How Smartphones Have Changed Call Center Services

Here goes an interesting fact about smartphones, out of the total population of the world which is roughly 7 billion, 3.7 billion own mobile phones. The fact seems much more intriguing when you realise that only 3.4 billion own toothbrushes.

Smartphone, which is basically a handheld personal computer that comes with a mobile operating system, works nothing less than life blood for today’s generation. An average user touches his smartphone over 2600 times a day which for a heavy user, goes up to 5400.

Amazing! With such heavy usage, smartphones are bound to touch each and every aspect of human lives from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep. Apart from this, there is simply no field left that has not been revolutionized by this new age technology.

Call center services which are used for receiving or transmitting requests via telephone, are no exception. Below are few points to help us understand how smartphones have changed the way call centers work worldwide.

• Mobile-friendly

Gone are the days customers have to use bulky phone directories for contact info and search for landline phones to avail customer care services. With smartphones, people can directly find the solution to their query on their own via internet, or if not, can search for call center details and contact them without wasting any time.

• Security issues

Calling customer care for spoofing or fraud purposes has been going on for ages since calls via public booth can never be tracked back to reveal the caller’s identity.

With the coming of smartphones, things have improved drastically, thanks to its Automatic Number Identification which can uniquely identify any individual, thus forestalling such swindlers.

• Multi-tasking

To be frank, Customers aren’t much thrilled about talking to customer service agents as it can and most times it is a pretty boring stuff, more so, they cannot use the guidance provided by call center reps in real time if the need arises.

With smartphones, along with talking to the agents, customers can use their mobiles for other purposes or simply to verify online about the solution the agents are providing in real time.

• Multi-channel

Another benefit for smartphone is its ability to provide multiple channels to its customers for communication purposes, be it calling, text/SMS or online chatting.

It is more of a two-way process which allows both agents and customers to share information, photos, videos etc to each other for better understanding and solution of the problems.

• Video Chat

Video chatting is another one of the revolutionary service facilitated by the advancement of smartphone technology. Video calling provides a humanly touch to the otherwise disappointing experience of interacting with a robot-like voice while talking to call center agents.

It further leads to a strong brand-consumer relationship by providing a more personal experience for its customers.

Conclusion

Smartphones are the evolution of basic landline phones just as call centers are the evolution of earlier telemarketing services, and both are nothing less than a necessity of today. Combining both have transformed drastically the experience of communication for both companies and its consumers.

Original Source: http://www.theoctopustech.com/2018/02/how-smartphones-have-changed-call-center-services/

BPO Outsourcing Benefits for the Insurance Sector

Insurance basically offers a protection from uncertain financial loss. This sector, to be honest, is not having its golden days recently. The shifting governmental policies and the cut-throat competition are considered to be the main reason behind it.

On the other hand, BPO or Business Process Outsourcing which basically refers to transferring a part of one’s business to 3rd party vendors on a contract basis is gaining popularity. In 2017 alone, the BPO services India stood at a whopping $178 billion and still growing. Almost every sector today is growing profoundly by incorporating Outsourcing services in its business.

Like every other sector, insurance also hopes to improve its position by holding hands with outsourcing firms and things so far have worked in favour of both. Until May 2017, the market for the insurance sector in India alone grew up to $29.03 billion which is huge compared to 2016 when it stood at $18.76 billion.

With both growing sectors joining hands, it is safe to say that the future of Insurance, as well as Outsourcing, is bright.

Let’s check out the few ways Insurance Sector can benefit from various outsourcing services:
1) A trustworthy call center can go long ways to ensure quality service to the Insurance Company by maintaining a loyal customer base. Call center services can be outsourced to manage customer call queries working 24/7 throughout the year via telephone, email or chat.

2)Data processing has always been the most vital part of Insurance Companies which is a must carry out process among all the other major operations. Earlier it was an easily carried out due to limited business but with the growth of Insurance industry, the data also grew enormously and hiring an outsourcing firm to carry out its data processing seemed only a more viable option.

