BPO favours Telecom industry

Most of the businesses have now started depending on the outsourcing phenomenon in order to succeed in their business. And hence back office outsourcing has become the new key in the present world to expand your business. This trend is reflecting in almost all sectors like banking, insurance, retail etc. Amongst all the businesses profiting from the services provided by outsourcing, telecom industry is one. According to estimates, almost 75% of the telecom business companies have already taken to outsourcing.

In the process of making any major financial or technological policy, outsourcing is a major player. This fact has been unanimously accepted by the telecom executives worldwide. Apart from the fact that outsourcing certain business processes is convenient to the company, it is also true that telecom companies save a lot of money by following this suit. This is very relevant on the network management where half of the finances within a telecom industry are spent. Other segments that require a lot of time and finances include customer care, billing, recruitments etc. With the advent of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) though, the telecom industries can easily outsource the above mentioned services and processes.

With the major processes outsourced, the telecom companies are then better able to utilize their time and management by focusing into expansion and other company policies aiming at expanding their customer base. This is particularly applicable to telecom industries based in the first world nations or developed nations, where work force is extremely costly. Hence outsourcing their business processes to BPO service providers ensure that all their customers get complete and proper attention, hence assuring a loyal customer base. Then again, outsourcing also ensures that these companies get the latest of technological aid, which would have come extremely costly if the company had decided to do it themselves.

BPO entering retail Industry

Shifting demographics, well-informed consumers, new channel formats have made the global retail industry to be more complex and changing at an ever increasing speed. Retailers are always under the gun to perform regardless of the economic cycle. Even when the retailing industry is changing with the changing world, it needs to adjust and modify existent models, approaches and processes for satisfying the needs of future customers. Retailing industry essentially needs to modify the offerings to select the customers, win over them and foster greater customer loyalty. 

Retailers are constantly facing in-store, customer, technological and environmental challenges. They are often hurdled by stock outs, shrinkages and lower productivity. As a result decentralized operations like non standard processes and lack of property control occur. Also the retail enterprises need to handle ever changing customer preferences and there has been continuous pressure to deliver the value through customization. Moreover environmental challenges like change in demographics, seasonality in business, customer localization and suppliers pressure on margins. 

Offshore BPO providers enable retailers to come more close to customer while focusing on emerging market cultures and trends. Be it merchandizing, store operations or customer relationship management, Indian BPO Service providers provide customized solutions covering every aspects. Through excellence in technology, process, industry insights and outsourcing modules, BPO Company in India support retail organizations globally.

BPO- Insurance

The life Insurance segment is facing various areas of concern like growing claims, increasing litigation, rising labor attrition and nontraditional competitions like brokerages and banks. In this situation, the Insurance companies particularly the ones dealing with Life Insurance need to implement remedial measures. Most of the life insurance companies rely upon Back Office service Provider for reducing administrative and labor costs through automation and outsourcing. The insurance outsourcing market is enormous with India being one of the most preferred destinations. There are nearly 3,000 insurance companies in the US alone and around 63 percent of India’s outsourcing revenue comes from United States, says Global Insurance Outsourcing report.

Also by outsourcing property and casualty insurance works, the insurers have focal determination of high severity claims management with accurate claim processing, faster business cycle, reimbursements and turnaround times. With the internet playing a major role in expanding insurance segment, majority of the population go for online insurance products than relying on the traditional methods. Consequently, the insurance companies particularly in the Property and Casualty insurance vertical are no longer relying only on Back Office Outsourcing but rectification and strengthening of crucial business processes. 

Shriram Value Services, an associate of the multi-billion dollar Shriram Group, headquartered in Chennai, India efficiently delivers insurance industry specific as well as cross industry BPO solutions for clients across the globe. We provide a list of comprehensive solutions to our trusted clientele reaching places far away from just being offshore BPO providers. With our deep domain expertise in insurance processing and diligence, Shriram Value strives to deliver maximum productivity, increased operational efficiency and profitably to our clients.

Relying on BPO in credit card processing

Customer attrition, ever increasing and complex fraud patterns, increased competition and regulation are some of the hurdles faced in the Credit Card processing sectors. Along with this there are complexities involved with the legacy processing systems due to the inflexibility and inability to adapt quickly to changing market place demands. Also the banking sector has been under constant pressure to reduce transaction costs. Furthermore there has been business and technology convergence, expensive and inefficient distributed card centers affecting the sectors.

