With outsourcing becoming one of the most heated topics of discussion in the United States, we decided to evaluate the latest trends of this industry that have prompted many companies from the developed nations to opt for offshore call center outsourcing.
Call center outsourcing is one of the most important attributes of the vast world of outsourcing in the United States, and the number of US companies using it to improve their business―their relationship with the customer to be precise―speaks volumes about the same. The fact that outsourcing has increased by massive proportion over the last decade or so, has brought this business under the scanner, thus prompting some state administrations to lobby for a ban on the same. Even statistics highlight the rising trend of call center outsourcing in the United States and other developed nations.
Outsourcing Statistics
In 2005, the total expenditure on outsourcing by various organizations at the global level was a whopping USD1136 million―a number which has been on a roll since then. The fact that various companies are willing to spend enormous amount on outsourcing only shows that it’s a profitable exercise. It has become obvious by now that the most important reason for the US and European companies to outsource their work to Asian countries, is the availability of workforce at relatively cheaper rates, which helps these companies save a decent amount of money. It is predicted that around 3.3 million US jobs, amounting to USD136 billion worth in terms of wages, will be outsourced to countries in southeast Asia and Africa by 2015.
Recent Trends
The process most often revolves around answering inbound calls―for the purpose of customer service or technical support, and managing outbound calls―for the purpose of sales and marketing. This, however, doesn’t mean that the entire process is only about receiving and making telephone calls. The state-of-the-art technology, ranging from wireless equipment to survey-based functionalities, used in call centers today have improved their efficiency by a significant extent. This, in turn, has resulted in a great deal of benefits for companies which resort to outsourcing.
A periodical evaluation of call center metrics―the factors which determine the success rate of the process, helps the companies determine whether the process in practice is yielding good dividends or not. Based on this evaluation, the companies can decide whether they have to go with the process or make any changes to it.
Several Asian countries have emerged as major hubs for business process outsourcing; India being one of the best examples of the same. These countries boast of high-tech facilities and infrastructure at par excellence, which can support 24×7 processes―a basic necessity when dealing with the developed countries of the west. Critics are of the opinion that these developing countries have become pool of cheap labor for the western world. Even though the pay offered for call center executives in these countries is peanuts in terms of the pay scale in developed countries, for the youth here, it is promising enough to make them flock towards call centers. This has made outsourcing the new back bone of the developing economies.
Basically, changing trends of outsourcing are targeted at maximizing its value for the company in a bid to promote overall productivity. These trends have not just helped the companies solve the challenges that they face when they resort to some third-party vendor, but also helped them provide better customer service, thus turning out to be beneficial for the company as well as the customer.