3)Data mining is primarily used to discover a useful pattern from the previously unknown data. Insurance companies have always used data mining to enhance their decision-making capabilities but handling a large amount of insurance transnational data is way too complex and time-consuming. Hiring an Outsourcing firm for data mining will free its staff for other major tasks.

4)Outsourcing companies can make a huge difference in this field by providing the insurance staff with state-of-art technological support by quickly responding to the customer’s need and provide accurate information regarding insurance policies and any policy related issues. It can also help reduce the paperwork dealing with proposals and policies by letting the outsourcing team of experts handle it.

5)Underwriting in Insurance world means determining the value of premium charged for a particular policy. Underwriters also calculate and balance the risk from potential claims. Outsourcing firms provide underwriting facilities as well ranging from analytics to liability coverage to data scrubbing which again is a lot of paperwork and also time-consuming.

6)With the increase in insurance demands, maintaining of all the finance related data such as to design, run and transform finance along with billing and accounting related functions can hugely benefit from the outsourcing companies as they provide full support to carry out all the above-mentioned tasks to ensure hassle-free cash flow.

Apart from the above-mentioned ways, insurance companies can also gain from focussing on the core activities by outsourcing all the additional work which will result in the increase in the work capacity and the customer satisfaction, which I believe, is most vital for any developing industry.

Original Source: http://www.theoctopustech.com/2018/01/bpo-outsourcing-benefits-insurance-sector/

Significance of Outsourcing Telemarketing Services in the U.K.

Every prospect, once during his lifetime must go through the tough decision of choosing between outsourced telemarketing services and hiring In-house telemarketers. Though both seem pretty viable options, the winner can only be one and in the countries like the United Kingdom with a strong economy, opting the one that best serves your needs can take you long ways toward your road to success and vice versa.

Analysing past records, the trend of Outsourcing has been on the rise. In fact, U.K. has become the World’s largest Outsourcing market after the United States and has left In-house telemarketing services far behind long ago. The annual contract value of Outsourcing market in this country jumped 16 percent in 2012 to $3.75 billion. €1.4 billion worth of contracts were awarded to Outsourcing in the first quarter of 2017 alone.

Flattered already? Wait, there is yet more. Below are mentioned some of the key significant points as to why you should consider Outsourcing telemarketing services in U.K. (in case you are still harbouring any doubts)

• Friendly Government Policies and Stability –

The U.K. government greatly encourages and supports the outsourced telemarketing industry by applying various policies to assist start-ups and established companies alike. Political stability also plays an important role to ensure long-term contracts.

• Ideal Location for East and West –

The geographical location alone makes it a top priority among companies worldwide. With only a small time zone difference between Eastern (few hours behind) and Western (few hours ahead) countries, queries can be solved in approx. real time.

• Ranking Top in Outsourcing Surveys Worldwide –

U.K. has been ranked as the top in the various surveys conducted by the independent research firms due to its promising and competitive Outsourcing market. several of its cities have been listed in the Top 20 outsourcing destinations worldwide.

• Cost Effective in Long Run –

Though Outsourcing from U.K. may not be as cheap as compared to other Asian countries, the quality of the service delivered along with problem-solving aptitude and better collaboration due to its small time difference serves as highly cost-effective in the long run.

• English as a Native Language –

Another great advantage of Outsourcing your tele-calling services in U.K. is English itself which serves as the native language which provides great command over the fluency of the language along with a better understanding and deliverance of the customer’s demands than their non-native counterparts.

• Experienced and expertise-oriented service providers –

One of the main reasons why U.K. emerged as the top priority in providing Outsourcing facilities is the availability specialized firms with years of experience which are fully capable of handling any Outsourcing contracts from small businesses to large multi-national corporations.

Apart from the above-mentioned benefits of Outsourcing in U.K., the advantages of Outsourcing itself over In-house telemarketing include cost efficiency, working with experts with years of experience, brand awareness, transparency and feedback to name a few.

Considering the above points in mind, opting for outsourced telemarketing services is clearly a win-win situation and probably the best possible decision you can make in favour of your company.

Original Source: http://theoctopustech.co.uk/2018/01/significance-outsourcing-telemarketing-services-u-k/