The banking companies should control the capital expenditure and become more alert in the credit card offering sector to overcome the hitches. The companies are in need of a business model that is capable of handling a wide range of card processing, operations to define processes specific to market needs, market and regulatory changes, products and services to be customized to the specified needs of the market segments.

Shriram Value has the expertise in processing system that can provide the control needed to optimize approvals in an environment where non face-to-face transactions and consumer controlled delivery manipulate the profitable growth. Our services include Credit card application processing, Credit card servicing, Credit card settlement.

Insurance BPO sector in India

The Property and Casualty Insurance sector has been experiencing vibes of strong competition. This has been substantiated by the acquisitions and mergers happening in the segment due to the dominant position of large market leaders, ever growing technology and competitive pricing environment. However market conditions remain supportive for underwriting profitability and rates have increases in market segments particularly in Property and Casualty Insurance following catastrophes. All these have resulted in tight competition within the Insurance space. 

By outsourcing property and casualty insurance works, the insurers have focal determination of high severity claims management with accurate claim processing, faster business cycle, reimbursements and turnaround times. With the internet playing a major role in expanding insurance segment, majority of the population go for online insurance products than relying on the traditional methods. Consequently, the insurance companies particularly in the Property and Casualty insurance vertical are no longer outsourcing just back office support work but rectification and strengthening of crucial business processes.  

Shriram Value understands the segments of Property and Casualty insurance that requires enhancement and renders help in attaining proficiency.  We are equipped with knowledge as well as technological competence for delivering comprehensive off shoring solutions.

BPO sector ensues economic growth in India

When the demand for outsourcing work to India became significant among western companies, it led to the tremendous growth of BPO sector in the country. And this eventually led to the economic growth despite the global recession. The role played by BPOs in boosting India’s economy shows that the IT and ITES sector have been contributing largely to the economic growth of India. Studies prove that the growth in the contribution of BPOs to Gross Domestic Product has shown a steady rise from 1.2% to 5.4%. It is hence evident that the BPO industry is making an impact on the Indian economy.

BPOs in India are focused on the domestic segments and off-shoring. The benefit to the local economy is subject to well-judged utilization of resources existing in these areas. At the same time, BPOs are aiming at contributing towards bringing in more earnings to the country and IP creation. Emphasis on quality services, skilled sets and workers, cost effectiveness, quality product and English speaking manpower are some of the driving forces that account for the increase in foreign investments. However the role played by BPO in economic growth of the country is set towards making a significant impact in the time as well. The setting up of more BPOs is also bringing in more job opportunities for the Indian youth. BPO role in India's economic growth will even facilitate great manoeuvring in the country’s balance of payments.

Finishing schools for BPO training

A plethora of allied careers on the forefront has been brought out by the BPO boom in India. One of the latest in this ever-growing list of professions is voice and accent training. Log on to any job site and one is struck by the demand. With the Businees Process Outsourcing industry penetrating into smaller cities across India, the demand for the trainers are on the rise. Voice and accent training involves equipping professionals with communication skills required to survive in the globalised world.

Many voice trainers claim that voice and accent training is in fact more about speaking English clearly and neutralising native accents. This is to clarify the common misconception that voal training is all about putting on a British or an American accent. Basically no accent is right if it is not accent neutral. In a globalised world it is not possible to work without a neutral accent. Even Britain has 32 dialects which they do not recognise among themselves, opines the trainers. Some of the courses for the trainers cost as much as Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 for a 60-hour programme. Many organisations also employ in-house voice and accent trainers. 

 

The scope for trainers is definitely higher in cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai but with the number of BPOs on the raise and company’s planning to open in cities like Thiruvananthapuram, the prospects are looking good in the future. A beginner can make anywhere between Rs 250-300 per hour. This can go up to Rs 1000-2000 per hour or around Rs 60,000 a month.

Low cost in BPO sector appeals globally

India has been a subject for study in almost all industries and sectors across the world. And when it comes to BPO industry, the country has always ruled the roost. It has shown a strong withstand against the rising tide of global recession and surpassed the whirlwinds efficiently. According to a recent study, India's prowess as a low-cost business process outsourcing (BPO) hub continues to attract investors across the globe despite the regulatory issues in the country. The survey has thrown light at the current scenario in India and clearly establishes the country as one of the leading economies where foreign capital will flow into in the coming years. In addition to the overall strong macro-economic fundamentals, India's navigation of the economic downturn over the last couple of years has been strong and steady.

