate with the company's host device using a keypad or voice recognition, through which services can be accessed via its interface. VRU systems may respond to additional direct users with pre-recorded or dynamically produced audio including how to proceed.

Voice response units (VRUs) can maximize customer service and increase operational performance. VRU systems can be used for smartphone transactions, banking transfers, services, shopping orders, utilities, travel details, and weather conditions. A correctly deployed voice response unit (VRU) could be a key asset that helps both consumers and call centers.

What is Average Talk Time?

Average Talk Time (ATT) is the length of time the consultant spends talking to clients. This allows the staff to estimate how much time they can set aside for talk-time per call. This metric is often mistaken for Average Handling Time (AHT). Identifying the distinction between the two metrics is very critical. 

Average time talk does not require time spent on hold as opposed to Average Handling Time. Ideally, this does not involve the time spent by the caller on hold. If the average time talk is too big, service providers may not respond to further requests. On the contrary, if the total speaking time is too short, the call center will be able to field further requests. As a result, lower average time talk increases client’s loyalty.

Average talk time is one of the most essential customer insights. Average talk time represents the exposure of the clients to the call center agents.

The average talk time aims to assess the day-to-day operations of the administration of call center service providers. The index is measured and analyzed regularly. It is also vital to maximize the total speaking time to minimize additional expenses and balance the services offered to consumers.