Business process outsourcing (BPO)

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a strategic business management approach where companies that want to improve efficiency and reduce costs delegate non-core business functions, such as human resources, finance or customer support, to external third-party providers.

Contact centers extensively use BPO services because of high staffing and infrastructure costs, management complexity, fluctuating call volumes and to meet the need for specialized customer service expertise. Offloading contact center functions to BPO providers helps companies:

  • Enhance efficiency: BPO providers have the experience, know-how and infrastructure to streamline contact center operations, resulting in improved response times and increased customer satisfaction.
  • Reduce costs: Outsourcing contact center functions can significantly lower operational expenses, as BPOs often absorb staffing, training and infrastructure-related costs.
  • Drive growth: BPOs offer the flexibility to scale contact center operations according to business needs without incurring additional overhead costs.
  • Access specialized expertise: BPO providers possess domain-specific knowledge, enabling them to better manage customer interactions across various channels.
  • Focus on core business: Outsourcing contact center functions allows businesses to allocate internal resources to strategic initiatives and growth, rather than managing complex, non-core functions.

Leveraging agile customer experience (CX) software specifically designed for contact centers, BPO providers can tailor their service delivery functions to suit an organization’s business requirements. This flexibility affords companies a range of versatile service options, including:

  • Choosing to offshore, nearshore or onshore their call center, depending on labor, costs and oversight needs.
  • Fully outsourcing call volume and closing their internal call center, or only sending overflow volume to the BPO contractor.
  • Directing sales calls to their BPO partner while keeping service calls in-house.

By providing and more effectively executing a wide range of services that adapt to and align with business needs and priorities, call center BPO providers are an attractive option for companies that want to efficiently and affordably enhance the customer experience.