According to Nasscom, India's IT and BPO exports jumped 18.7 per cent during fiscal 2011 to $59 billion. It now accounts for 26 per cent of India's overall exports and 11 per cent of services revenue. Within the high-tech export basket, IT services grew faster (22.7 per cent) than BPO (14 per cent). The software and services export revenue is slated to grow 16-18 per cent during the current financial year to $68-70 billion. The decline in capital intensity of inward investment resulted from strong competition for investment projects and investment pattern diversification, the report said.

Mergers and acquisitons take its toll in BPO industry

The Indian BPO industry is seeing a spurt of merger and acquisition activities and this shows immense growth of the setcor in the coming years. The BPO veterans are to add more capabilities and are looking at acquisitions to widen their scope of offerings. The cleint base is really strong in most of the BPO companies and with the presence of the mother company across the world, the BPO clients are only a small percentage of that. The business process outsourcing companies continue to have huge headroom in growing with those customers and at the same time they are looking for opportunities. More and more companies are looking for acquisitions and of course the price has to be right.

There has been drastic benefit and oppotunity with the mergers and acquisitons. The companies are definitely looking into all those options. Their argusing point is that when they get so much enamour with the idea with going off with inorganic, they might not take a look at how much they are paying for it. Industry experts also say that several PE firms are looking to exit their investments in BPO companies which means more M&A activity in the coming months. Also analysts expect the BFSI space to witness the maximum deals as clients are now looking to outsource core functions like mortagage processing and core banking. Despite growing by 14 per cent last fiscal, the BPO industry in India grew much slower than IT services as delayed decision making and deal restructuring took its toll. Currently over 70 per cent of the outsourced work to Indian BPOs are basic services like customer interaction and support and this will change as firms move up the value chain.

BPO among youngsters

The BPO industry has definietly got projects in their pipe line and this can be adjudged by the way in which the sector has generated employment. Business process outsourcing firms have been hiring employees and expanding their manpower resource. Earlier youngsters in the country did not look at call center jobs as a stable career choice. Only college-goers or those who didn't find employment elsewhere worked at the call center. Customer service agents were largely undergraduates, more so in the third world countries. Hence the value for man power became less in the initial stage. However the scenraio has drastcially changed now. 

 

When the economy became lean and companies were expected to shed weight, the call centers were the only units that were hiring. The youth joining the telemarketing sector looks at the BPO industry with a fresh perspective. The BPO services job had a certain stability that was not shaken up by the economic meltdown. Youngsters want job security and that is not something that the other industries like offline marketing or retail were in a position to offer. Moreover, there was a strong sense of purpose in expanding their horizons beyond set parameters. There were more opportunities for growth and the youngsters took the challenge up enthusiastically.

Understanding BPO s and Call centers

Even though BPO industry has been prominent in the Indian scenario for a long time, most of the people still confuse BPO and call centre. This is mainly because they don’t have a clear understanding of the functioning strategy of BPOs. 

 Basically a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) organization is responsible for performing a process or a part of a process of another business organization. To be precise, their major function is to help the client save on costs or gain in productivity.

On the other hand, call centers are a part of the BPO service sector. A call centre, for example, might handle customer complaints coming in over a telephone. They call centre sector performs that part of a client's business which involves handling telephone calls. 

However BPO is not only about handling telephone calls. There exist BPO organizations, such as medical transcription agencies, which handle their business through websites, and do not process any telephone calls on behalf of their clients.

Scope of BPO among job seekers

BPO refers to outsourcing in all the major fields of business and it has become one of the fastest growing industries in the past scenario. Various organizations have set up call centres wherein outsourcing of business process is done throughout cities as well as suburbs in India. There are call centres for customer care services of every other organization, right from telecommunications companies to banks.

A career in the outsourcing field has become a hit among the youngsters of India, thanks to the attractive five figure salaries and incentives! Usually youngsters of the age between 18 and 30 are seen to be indulged in the BPO jobs. According to surveys, more than one million people in India are working in the BPO industry, which is expected to increase to 2.5 to 3 million in the coming years. Factors which have led to the current boom are convenient transport facilities, attractive lifestyle, flexibility in work timings and whopping salary package. 

Since the clients expect top notch outcome, training in the BPO sector have become an essential thing. Hence many institutes have started imparting training to develop special skills required for the job, such as proficiency in spoken English, speech, accent and voice modulation, negotiation with clients, marketing skills and communication skills, through short-term diploma or certificate courses. After completing their graduation, job seekers can join any BPO as specialists in Transactional BPO, Comprehensive BPO, and Niche BPO etc. Ample job opportunities are available in customer support services, telemarketing services, technical support services, employee IT help-desk services, insurance services, data entry services, data conversion services and online marketing, in this field.