Kurukshetra University

Kurukshetra

Seminar

On

Bpo industry

Submitted To : Submitted
By:
Mrs. Saloni
Sumeet Singh
Mr. Varun Roll
No. 89
1
 MBA
(Gen)B

Contents
Sr.No. Subject Covered Page No.

1 What is Outsourcing ? 4-5

2 What is BPO ? 6

3 Services Being Offered By BPO 7 - 11

4 Key Terms Used In BPO 12 - 15

5 Why Companies Do Outsourcing ? 16 - 18

6 Why India ? 19 - 25

7 SWOT Analysis 26 - 29

8 Indian BPO Segment 30 - 31

9 Important BPO Cities In India 32 - 33

10 Call Centers/Types of Call Centers 34 - 42

11 Major Players Of BPO 43 - 52

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 Acknowledgement

I express my heartiest thanks to MRS.

Saloni (mam) and Mr. Varun (sir), who
guided me in preparing this paper.
Without their co-operation it was
difficult for me to prepare this paper.

I am also thankful to Ms. Khushboo

who is working in Firstsource Solution
Ltd. and Mr. Manish who is working in
HCL BPO Ltd., who provide me with
necessary data used in this paper.

It is worth mentioning here that the

base of this research is Internet.

What is Outsourcing ?
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Outsourcing is contracting with another company or person to do a particular
function. Almost every organization outsources in some way. Typically, the
function being outsourced is considered non-core to the business. An
insurance company, for example, might outsource its janitorial and
landscaping operations to firms that specialize in those types of work since
they are not related to insurance or strategic to the business. The outside
firms that are providing the outsourcing services are third-party providers, or
as they are more commonly called, service providers.

Although outsourcing has been around as long as work specialization has

existed, in recent history, companies began employing the outsourcing model
to carry out narrow functions, such as payroll, billing and data entry. Those
processes could be done more efficiently, and therefore more cost-effectively,
by other companies with specialized tools and facilities and specially trained
personnel.

Currently, outsourcing takes many forms. Organizations still hire service

providers to handle distinct business processes, such as benefits
management. But some organizations outsource whole operations. The most
common forms are information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business
process outsourcing (BPO).

The process of outsourcing generally encompasses

four stages:

1. Strategic thinking, to develop the organization's philosophy about the

role of outsourcing in its activities.

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 2. Evaluation and selection, to decide on the appropriate outsourcing
projects and potential locations for the work to be done and service
providers to do it.

3. Contract development, to work out the legal, pricing and service level
agreement (SLA) terms
4. Outsourcing management or governance, to refine the ongoing working
relationship between the client and outsourcing service providers

In all cases, outsourcing success depends on three

factors:

1. Executive-level support in the client organization for the outsourcing

mission

2. Ample communication to affected employees;

3. Client's ability to manage its service providers.

The outsourcing professionals in charge of the work on both the client and
provider sides need a combination of skills in such areas as negotiation,
communication, project management, the ability to understand the terms and
conditions of the contracts and service level agreements (SLAs), and, above
all, the willingness to be flexible as business needs change

5
What is BPO ?

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a form of outsourcing that involves the

contracting of the operations and responsibilities of a specific business
functions (or processes) to a third-party service provider. BPO is distinct from
information technology (IT) outsourcing, which focuses on hiring a third-party
company or service provider to do IT-related activities, such as application
management and application development, data center operations, or testing
and quality assurance

BPO is the process of leveraging technology vendors in various third world or

developing nations for doing a job which was once the responsibility of the
enterprise. Or simply put, it is the process of shifting an internal job process
to an outside/external company which might have a completely different
geographical location.

Generally the processes being outsourcing as part of BPO are backend jobs
like call/help centers, medical transcription, billing, payroll processing, data
entry and the like. Most of these jobs are outsourcing by first world nations
like USA and UK to third world nations like India, Philippines, China, Malaysia
and some eastern European countries.

These nations have a good pool of English speaking youth who receive accent
and job related training before they are inducted at a salary which is much
lesser than what their counterparts in first world nations would demand. This
allows first world organizations to get higher profits and provide better
6
services by lowering the prices and by recruiting more labor than they could
possibly do otherwise. In addition to benefiting the first world nations,
business process outsourcing has also benefited third world nations by
generating much needed jobs

Different Types of Services Being

Offered By BPO's :

1. Customer Support Services :

Customer support service means create a virtual customer service

center to manage customer concerns and queries through multiple
channels including voice, e-mail and chat on a 24/7 and 365 days basis.

Service Example: Customers calling to check on their order status,

customers calling to check for information on products and services,
customers calling to verify their account status, customers calling to
check their reservation status etc.

2. Technical Support Services :

Technical support services means round-the-clock technical support and

problem resolution for OEM customers and computer hardware,
software, peripherals and Internet infrastructure manufacturing
companies. These include installation and product support, up &
running support, troubleshooting and Usage support.

Service Example: Customers calling to resolve a problem with their

home PC, customers calling to understand how to dial up to their ISP,
customers calling with a problem with their software or hardware.

3. Telemarketing Services :

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 Telesales and telemarketing outsourcing services target interaction with
potential customers for 'prospecting' like either for generating interest
in products and services, or to up-sell / promte and cross sell to an
existing customer base or to complete the sales process online.

Service Example: Outbound calling to sell wireless services for a

telecom provider, outbound calling to retail households to sell leisure
holidays, outbound calling to existing customers to sell a new rate card
for a mobile service provider or outbound calling to sell credit or debit
cards etc.

