BPO Industry in India: Outsourcing Basic to Advance

Business Process Outsourcing, abbreviated as BPO, is a global practice of assigning non-core business activities to a third-party vendor. This business exercise enables companies to streamline and concentrate on their primary operations. The BPO industry in India has benefited businesses across the globe by helping them achieve their organizational goals. With the highest quality services at the most reasonable price, the BPO sector is the most desirable industry in and outside the country.

A Brief Introduction to the BPO Industry in India

India’s BPO industry is also known as the global powerhouse. In recent years, it has emerged as one of the most prominent destinations for outsourcing worldwide. These are a few of the many benefits that make India a desirable destination for outsourcing services. There are five main types of BPOs involving a large variety of services. They are Front-office BPO, Back-office BPO, Offshore BPO, Nearshore BPO, and Onshore/ Domestic BPO. Each one of them caters to specific business needs.

The Indian BPO industry provides a wide range of business-related services to organizations globally. These services range from customer support and data entry to technical support and human resources. Over the years, the BPO industry in India has not only provided tailored services to its clients’ changing needs but also fostered socio-economic development by generating employment opportunities for the country's youth. It has significantly contributed to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and foreign exchange earnings, influencing India's overall economic progress.

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The Evolution of the BPO Industry in India

The evolution of the Indian BPO industry is a long journey of decades involving adaptations and modifications. Let us understand this transformation through several phases of development.

Stage 1: The Early Stages (1990s)

The 1990s marked the initial phase of the BPO industry in India. This is when the industry started with basic outsourcing services like data entry and payroll processing. The abundance of a talented workforce and cheaper operation costs attracted businesses from all over the globe, leading to the industry’s unexpected growth.

Stage 2: The Phase of Expansion & Growth (2000s)

Gradually, in the early 2000s, there was an expansion in the services from simple tasks to complex customer support and back-office operations. Later, in the mid-2000s, the industry saw the introduction of knowledge-intensive processes like research and analytics.

Stage 3: The Innovation Phase (2010s - Present)

The 2010s were when technological advancements took place, resulting in the integration of technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud computing into BPO services. From the 2010s until now, the BPO service industry has been doing exceptionally well in India because of its focus on keeping up with the changing market demands, providing quality services, and specializing in specific processes.

The industry’s capability to adapt and innovate continuously is a testament to the success of the BPO industry in India and its solidified presence in the global market.

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Factors Driving the Growth of BPO Companies in India

India’s growth in the BPO industry is backed by various factors ranging from cost-saving services to the ability to provide 24/7 operations. Discussed below are a few factors responsible for driving the industry’s success and attracting global clients.

Availability of Skilled Workforce

Thousands of students who graduate from numerous Indian educational institutes every year are always open to opportunities to work in the BPO industry. These graduates are highly skilled in BPO-relevant fields like business, finance, information technology, and engineering. Apart from these industry-specific skills, they are highly proficient in English, which makes them suitable for communicating with English-speaking clients. The 10k+ agents at SquadStack had to undergo screening and training processes. Before the interview, these telecallers have to take tests that evaluate their knowledge and English speaking skills. We also provide targeted training to each agent based on their performance insights.

Cost- Effectiveness

The country gives access to a large and exceptionally talented workforce to organizations seeking to reduce their labor costs. Indian BPO firms can effortlessly handle high volumes of work and efficiently provide the flexibility to scale at a much cheaper rate without compromising on the quality of service. Choice India is the country’s leading full-service brokerage. It was facing problems such as poor visibility over its campaigns and very little flexibility to scale when it decided to leverage SquadStack’s services. Our services not only helped Choice India overcome its challenges but also reduced its CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) by 200% in just a few months.

Advancement in Technology

The introduction of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots, and virtual agents helps in providing advanced services like data analytics. It frees up the human agents, allowing them to focus on more complex tasks. In order to meet the evolving demands of global clients and provide quality services, the BPO service providers in India gradually understood the importance of advanced technologies and integrated them into their services. SquadStack offers AI-driven call quality monitoring and gives access to 100% of the call recordings of the campaigns to the clients. The call quality dashboard of SquadStack provides valuable insights such as call quality scores and total audited calls, allowing our partners to make informed decisions.

Advantage of Time Zone

India's BPO industry has the advantage of overlapping time zones with different countries, enabling them to cater to businesses worldwide. It allows them to offer around-the-clock services for real-time support and reduce turnaround times. With the aim of providing 24/7 service, the employees are required to work in shifts, ensuring consistent productivity throughout the day. The time zone advantage is beneficial for delivering projects on time and fostering a positive relationship with global clients.

BPO Services Offered by Indian Companies  

Now that you have a fair idea about the Indian BPO industry and its transformation over the years let us understand in depth the services that can be availed while outsourcing an Indian BPO company.

• Customer Support/ Service: It is one of the most prominent services offered by Indian BPO companies. The customer support services include multichannel support, inbound and outbound support, as well as technical support. The multichannel support offers various channels like phone calls, SMS, emails, and social media for reaching out to customers. Inbound call support enables quick resolution of customer queries. On the other hand, outbound support allows proactive outreach for follow-ups and surveys.

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• Data Entry: Data entry is a core service the Indian BPO industry has provided since its initial days. This service involves handling large volumes of data and inputting them into various electronic databases and spreadsheets. The data entry service supports businesses in cross-checking and eliminating errors, along with updating and creating new entries for an up-to-date database.

• IT Helpdesk/ Technical Support: This service focuses on providing assistance to customers facing technical issues. The technical support agents address and resolve IT-related queries like troubleshooting, hardware, software, network, email, and remote desktop support. They coordinate with vendors for equipment replacement or repair in case of hardware issues. The technicians resolve problems on the customer’s computer with the help of remote desktops and guide them on how to use specific software tools.

• Human Resources (HR) Support: The Human Resource (HR) outsourcing service of the BPO industry in India enables businesses to concentrate on their core competencies without stressing about their organizational growth. Common HR services begin with Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and extend to employee onboarding, training, and development coordination. These services encompass tasks such as screening candidates, document verification, salary disbursement, performance reviews, and exit interviews.

Looking For a BPO Telecalling Outsourcing Company

SquadStack is a telecalling outsourcing platform based in India that is suitable for both small and large businesses. It combines the power of AI and humans to deliver best-in-class services. With our tech stack, we help you monitor your campaigns with 100% transparency. Our system-driven omnichannel outreach enables maximum lead connectivity. Above all, SquadStack follows a usage-based pricing policy, which means our partners do not have to pay any fixed cost.