In the dawn of a new digital era, more organisations of different sizes and industries are embracing digital transformation initiatives and the benefits they can bring to their businesses. Among the industries that are shifting from traditional business processes to digitalised services is the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. Like many industries, the future of business process outsourcing will rely more on the use of technology and automation services.
One of the main challenges faced by the current business landscape is ramping up their business efforts to improve speed and agility. As technology is constantly evolving, automation services can help providers in business process outsourcing to maintain their competitive edge. Automation can facilitate organisations in this industry to offer more sophisticated, data-driven, and customised services.
Traditional BPO tends to focus on specific and fragmented processes. With automation services, the future of business process outsourcing will be more comprehensive and streamlined. Automation can optimise end-to-end operations seamlessly. This is especially true for automation services that are integrated with advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RBA).
That said, here are several reasons automation can change the future of business process outsourcing.
It is cloud-based
With assistance from automation being a possibility, BPO organisations no longer have to wait weeks to set up an on-premises IT infrastructure which lacks the scalability that automation services can offer. Automation is cloud-based, eliminating the need to install an expansive and costly IT infrastructure within an organisation.
Automation offers employees greater flexibility in the BPO industry, as it helps them cater to customers’ needs more efficiently with the presence of a cloud-based contact centre. Communication between different departments and clients is significantly improved to avoid situations of misinterpreting information and misunderstandings.
Agents in BPO can also use a cloud-based automation platform anytime, anywhere as it can be accessed on multiple devices with an internet connection. Manpower, task, and resource utilisation can also be optimised with automation, reducing the workload of employees while enhancing their productivity levels and the organisation’s operational efficiency.
It is cost-saving and scalable
As opposed to paying sizable upfront capital for on-premises IT infrastructure, automation is scalable, meaning BPO organisations only pay for what they need. As it is scalable, organisations can customise their automation service depending on their business requirements.
Simply put, cloud-based automation services reduce the need to purchase, upgrade, or maintain IT hardware. Energy consumption within the organisation is also significantly reduced, as on-premises data centres consume a relatively large amount of energy, which can result in hefty energy bills.
It is capable of facilitating multi and omnichannel communication
One of the greater perks of automation, especially due to its integration capabilities, is that it can be combined with other software to improve business processes. As opposed to focusing on one specific communication, BPO organisations can manage their clients’ communication efforts through multiple channels and often in real-time.
Automation services can trigger communication across channels based on audience behaviour and preferences. They can also collect various customer data from multiple channels and centralise the data in one platform. With this benefit, BPO organisations can appeal to a larger audience, helping them collect, nurture, and convert leads.
Automation also makes it easier to schedule and post content on a client’s social media platforms, with important information such as optimal active times readily available for BPO organisations to utilise to improve their client’s social media presence and efforts.
It is focused on innovation
With their ability to automate repetitive, time-consuming, and labour-intensive tasks, automation services can help employees in this industry focus on innovation and offer higher-value business solutions. As their workload is reduced, employees working in business process outsourcing can obtain valuable insights and data-driven analytics from an automation platform to understand where their strengths lie.
This is a resourceful feature of automation that decision-makers can leverage to improve their business processes too. Using past and present data, the future of business process outsourcing will involve more strategic approaches being brainstormed and transformed into reality to garner more attention from potential customers.
It is proficient in enhancing the customer experience
Automation services that utilise RPA such as chatbots can significantly reduce the need for BPO agents to be on standby to facilitate customer queries in real time or within a relatively short period of time. With automation, customers can fire questions and expect a speedy response from an automated and programmed chatbot which has been set up to give answers to FAQs or general questions.
Automation also offers the option for customers to reach out to a real-life customer representative to cater to more technical or complex questions. With these options, employees in BPO organisations will have reduced responsibilities in managing customer queries, allowing them to focus on other productive tasks, without compromising on the quality of customer service they offer.
Get in touch with an automation expert to facilitate a seamless transition into the future of business process outsourcing
Simply put, automation can bring about many changes for organisations that specialise in BPO. Not only can automation simplify and streamline many processes, but they facilitate cost-savings, improve workforce productivity, enhance competitive advantage, and boost ROI.
If you are serious about transforming your BPO services with automation, schedule a consultation with an automation expert to facilitate your transformation efforts.