4. Employee IT Help-desk Services :

IT help-desk services provide technical problem resolution and support

for corporate employees.

Service Example: of this service include level 1 and 2 multi-channel

support across a wide range of shrink wrapped and LOB applications,
system problem resolutions related to desktop, notebooks, OS,
connectivity etc., office productivity tools support including browsers
and mail, new service requests, IT operational issues, product usage
queries, routing specific requests to designated contacts and remote
diagnostics etc.

5. Insurance Processing :

Insurance processing services provide specialized solutions to the

insurance sector and support critical business processes applicable to
the industry right from new business acquisition to policy maintenance
to claims processing.

Service Example:

New Business / Promotion:Inbound/outbound sales, Initial Setup,

Case Management, Underwriting, Risk assessment, Policy issuance etc.

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 Policy Maintenance / Management: Record Changes like Name,
Beneficiary, Nominee, Address; Collateral verification, Surrender Audits
Accounts Receivable, Accounting, Claim Overpayment, Customer care
service via voice/email etc.

6. Data Entry Services / Data Processing Services

Service Example:

o Data entry from Paper/Books with highest accuracy and fast turn
around time (TAT)
o Data entry from Image file in any format
o Business Transaction Data entry like sales / purchase / payroll.
o Data entry of E-Books / Electronic Books
o Data Entry : Yellow Pages / White Pages Keying
o Data Entry and compilation from Web site
o Data Capture / Collection
o Business Card Data Entry into any Format
o Data Entry from hardcopy/Printed Material into text or required
format
o Data Entry into Software Program and application
o Receipt and Bill Data Entry
o Catalog Data Entry.
o Data Entry for Mailing List/Mailing Label.
o Manuscripting typing in to word
o Taped Transcription in to word.
o Copy, Paste, Editing, Sorting, Indexing Data into required format
etc.

7. Data Conversion Services

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 Service Example:

o Conversion of data across various databases on different

platforms
o Data Conversion via Input / Output for various media.
o Data Conversion for databases, word processors, spreadsheets,
and many other standard and custom-made software packages as
per requirement.
o Conversion from Page maker to PDF format.
o Conversion from Ms-Word to HTML format
o Conversion from Text to Word Perfect.
o Conversion from Text to Word to HTML and Acrobat
o Convert Raw Data into required MS Office formats.
o Text to PDF and PDF to Word / Text / Doc
o Data Compilation in PDF from Several Sources.
o E-Book Conversion etc.

8. Scanning, OCR with Editing & Indexing Services

Service Example:

o High speed Image-Scanning and Data capture services

o High speed large volume scanning
o OCR Data From Scanned page / image
o Scan & OCR paper Book in to CD.
o ADOBE PDF Conversion Services.
o Conversion from paper or e-file to various formats

9. Book Keeping and Accounting Services

Service Example:

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 o General Ledger
o Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payable
o Financial Statements
o Bank Reconciliation
o Assets / Equipment Ledgers etc.

10. Form Processing Services:

Service Example:

o Insurance claim form

o Medical Form / Medical billing
o Online Form Processing
o Payrol Processing etc.

11. Internet / Online / Web Research

Service Example:

• Internet Search, Product Research, Market Research, Survey,

Analysis.
• Web and Mailing list research etc

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Key Terms Used in BPO :

1. Offshore Outsourcing:
Offshoring is a type of outsourcing. Offshoring simply means having the
outsourced business functions done in another country. Frequently,
work is offshored in order to reduce labour expenses. Other times, the
reasons for offshoring are strategic -- to enter new markets, to tap
talent currently unavailable domestically or to overcome regulations
that prevent specific activities domestically.

Offshore outsourcing, a type of business process outsourcing (BPO), is

the exporting of IT-related work from the United States and other
developed countries to areas of the world where there is both political
stability and lower labor costs or tax savings. Outsourcing is an
arrangement in which one company provides services for another
company that could also be or usually have been provided in-house.

Offshore simply means "any country other than your own." The Internet
and high-speed Internet connections make it possible for outsourcing to
be carried out anywhere in the world, a business trend economists call

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globalization. In general, domestic companies interested in offshore
outsourcing are not only trying to save money in order to be more price-
competitive against each other, but also to enable them to compete
with businesses in other countries.

Offshore outsourcing is the practice of hiring organizations or

employees to perform company tasks overseas. For example, a
company may manufacture and sell computer parts in the United States
yet use offshore outsourcing to handle its customer service and
technical support phone lines. Data entry is another job that is
frequently outsourced overseas. The Internet has played a major role in
outsourcing to other countries, not only allowing companies to
outsource work to other organizations and hire employees that are
some distance away, but also making is easier to hire freelance workers
from around the world, getting projects completed for significantly lower
fees.

Offshore outsourcing is often broken up into four main categories. The

ITO category involves the overseas outsourcing of a company's
information technology. The BPO category involves business process
outsourcing, which can include call center management and claims
processing. Software development falls under the Software R&D
(research and development) category while KPO covers knowledge
process outsourcing, which typically involves processes that require a
higher level of skill, experience and/or knowledge.

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2. Nearshore Outsourcing :

Nearshore outsourcing or nearshoring is a practice applied to business

outsourcing, which has been adapted from fishing industries. The idea
of creating jobs that were near the shore, for people not of the country
where a business was located, is an old practice. Lately though,
nearshore outsourcing has less to do with the shore and waters, and is
more commonly the practice of businesses that create jobs in countries

that border or are in close proximity to their own.

