BPO Companies and Mobile Applications

Mobile applications development is not an option for most call centers. To build up a mobile app for a simple phone needs superior technology. For high-end phones like Smartphone and Android phones, the stakes get higher. BPO companies often shy away from investing that much into mobile advertisement and apps. The reason is very simple. These phones are used by top notch business executives and affluent income groups only. Lead generation campaigns don’t often include them in their target demographics. That is why the amount of money that they put in is not really justified at the end of the day.

However, the bigger BPO companies are using mobile apps for lead generation. Consumers like it when they are contacted in newer, unique ways. When the call center walks the straight path and go for telemarketing calls to get more customers in the kitty, consumers tend to be repelled. They don’t want to budge to the traditional ways of telemarketing services. The same customers would feel drawn to a brand when the call centers tap them through mobile advertisements or apps. To find out what mode of sales lead generation would be suitable for a campaign, the telemarketers have to study the market trends and make investments accordingly.

Call Center Software

When you hire out your customer service department to a call center, you want your business partner to handle a high call volume with practiced efficiency. There is no doubt that the BPO company you have onboard should have the latest equipment and software to tackle your business calls and process them without any flaws. Primarily speaking, there are two different kinds of software used at call centers. One is the IVR, or the Interactive Voice Response software. Here, the callers are allowed to choose from a list of options. This cuts down on the call time because the callers can immediately go to the section they want information from. There is no need to speak to live agents, unless the caller insists on it.

The other type of call center software is the CTI, or the Computer Telephony Integration. In this system, the telemarketing calls are routed through a computer. When the calls come through, the BPO agents can check the required information about the caller on their computer screens. They can easily find out what kind of material they are looking for to answer those calls. The information bank is at their disposal. This helps the telemarketing services to be more precise and accurate in their information dissemination. It also reduces the hold time for the callers and they get their answers promptly.

Call Center Industry in 2011

The call center industry has some interesting trends to show in the coming year. 2011 will be the year of cloud computing in the BPO sector. Clients and customers will be more comfortable at looking for Caas (Communication as a Service) rather than premise-based call center services. The key will be to get the best talent onboard. Whether they are working in a brick-mortar business process outsourcing unit or not comes second. Along with the cloud system, real-time monitoring and reports will find a lot of purchase in telemarketing services. Clients will prefer a web-based reporting structure as opposed to white papers that call centers send in to their clients.

A very interesting trend in lead generation services is the development of applications for Blackberry, I-Phone, Smartphone and I-PAD applications. These are new-age mobile devices that consumers are increasingly getting hooked to. Most consumers use these gadgets to check up on their emails and other Internet activities. To tap these upwardly mobile classes of consumers, BPO units have to adapt themselves to the way they like to connect. Along with the application, the question of security in call center services is another emerging trend for 2011. Call centers are more concerned about security, as they are about providing quicker solutions to telemarketing issues.

The Important of FCR in Customer Service

FCR, or First Call Resolutions, is that part of customer service that records the number of calls that were resolved on the very first instance. Sometimes callers have to ring up the inbound call center desk more than once for a single problem. A call center that pays attention to the FCR percentage doesn’t allow a problem to lie. They make the best possible attempt to get it sorted out on the first attempt made by the caller. This has several advantages to it. Firstly, it reduces the operational cost at the answering service desk. Callers, when they find a solution to their problem, don’t call again with the same issue. So the BPO unit doesn’t have to pay for repeat calls.

Probably the best advantage of a high FCR is the customer satisfaction. Customers like your customer service when you manage to pin down your problem immediately. This attains two benefits for the telemarketing department. One is that the call center agent can build up on the customer’s good mood to cross sell and up sell. Another benefit is that because the callers are happy with your call center services, they will not think about moving over to some other brand. This keeps your clients happy and is fruitful for your business in the long run.

Customer Service Goes Virtual

The customer service departments of various BPO companies are going virtual. The struggle to be there for the customers at all times has reached a new height. Call centers are now working out a schedule by which they are recruiting answering service agents who will work as a virtual team. The agents will ideally be located in different time zones so that they are able to cover the entire 24 hours. The idea is to keep phone answering agents on the call during the lean hours. The customers can be located anywhere across the world. They will call according to their convenience. So the call center has to be ready to receive them.

By careful scheduling, the call center units can assign agents according to the time zones they are based in. It will be the BPO manager’s job to check up the peak hours at the inbound call center desk. Get the best agents on the job during this time. You can keep this thing with the customer service agents working from the call centers itself. During the weaker periods of time, get the virtual phone answering agents to come into the picture. Brief them about the telemarketing project and the requirements well in advance. You need the whole team to function as one unit.

Transformation in Customer Service

Times have changed at the customer service department. You can no longer associate the inbound call center with just voice calls. Previously it used to be about optimizing the answering service process like bringing down the hold time or increasing the frequency of calls that are resolved on the first attempt itself. These days it is about transformation. Customer care has now transformed into something that spills over online. It’s not just about voice calls anymore. Customers are contacting the BPO agents through the websites of the clients, through emails or even through online chat options.

The inbound call center, therefore, has more to do than just answer calls. They have to answer emails and also respond to queries about the brand. The BPO units must deploy agents with standard writing skills so that they can personally respond to the email messages sent by clients. These are also wonderful opportunities for lead generation. The savvy telemarketing agent can convert the curiosity about the brand to sales. That is one area where the telemarketing services employees have to be vigilant. They have to spot the opportunities where they can cross-sell and up-sell.

Economic Support of BPO

As opposed to what the general perception is, the BPO sector continues to contribute handsomely to the economic prosperity of the host country. The call center sector is known to be a prime contributor to the total earnings of a country, mainly so because of the foreign exchange that it brings in. However, skeptics have derided the contributions, of late. They declared that the telemarketing industry is about to fall apart. There are twin reasons why they think so. One is the growing impatience of people towards outbound call center calls, and another is the political machinations against telemarketing services.

But these threats seem valid only on paper and speculation. The call centers are generating millions of jobs across the world. The benefits of the BPO sector is most evident in the third world countries. The contributions of the telemarketing units towards the national earnings is also to the tune of several billion American dollars. The creation of jobs is such a prime focus for every country that they are developing their infrastructure to help accommodate call center services. Moreover, they are also keen on making it smooth for the investors to set up telemarketing units in their countries. If the industry was actually deemed to be past its prime, would they welcome investors with open arms?