What is a BPO Call Center?
- A BPO call center handles more business tasks than just customer service and sales calls.
- Modern technology has made it both possible and smart to outsource more kinds of processes.
- Boomsourcing provides clients of all sizes with complete, worry-free outsourcing management.
The name “call center” brings to mind a pretty specific image. Rows of agents with headsets and computers, separated by cubicles, on the phone with customers or sales prospects. All phone calls, all the time. What does it mean, then, when you see these three letters in front of that evocative name? What changes? What’s different about a BPO call center? Who do we find in this kind of workplace, and what will we see them doing?
As it turns out, this term refers to a far more versatile, flexible, and vibrant type of work than most people would ever associate with the idea of a call center. It also holds a powerful key to success for businesses of all types and sizes.
Business Process Outsourcing
BPO refers to business process outsourcing. Most people are familiar with the concept of outsourcing. It’s something that almost every company does to one degree or another. Indeed, sometimes it’s hard to draw a definite line between outsourcing and other kinds of business partnerships. Very few companies obtain the kind of economic leverage to become vertically integrated with their own suppliers and distributors. Instead, they form advantageous partnerships with other companies to provide what they need to do their work, at the best possible price.
Business process outsourcing applies this same kind of partnership concept to functions and operations that traditionally companies would do internally.
Starting with Peter Drucker’s advocacy of the concept of outsourcing in the late 1980s, many companies began to realize that they could save money and grow more effective the more they focused on the work that they do best. The tasks that weren’t part of these core competencies they could easily let someone else do.
It started with major corporations who had access to the technology and travel budgets necessary to oversee outsourced operations from a distance. Since those early days, though, communications technology has gone through a major revolution with the advent of the internet. The appearance of the first smartphones just a decade ago was like adding kerosene to the fire sweeping the business world.
Now, any business can afford to start outsourcing multiple business processes. Indeed, we’ve seen how the rise of the gig economy and the freelancers and digital nomads who live in it reflects the ease with which companies can outsource the operations they need.
Improving on the Traditional Contact Center
In a way, most call or contact centers are already a manifestation of the outsourcing trend.
The growth of technology and trade in less-developed parts of the world after World War II allowed North American, European, and Japanese companies to start outsourcing many of their functions to regions with significantly lower labor costs in a process called offshoring.
Companies have always needed efficient ways to interact with their customers and sales prospects. Companies in the USA and UK, in particular, found that India and the Philippines were fertile soil for outsourcing and offshoring these functions, with their large numbers of English speakers. These companies began to establish numerous large call centers in these countries.
As technology continued to advance, it was apparent that these call centers could do more than just phone calls, and that brings us to where we are today.
With the web-based collaborative work technology now available, it’s possible for companies to outsource business processes as crucial as bookkeeping, with no loss of effectiveness, accountability, or security. That and many other back-office business processes no longer have to be done in-house, at local labor costs. What this means is that even the smallest companies can now start to hire employees and scale operations faster and at lower costs than ever before.
The role of the modern BPO call center is to facilitate this outsourcing revolution in a one-stop-shop for any business that needs or wants to scale up for less.
Combining Strengths in a BPO Call Center
A BPO call center naturally includes all the traditional trappings of a customer-service- or sales-oriented contact center. But it’s so much more than that. It’s a flexible launchpad for its client companies. You’ll find all kinds of modern professionals working there. Not only will there be dozens or hundreds of phone agents taking inbound calls, but you’ll also find sales development representatives, bookkeepers, software developers, audio transcriptionists, virtual assistants, and many other back-office professionals.
Boomsourcing operates precisely these kinds of BPO call centers. We’re based in Utah’s Silicon Slopes tech scene, but we run several large offshore facilities in the Philippines. We also have two growing nearshore facilities in Mexico. Our clients include major companies in the SaaS, education, medical, and insurance industries. We also help many small businesses that just need someone to answer calls and online messages 24 hours a day.
Here’s the real kicker, though: we also handle all the human resources requirements of outsourcing on our clients’ behalf. You don’t have to worry about hiring, compensation, or training except providing information on your specific product. We handle it all, onboarding and scaling teams up and down just as fast as needed. Those teams integrate as closely with your in-house operations as you require.
Modern tech makes it smart to outsource more than just phone calls, and BPO call center solutions like what Boomsourcing does help clients scale stronger! Contact us today to start outsourcing business tasks that you shouldn’t have to do by yourself anymore!