Nearshore outsourcing is the practice of getting work done or services

performed by people in neighboring countries rather than in your own
country. Many companies in the United States, for example, outsource
work to Canada and Mexico. Geographic proximity means that travel
and communications are easier and less expensive, there are likely to
be at least some commonalities between the cultures, and people are

more likely to speak the same language.

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There are some benefits of nearshore outsourcing.

 For businesses, some of the benefits include being able to hire

employees that will work for lower wages than would workers in their
primary country of business.

 Additionally, the closeness of the company to which work is outsourced

can save money on travel to that country. If employees of the company
must travel frequently to oversee outsourced sectors of the company,
these savings can be considerable
In simple words,” The transfer of business or IT processes to companies
in a nearby country, often sharing a border with your own country. In
the US, nearshoring describes work sent to Canada and Mexico.
Nearshoring is a popular model for companies that don’t want to deal
with the cultural, language or time zone differences involved in
offshoring”

3. Onshore outsourcing:

Onshore outsourcing (also called domestic outsourcing) is the obtaining

of services from someone outside a company but within the same
country

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Why companies do outsourcing :

1. Focus On Core Activities :

In rapid growth periods, the back-office operations of a company will
expand also. This expansion may start to consume resources (human
and financial) at the expense of the core activities that have made your
company successful. Outsourcing those activities will allow refocusing
on those business activities that are important without sacrificing
quality or service in the back-office.

Example: A company lands a large contract that will significantly

increase the volume of purchasing in a very short period of time;
Outsource purchasing.

2. Cost And Efficiency Savings:

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 Back-office functions that are complicated in nature, but the size of your
company is preventing you from performing it at a consistent and
reasonable cost, is another advantage of outsourcing.

Example: A small doctor’s office that wants to accept a variety of

insurance plans. One part-time person could not keep up with all the
different providers and rules. Outsource to a firm specializing in medical
billing.

3. Reduced Overhead:
Overhead costs of performing a particular back-office function are
extremely high. Consider outsourcing those functions which can be
moved easily.

Example: Growth has resulted in an increased need for office space. The
current location is very expensive and there is no room to expand.
Outsource some simple operations in order to reduce the need for office
space. For example, outbound telemarketing or data entry.

4. Operational Control:
Operations whose costs are running out of control must be considered
for outsourcing. Departments that may have evolved over time into
uncontrolled and poorly managed areas are prime motivators for
outsourcing. In addition, an outsourcing company can bring better
management skills to your company than what would otherwise be
available.

Example: An information technology department that has too many

projects, not enough people and a budget that far exceeds their
contribution to the organization. A contracted outsourcing agreement
will force management to prioritize their requests and bring control
back to that area.

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5. Staffing Flexibility :
Outsourcing will allow operations that have seasonal or cyclical
demands to bring in additional resources when you need them and
release them when you’re done.

Example: An accounting department that is short-handed during tax

season and auditing periods. Outsourcing these functions can provide
the additional resources for a fixed period of time at a consistent cost.

6. Continuity & Risk Management:

Periods of high employee turnover will add uncertainty and
inconsistency to the operations. Outsourcing will provided a level of
continuity to the company while reducing the risk that a substandard
level of operation would bring to the company.

Example: The human resource manager is on an extended medical

leave and the two administrative assistants leave for new jobs in a very
short period of time. Outsourcing the human resource function would
reduce the risk and allow the company to keep operating.

7. Develop Internal Staff:

A large project needs to be undertaken that requires skills that your
staff does not possess. On-site outsourcing of the project will bring
people with the skills you need into your company. Your people can
work alongside of them to acquire the new skill set.

Example: A company needs to embark on a replacement/upgrade

project on a variety of custom built equipment. Your engineers do not
have the skills required to design new and upgraded equipment.

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 Outsourcing this project and requiring the outsourced engineers to work
on-site will allow your engineers to acquire a new skill set

Why India ?

BPO Advantage India Today, India is undoubtedly the most favoured IT/BPO
destination of the world. This raises the question why most of the big MNCs
are interested in outsourcing their operations to BPOs in India. The answer is
very simple- India is home to large and skilled human resources. India has
inherent strengths, which have made it a major success as an outsourcing
destination. India produces the largest number of graduates in the world. The
name of India has become synonymous with that of BPOs and IT industry
hence the name BPO India.

Besides being technically sound, the work force is proficient in English and
work at lower wages in comparison to other developed countries of the world.
India also has a distinct advantage of being in a different time zone that gives
it flexibility in working hours. All these factors make the Indian BPOs more

19
efficient and cost effective. In order to meet the growing international
demand for lucrative, customer-interaction centers, many organizations
worldwide are looking to BPO India.

1) Human Resources:

Availability of suitable human resources is one of those factors which

have made India one of the hotspots of BPO/IT industry. India is home to
a vast pool of human resources consisting of educated, English
speaking, tech-savvy personnel. Every year, approximately 19 million
students are enrolled in high schools and 10 million students in pre-
graduate degree courses across India. Moreover, 2.1 million graduates
and 0.3 million post-graduates pass out of India's non-engineering
colleges. These figures very well give the idea of human resources
availability in India.

