New York Updates Telemarketing Law

The Government of New York is updating its telemarketing laws. According to the new update, automated lead generation calls will be treated as violations of the law, if they happen to be made at numbers registered with the Do Not Call list. The call center units, who make robotic calls in place of outbound call center agents making voice calls, have been warned against carrying out such practices. The BPO agents cannot leave voice mails on these registered numbers as well. The time specifications for sales lead generation calls have been fixed. Call center agents cannot call a person before 8am and after 9pm. This was something that the citizens really wanted because you had calls coming in late at night or early morning. That was clearly frustrating.

Now things are going to get tough for the domestic call centers in New York as well. Just when the telemarketing sector in the country is looking up, the telecommunication authorities have come down heavily with their restrictions. This will be a body blow to the BPO industry. But all is not lost. The outbound call center agents can find out new ways to go around this problem and carry on with their telemarketing services. When it’s the question of finding out a solution to the problems that they are facing, BPO service agents have proved time and again that they are experts. The restrictions on voice calls and telephone numbers will see a rise in online lead generation.

Labor Rights for Filipino Telemarketing Agents

The Filipino government is faced with a bill that ensures the protection of the labor rights of the call center employees. BPO is the preferred sector of most workers in the Philippines. With the growth of the telemarketing sector, the number of workers associated with the industry has also swelled. So the time is ripe for the regularization and protection of the right of the manpower engaged in the telemarketing services sector. The bill has been re-filed in the Filipino House of Representatives. The Philippine Consulate General in New York has already confirmed that the business process outsourcing sector will see further growth in Philippines despite threats on the contrary.

The salient features of the BPO bill provide regularization of the call center employees upon completion of their probationary period. That would mean confirming their employment of extending their probationary period in call center services, according to the need of the hour. The bill means medical benefit for the telemarketing agent, even if his employment has not been regularized. The bill makes allowances for comfort breaks for the telemarketing services agents of duration not shorter than five minutes, along with intervals of at least a couple of hours between their work shifts. The business process outsourcing employees will also have the right to bargaining and democratic associations, if the bill is passed by the House of Representatives.

Answering Service Upgrades: How Necessary

How necessary is upgrading an answering service? That is the question that many call center investors ask. They feel contented to find that their inbound call center desk is working according to the demands of the industry. They don’t see any need why they must invest in sophisticated phone answering equipment and devices. There lies the catch. The BPO firm may not feel the need of upgrading, but the clients will like to see some new methods being applied. They will like to see their call center services being done using the latest technology and with expert professionalism. You have to score there to bag the telemarketing project. Clients don’t like to invest in firms if they don’t find the presence of modern business process outsourcing technology.

The process of answering service upgrading involves web-enabled call center services. Using the internet as the medium of communication means that there will smoother phone answering operations. The hold time of the employees will be reduced while the inbound call center can attend to an increased number of calls. Call centers are also trying to ensure that the calls are transferred between agents without the caller having to repeat the information. BPO firms must also take into account that callers are more likely to use mobile phones while calling and that means they would hate to wait it out for someone to come and solve their problem. They will lose patience and hang up.

BPO Use Social Media for CRM

Social media networks are fulfilling the needs of the BPO in more ways than one. Firms are increasingly using Facebook and Twitter for lead generation. Call center agents have used these platforms to promote products and services. Now, there is another function that social media is being used for: Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Answering service agents are not exactly passé, but BPO service agents are creating profiles to interact and maintain proper relationships with their customers through social media, blogs and websites. It’s a conscious effort on the part of the call center services to reach out and make some personal connections with the consumer base.

This is an age of abrupt change of loyalties. Consumers may change over to subscribe with a rival firm any point in time. The call center firm has to prevent that or their lead generation efforts would amount to nothing. Eroding databases can be fixed through effective CRM. On the social media networks, BPO agents engage in a one on one tête-à-tête with the consumers. It’s a wonderful trend to touch base with people who are the building blocks of a business. The consumers can also get their queries sorted out and they like interacting with an insider. This BPO service effort builds up user loyalty and also builds a formidable brand image.

More Power to Answering Service

The way ahead for answering service agents is one that is laced with excitement and greater responsibility. Several call centers across the world are trying out a new model that has been initiated by giants like the American Express. This makes BPO employees at the inbound call center desk take more responsibility in dealing with customers. The call center agents at the phone answering desk generally stick to a script, one that has a start and end protocol. However, the time has come for them to enrich the experience of the callers. And for that to happen, it’s important that they break away from the mould that has not taken the customer care department ahead like the other call center services.



BPO firms are allowing the answering service agents to take things in their stride. Agents find themselves with the power to bypass certain protocols to make things easier for the customers. A dynamic phone answering team is all that call centers need at this point in time. When the experimentations at the inbound call center team passes the acid test, others in the business process outsourcing world would join in too. BPO service agents in the units of American Express often hold conference calls to clear things out between the caller and the technicians. That’s a much better idea that just transferring the call to the tech team.

BPO Sector Needs Investment in Youth

The topic of discussion at several BPO seminars is the dip in the quality of call center services. Representatives from different countries talk about it, so you can safely conclude that the situation is pretty similar in almost all the call centers across the world. The talks that these experts often have to do with how they can uplift the standard of call center services and make them more suitable for the competitive business environment in the future. The conclusion that they have is that the business process outsourcing sector needs to invest strongly in the youth. Training institutes must be set up so that the young guns can be trained for the work floor.



Several countries need an active, revenue-churning call center industry. The prominence of the BPO sector means more foreign currencies for the developing countries. The government must pay attention to investing in the young people of the country. Take a leaf out of the Philippines government. They have set up training school to offer free call center services to the youth of the country. They want the younger people of the country to get themselves trained in BPO service. They have realized that this sector is their big chance of hitting a stable economy and they have grabbed it with both hands.

FTC Still Struggles with Telemarketing

The Federal Trade Commission admitted that despite their best efforts, viral emails asking consumers to register their cell phone numbers with the Do Not Call list is still doing the rounds! Calling the emails that has been circulating since 2005 an “urban myth”, the authorities clarified that the government does not intend to give out cell phone numbers to telemarketing companies. According to the rules, call center agents cannot call cell phones to offer telemarketing services. The numbers of the DNC list are out of limits for any outbound call center agent, but it’s more so for cell phone users. There is a law against BPO agents calling cell phones, they need not sign up with the DNC to get themselves off the hook.



The viral emails also mention that the government has put up a time limit by which they can register on the DNC list. The truth is, to get rid of telemarketing calls you need not hurry because there is no time frame. As it is, call center units are not going that alley anymore! There has been quite some financial loss in the violation of the rules and telemarketing services were fined heavily. There is no point in the outbound call center agents tapping the unwilling consumers anyway. The telecom authority also mentioned in their disclaimer that the call center services have no access to their numbers and it does not intend to make the cell phone numbers public at any point in time.