This great pool of human resources holds the key to IT/BPO destination
i.e. India. If the flow from high schools to graduate courses increases
even marginally, there will be a massive increase in the number of
skilled workers available to the IT/BPO industry. If we calculate the
availability of human resources at current rates, there will
approximately be 17 million people available to the IT industry by the
year 2008.

2) Language:

India definitely enjoys the benefits of a vast pool of skilled workers who
are proficient in English language. India produces the largest number of
graduates every year and most of these graduates have the knowledge
of English language. Thus, language is one of those factors which
attract MNCs to contract out their business operations to Indian BPOs
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 and IT companies. Though there are competitors like China which also
have a large pool of skilled workers but they don't have enough
graduates who have command over English language.

In addition to this the Indian education system also places strong

emphasis on mathematics and science. This has resulted into a large
number of science and engineering graduates. Mastery over
quantitative concepts coupled with English proficiency makes India one
of the hot spots of the IT/BPO word. It has enabled the India to take
advantage of the current international demand for IT

3) Quality Manpower :

In term of human resources, there are a number of countries who are at

an advantageous position but the real difference between them and
India is of quality man power. In the field of information technology and
computer software India experts have proved their worth beyond doubt.
India is rich not only in terms of number of qualified people but the
quality of our professionals is also of international level.

Indian programmers are known for their strong technical skills and their
eagerness to accommodate and engage clients. In some cases, clients
work to get access to more specialized engineering talent, particularly
in the area of telecommunications. Expertise in English language is also
a great strength of India and it has definitely helped India in increasing
its manpower quality.

4) Government Policy :

The Indian government realizes that Information Technology has the

potential to influence extensive economic development in the country.
IT is now one of the top priorities of the Indian government and
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 favourable policies are being formulated to extract maximum benefits
from the industry. Here, we are highlighting some of the government
policies which have proved very beneficial in the growth of IT/BPO
industry. These favourable government policies have gone a long way in
making India a BPO/IT hub.

1) The reforms have reduced licensing requirements and made

foreign technology accessible. The reforms have also removed restrictions
on investment and made the process of investment easier. This has
tremendously helped the IT/BPO industries.

2) The Indian government is actively promoting FDI and

investments from NRIs (Non-Resident Indians). FDI can be brought in
through the automatic route, based on powers accorded to the Reserve Bank
of India.

3) In pursuance of liberalization and globalization, the Indian

government has been formulating and implementing more transparent and
investment friendly policies. This is now reflecting in many areas. Till 1994,
DOT was the sole provider of basic telecom services in India but the new
telecom policy opened the field to the private operators as well. It has made
India one of the fastest growing countries in the field of telecom.

4) Another significant example of the liberal policy of the Indian

government is the IT Act. The IT Bill passed in 2000 provides a legal
framework for the recognition of electronic contracts, prevention of
computer crimes, electronic filing of documents, etc.

5) In pursuance of the liberal policies, the Indian government has

been continuously proposing amendments in the Indian Evidence Act, Indian
Penal Code and the RBI Act. The mechanism of digital signature has been
proposed to address the issues of jurisdiction, authentication and origination.

6) Recognizing the importance of Venture Capital Funding, the

Ministry of Information Technology has set up a National Venture Fund for
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the Software and IT Industry with a corpus of Rs. 100 crore. The main aim of
the venture capital Fund is to provide Venture Capital to start up software
professionals and small IT units.

7) Nasscom (most important promoter of the IT/BPO industry) has

been playing a crucial role in helping the IT industry achieve the IT and ITES
vision and make India far ahead of other players in the field of IT and BPO.

8) Nasscom has helped the government implement almost all the

original recommendations of the last Nasscom-McKinsey Report, 1999
concerning the capital markets, venture capitalists, SEBI and the Companies
Act.

5) Infrastructure:

Improved infrastructure is another important factor which has helped

India to achieve tremendous success in the field of IT/BPO. There has
been tremendous growth and improvement in telecom, power and
roads infrastructure in the last few years in India.

Relevant telecom facilities are an important precondition for the

success of the software and BPO industry. The Indian government has
taken numerous steps to improve the telecom infrastructure in the
country. The international bandwidth situation has improved
dramatically over the last 3 years. The privatization of the telecom
Industry has resulted not only in significant drop in rates but also better
services. The telecom costs have dropped by about 85% in 3 years.

Similar changes have been observed in the power sector infrastructure

as well. Power availability has also improved dramatically over the last
few years. This has gone a long way in ensuring uninterrupted power
supply to the IT/BPO destinations like Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai,
Bombay, Pune and Calcutta. In addition to this state governments in
India have undertaken reforms in the power sector to improve power
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 supply to ITES companies.

The overall roads and highways infrastructure scenario in India has also
witnessed major improvements over the last few years. We have now
entered the arena of multi lane highways. Most of the cities and towns
are connected and interlinked to each other. Major investments have
gone into the development of highways, both on the side of the central
and state Governments.

6) Cost-effective:

Cost effective man power is yet another important factor which makes
India a hot spot of IT/BPO industry. With a vast pool of skilled human
resources ready to work at lower wages in comparison to the European
or American countries India is attracting business process outsourcing.
In a call interaction centre operation, manpower typically accounts for
55 to 60 percent of the total cost. Besides being cost effective, Indians
are also skilled and fulfil all the requirements of the IT/BPO industry.

In India, the manpower cost is approximately one-tenth of what it is

overseas. For example, per agent cost in USA is approximately $40,000
while in India it is only $5,000. It is but natural that companies contract
out their work to cost effective destinations like India. India produces
about 100,000 engineers every year. These can be used in call centres
for troubleshooting/tech support, as the salaries are dramatically lower
than in Europe or the US. In such situations MNCs choose to outsource
their business processes to cost effective India rather than Offshoring to
other costly destinations

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7) Time Zone Difference:

India has an 8-12 hour time zone difference with respect to the US and
other developed markets. It is of great advantage in BPO operations,
which offers reduced turnaround times, since processing services are
performed at night hours in the developed countries. India is able to
offer a 24x7 services and reduction in turnaround times by leveraging
time zone differences. This difference in time zone is because of India's
unique geographic location. When it is day in India, it is night in America
and even as we go to bed, they rise and go to work. This time difference
has been intelligently brought to their advantage by the call
centres/BPOs.

Most of the Indian call centers servicing American customers have

timings between 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. This time zone difference
benefits not only the Americans but also the Indians. Not only does the
time difference allow Indian companies/BPOs/Call centers to service
American clients by working in the nights, it also helps in better
utilization of their resources. The companies can utilize the same
resources to serve other clients in India and abroad during the day.
Thus the time zone difference also helps in sharing of resources which,
in turn, saves costs and also earns call centers better revenues.

8) Salary In India:

Another important factor which attracts MNCs to outsource their work to

India is the salary in Indian BPOs and IT industry. Here is a brief
summary of salary in Indian BPOs, according to different hierarchies.
Besides the salary, Indian BPO employees are paid incentives
depending upon many factors like attendance regularity, target
achievements etc.
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 Structure of salary in Indian BPOs is as follows.

 Customer Care Representatives- Rs 8,000 - Rs 15,000 per month Team

Leaders- Rs 17,000 - Rs 26,000 per month

 Managers- Rs 3 Lakhs - Rs 5.5 Lakhs per annum

 Training Heads- Rs 8 Lakhs - Rs 12 Lakhs per annum

 Training Managers- Rs 5 Lakhs - Rs 8 Lakhs per annum

 Trainers- Rs 2 Lakhs - Rs 5 Lakhs per annum

SWOT
Analysis
By
26
 The Expertises
Regarding
BPO Industry in
India

Strengths:

 Highly skilled ,English speaking workforce.

 Abundant Manpower.

 Cheaper workforce than their western counterparts.

 Flexibility in working Hours.

 Scope for large number of Graduates.

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  Operational Excellence

 Affordable and quality education as compared to developed countries

 Well-developed IT industry

 Strong customer base of well known companies

 Powerful venture capital interest in investing in growth opportunity

Weaknesses:

 Poor Infrastructure

 Cultural Differences

 Internal competition for resources

 Rising labor costs

 Political and religious instability

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  Scarce foreign language skills other than English

 Expensive and poor quality telecom infrastructure

 Poor electricity supply

Opportunities:

 To work closely with associations like Nasscom to portray India as the

most favored ITES destination in the world.

 India can be branded as a quality ITES destination rather than a low-

cost destination .

 $69 billion ITES business by 2010

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  Indian ITES companies should work closely with Western governments

Threats:

 Anti - outsourcing legislation by US states.

 Protest by British Telecom workers against outsourcing to Indian BPO

companies.

 Other ITES destinations could have an edge on the cost factors

 Slow down of demand

Indian BPO Segments :

BPO in India is organized in many segments. Back-office processing and

customer interaction services are among the fastest and largest growing
segments that contribute significantly to the Indian BPO market. Other
notable segments are revenue accounting, content development, animation,
engineering and design, GIS and medical transcription.

1. Back-Office Operations / Revenue Accounting / Data Entry

And Conversion / HR Services - This segment is by far the largest,
accounting for 42% of the market share in FY 2008. Industries such as
banks and aviation require large-scale data processing and data based
decision-making capabilities. Indian companies provide data entry
(paper to digital) and rule-set processing (applying present rules and

30
 criteria for processing) and are fast graduating to problem solving and
decision-making.

2. Content Development / Animation / Engineering And

Design / GIS - The content development segment ranks second
occupying 26% of the pie. The Roncarelli report on computer animation
estimates that labor costs in India for computer animators is roughly
one-tenth that in the US. While a computer animator in India earns
about US$7,000 - 9,000 per year, an equivalent animator in the US
earns US$45,000 - 90,000.

3. Customer Interaction Services - The customer care segment

ranks third occupying 28% of the pie. A customer care center is a
service center with adequate telecom facilities, trained consultants,
access to requisite databases, Internet and other online information
support infrastructure to provide information and support to customers.
Such centers are used for a number of customer-related functions like
marketing, selling, information dispensing, advice, technical support
etc.

4. Medical Transcription Services - Medical transcription accounts

for 2% of the total Indian outsourcing services. Medical transcription
was one of the first offshore BPO services to be launched from India.
This service involves the transcribing of medical records from audio
format or dictated by doctors or other healthcare into either a hard copy
or electronic format.

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 5. Other Services - The other services include online education or web
based training, market research analysis using statistical packages,
remote network maintenance and monitoring

Important BPO/IT Cities in India :

Since the beginning of the IT and BPO revolution in India many cities have
come up on the IT Landscape of India. Here we are highlighting some of the
important IT and BPO cities of India plus prominent firms, area of
specialization and the total number of employees engaged.

1. Delhi and NCR (includes Gurgaon and Noida). Call centers, transaction
processing, chip design, software etc. The prominent companies are GE,

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 American Express, ST Microelectronics, Wipro Spectramind, Convergys,
Daksh, and ExL. All of them employ approx. 73,000 people.

2. Mumbai. Financial research, back office, software etc. Prominent BPOs

are TCS, MphasiS, i-flex, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup etc. and they employ
approx. 62,050 workers.

3. Bangalore. Here the BPOs are mainly engaged in Chip design, software,
Bio-informatics, call centers, IT consulting, tax processing etc. Main
firms are Infosys, Wipro, Intel, IBM, SAP, SAS, Dell, Tisco, TI, Motorola,
HP, Oracle, Yahoo, AOL, E & Y, Accenture etc. and the total number of
employees are approx. 109,500.

4. Hyderabad. Main areas of work are software, back office and product
design. HSBC, Satyam, Microsoft are some of the prominent players of
the field employing as many as 36,500 people.

5. Chennai. Software, transaction, processing and animation are the main

areas of their specialization. Some of the prominent BPOs are
Cognizant, Standard Chartered, Polaris, EDS and Pentamedia. Together
they employ as many as 51,100 people.

6. Kolkata. The BPOs of the region concentrate mainly in Consultation and

software. PwC, IBM, ITC InfoTech, TCS are some of the prominent
players of the field employing around 7,300 people.

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 7. Pune Call centers, chip design, embedded software are the main areas.
MsourcE, C-DAC, Persistent Systems, Zensar are the key players and
they employ approx. 7,300 people

Call Centre:

A call centre is a place of network of places, where a customer’s queries can

be dealt with satisfaction to the customer. A call centre is a place, which
interacts with the customers, either by making or receiving calls, for business
purpose. It is the core work of the call centre.

Types Of Call Centre :

1. On The Basics Of Geographic level :

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 a) Domestic: The domestic or traditional call center involves an
outsourcer who has call center locations around native country for
redundancy.

The Approach

For cost effectiveness, the call center professionals usually take calls
for two or three clients whose data is ported to the desktop via a secure
connection from the client's database into the outsourcer's server.

Clients are sometimes given the option of co-locating some in-house

customer service agents at the call center to work in conjunction with
outsourcers' agents. The advantages of domestic call centers include
relative physical proximity between outsourcer and client, the
ability to co-locate and on-site troubleshooting. The domestic call
centers on the other hand, involve higher cost and usually a non-
dedicated staff. These call centers specialize in providing both inbound
and outbound services

b) International: International call centers work with a network of

offshore operations in different countries. These call centers specialize
in excellent multilingual on-the-phone translation skills. Round the
clock working hours offer the customers the advantage of 7x24x365.

The international call centers are generally industry unique. They

provide comprehensive customer contact solutions to meet clients'
specific needs. Offering customized solutions to resolve special
problems, the international call centers are securely supported by
state-of-the-art technologies. The short and long-term projects are
managed by highly qualified and experienced business development
professionals.

2. On the Basics of Process:

a) Inbound Call Centre - The inbound call centers are those that only
receive the calls usually on toll free numbers from the customers.
These call centers provide 24 hours service to all customers.

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 The primary goal of these call centers are to receive product orders,
help customers, to find dealer location

The Working:

The services of inbound call centres are designed to handle catalog orders,
help desk queries, dealer locations and more. They offer customized
services that are designed to meet the requirements of all kinds of
businesses. The inbound call centre professionals process calls and integrate
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and/or Internet services to sell additional
products and offer services in a dedicated environment.

They also integrate customer care services, predict customer behavior and
take action, while the customers are still on the line. The inbound call
centers employ a dedicated team of live operators, account representatives
and program managers. Offering 24/7 operator availability for the
customers, these call centers provide round-the-clock account management.
The team of qualified and trained operators understand the business,
products and services and perform to deliver their best. Using advanced
telephone service technology and programming, these call centres lay great
emphasis on attention to detail in messaging and reporting of all inbound
calls.

Inbound call centres offer communication services specifically designed to

maximize the efficiency of direct marketing efforts or to be a part of the
technical support team of the clients. They work together with you as a
partner building a strong, successful long-lasting relationship with
customers.

Inbound call centres offer

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 • Skilled, professional, customer support and technical service
representatives
• Improved market coverage
• Faster ramp-up, launch, and roll-out of new campaigns
• Experience with programs similar to yours
• Rapid response to market conditions
• Account management expertise
• Enhanced reporting capabilities
• Market testing capabilities

The 24/7 services of Inbound Call Centre comprise of:

• Order Processing
• Catalog Orders
• Consumer Response
• Customer Service
• Dealer Locators
• Toll Free Response
• Help Desk
• Direct Mail Response
• Direct TV Response
• Print Media Response
• Website Response
• Seminar Registration
• Answering Service
• Inquiry Handling
• Email Management
• Product Technical Information
• Interactive Voice Response
• Sales Lead Qualification
• Technical Support
• Trade Show Registration

b) Outbound Call Center

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Outbound call centers deals with telemarketing and product promotion. It
requires technical experience and expertise to ensure the clients that you
are the company that is best.

The success of the Outbound Call Centers depends on the extensive

experience, technological solutions, quality assurance programs and
commitment to customer service excellence that further ensures
maximum results from the direct marketing efforts.

The Approach :

The integrated call management systems in the outbound call center

facilities use, systematic calls to consumers and transfer successful
connections to a designated marketing representative (MR) who is
dedicated and has been trained for the specific client application. As a
call is presented to the MR, the consumer's name, address, and other
available information are simultaneously presented on the MR's
workstation along with a client's customized script.

The outbound clients benefit from the rigorous adherence to highly cost-
effective, results-based production and management processes. The key
to success is the thorough understanding of the business. Having
understood the differences between business-to-consumer and business-
to-business telemarketing, the outbound call centers use experienced
management to focus on the unique requirements of each client and
their targeted market - from recruiting to hiring, training and production.

The qualified personnel employed in the outbound call centers excel in

highly attentive outbound call center service environment. The well
developed and thorough procedures ensure that the individuals on are
prepared and accountable for the success of programs.

Services of Outbound Call Centers:

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 • Market Intelligence
• Database Selling
• Direct Mail Follow-up
• Lead Generation \ Qualification \ Management
• Seminar Population
• Product Promotion
• Debt Collection
• Information and Literature Fulfillment
• Appointment Scheduling
• Decision Maker Contacts
• Up Sell/Cross Sell Campaigns
• Surveys
• Customer Satisfaction

3. Some other Call Centre Types:

a) Web Enabled Call center

The market for Web-enabled call centers is burgeoning. For the past
decade, computer-telephony integration (CTI) has been one of the
hottest topics to hit the call center, promising reduced call volumes
and handle times, as well as a higher level of customized service.
The global emphasis on electronic commerce and the use of the
Internet as a delivery channel has sparked the development of new
CTI applications that offer tremendous opportunities to call centers.

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 The Internet provides for a more complete alternative by supporting
a full range of transactions, almost regardless of their complexity. As its
popularity continues to increase, its impact as a delivery channel will
improve dramatically and may finally begin to stem the tide of
demand for live agents. To ensure that the needs of all users are met,
websites must be integrated with the call center, giving customers a full
range of options without completely eliminating the valuable personal
touch.

A web enabled call center improves the e-commerce initiatives by

offering high quality customer service.

Various features offered by Web enabled call center are:

• Web Pop that automatically provides CSRs with a pop-up screen of

client's website, intranet or web script.
• Web Callback that helps the visitors of the client's website request a
callback from the CSRs by simply clicking and entering their name,
telephone information and time for call.
• Web Chat that assists visitors engaged in a live, two-way text chat
directly from client's site to a trained agent. They can obtain answers to
questions or resolve customer service issues without having to
disconnect from the Internet or use a phone.
• Web Push allows CSRs to assist client's website visitor to find out
information through guided "browsing."
• Email Management - This manages high-volume email inquiries
directed to client's mailbox or produced via a Website. The incoming
messages are tracked and provided an appropriate auto reply message
to the customers letting them know that their email has been received.

b) CRM Call Center :

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CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is a worthwhile endeavor
to ensure good returns on investment. In a CRM call center, customers
communicate in multiple ways that include phone, e-mail, Web chat,
personal sales representative, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and a
host of others.

The Working :

The CRM software integrates all the forms of customer contact into a
central history database where they can be retrieved or viewed
together. Using a CRM software, a customer issue can be tracked from
the original point of contact through to resolution.

CRM call centers help companies realign their entire organization

around customers. And thus, is a strategic business initiative. Sales,
Marketing and Service as well as other groups are connected and
coordinated through the CRM applications. Before a call is made to the
customer, all recent activity for that customer should be reviewed to be
informed of recent events. Then a sales strategy needs to planned
based upon observed opportunities. The use of CRM software in the call
center allows the assignment of a value to each customer if the culture
supports that philosophy. With that feature, one can choose how to
interact with that customer.

CRM helps the company identify most valuable customers and

understanding their lifetime values. Using CRM, the call centers design
the organization systems and service to best meet the needs of
customers and maximize their value. CRM is intended for long-term
relationship building. Besides capturing the different forms of customer
interaction, CRM allows you to capture and store all available customer
information in the central history database. This allows agents the
ability to pull up a customer's entire history while the two interact.
Communication and service are more effective and efficient. Most CRM
products also track trends in purchasing and customer feedback.

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c) Telemarketing Call Center :

Telemarketing call centers specialize in developing and implementing

professional inbound/outbound B2B and B2C telemarketing lead
generation, appointment setting, telesales and market research
programs.

The Understanding :

Telemarketing refers to the business or practice of marketing goods or

services by telephone. It is the act of selling, promoting or soliciting a
product over the telephone. Reliable telemarketing is an essential part
of the organization's working to enhance sales and increase profits.
Combining the best of personnel, processes and progressive
technologies, the telemarketing call centers serve as highly reliable
specialist resource for organizations seeking outstanding performance
and results.

The telemarketing call centers provide customized telephone services

that reveal the valued techniques used by successful telephone sales
and support professionals. The fully automated, state-of-the-art call
center equipments and custom software enables the call centers to field
thousands of calls daily for each client with a high degree of
professionalism and customization. The clients receive superior quality,
experience and courteous service, coupled with the advanced technical
capabilities. The call centers are staffed 24x7 and 365 days and they
totally concentrate on using the tactical skills and effective processes
during inbound/outbound call process.

d) Phone Call Center :

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 The phone call centers offer flexible call routing, superior IVR capacity
and predictive dialing systems.

The Concept :

Utilizing advanced telephony and Internet technology, the Customer

Service Representatives (CSRs) in the phone call centers provide
accurate and timely information for the most complex inbound or
outbound programs. The phone call centers offer personalized call
management by a team of professional operators who know about the
client and his business.

The phone call centers provide 24/7 answering and business services
that help keep the customers satisfied. This is essential as the call
centers could be loosing customers because of not answering the phone
when they called and also as they expect answers to questions
immediately. The customers expect the call centers to work around
their busy schedules. The call centers are equipped with top-of-the-line
communications technology.

The phone call centers focus on building trust and understanding with
every interaction between the company and its customers. They
thoroughly understand the fundamentals, as well as the subtleties of
the client's business. The go beyond mere data gathering to give the
customers, timely information that supports rapid decision-making.

Major Player Of BPO :

 Gen p a c t

 IB M D a k s h

 Rel i a n c e B PO

 HC L B PO
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  Fi r s t so u r c e S o lu t i o n s

 A egi s B PO S erv i c es

 Mp h a s i s

 Wi p ro B PO L t d.

 Ora c el

 Hi n du j a Gl ob a l So l u t io n s lt d .

 Co n v erg y s Ind i a S er v i c es

Reliance BPO:

Reliance BPO, a premium business process outsourcing services provider is

part of the Reliance - Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) Group, one of the largest
business houses of India. Reliance BPO is a state-of-the-art service provider
offering end-to-end solutions focusing in the Telecom, BFSI, Utility and
Entertainment industry verticals. Clients come to us for cost advantages but
stay with us because of our quality. We have been consistently delivering
quality services to our clients thereby generating unmatched business value
to our customers through our centers’ of excellence. Our operating philosophy
is to provide value added workflow solutions to our customers utilizing the
44
best of skill sets to ensure continuous improvements in our service offerings.
The RBPO team consists of a 10000 strong workforce across multiple locations
having skills in project, process, technology & customer relationship
management. To ensure business continuity we have multi redundancy,
robust technology and a strong disaster recovery site

Reliance BPO services customers in various industries:

Reliance BPO has been associated with India’s largest private sector
Information and Communication company since inception. Reliance BPO has
developed a proven methodology for managing outsourced operations that is
applied to BPO engagements across all industries. Reliance BPO manages
programs with rigorous processes and procedures to integrate all program
components into one seamless operation. Every detail of every contact
focuses on increasing customer value and loyalty. The products & services
offered cut across several industry verticals providing operational excellence,
deep industry and functional knowledge to critical business processes. Our
analytics help to gather business-critical intelligence to make informed
decisions, identify sources of revenue loss, and gain in-depth understanding
of customer behavior

1. Communications: Reliance BPO is a trusted transformation partner of

global Communication Service Providers. They deliver integrated
solutions, which help their client’s effect a business transformation and
enhance customer experience.
2. Banking & Financial Services

Their process expertise in this vertical includes a repository of

knowledge of best practices, extensive experience in transitioning
processes from their clients and the application of Six Sigma. Combining
this with their analytical capabilities, technological expertise and
operational insight, they seek to create long-term relationships with
their clients as an integral part of their organization and not just as a
service provider.

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 Reliance BPO solutions for the banking and finance sector provide both
voice and non-voice offerings across verticals and horizontals. They
possess the expertise, knowledge and tools to offer a complete BPO
solution specific to your enterprise needs.

3. Insurance

Reliance BPO has worked with clients in the insurance industry and over
the years gained a good perspective of the challenges faced by the
industry. Our processes delivers end-to-end solutions to all stakeholders
– the insured, insurance company, agent, broker and the banking
interface. It has executed a large number of projects spanning the
entire insurance value chain with our different product offerings.

We deliver comprehensive services through an integrated global IT and

process delivery platform leveraging our ability to manage business processes
as well as the underlying technology infrastructure.

Our track record for performing large scale and complex transactions
underscores our commitment to provide world-class service through
continuous process improvements in a cost-effective manner. Our focus on
quality allows us to streamline processes and to reduce turnaround time
costs, thereby increasing productivity, customer centricity and profitability for
our clients.

Today, Reliance BPO has the right solutions for business success with
services that help organizations maximize that success through a combination
of process expertise, methodologies, tools and technology

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IBM Daksh :

IBM Daksh offers business performance improvement rather than just cost-
savings and is a step closer to Business Transformation Outsourcing (BTO).

By unlocking revenue generation through up-selling and cross-selling,

improving customer satisfaction scores, optimizing capital use and reducing
operational expenditure, IBM Daksh offers far-reaching and positive impact on
shareholder value

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IBM Daksh has worked with a pioneering group of global companies that have
successfully used BPO and BTO to execute a broad range of strategies with
strong results.

It was just over five years ago that IBM Daksh was created. An independent
report in the US stated that more than two-thirds of online transactions were
abandoned due to inadequate customer support. In India, a core team of four
people thought about the implications of that report, and acted quickly. They
put together a business plan that got them their first client and their first
round of funding

IBM Daksh Service Offerings:

They provide a comprehensive range of outsourced voice-based services (both in-bound and out-
bound) as well as back office transaction processing.

IBM Daksh provides solutions in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Finance &
Administration (F&A) and Back-office processes for multiple industry verticals. These verticals
are financial services, industrial services, communication, and distribution industries. Within the
distribution vertical, IBM Daksh offers its expertise to retail, travel/transportation, and hospitality
sectors

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Firstsource:

Firstsource is a leading global provider of business process management

services. We offer a wide range of services across banking and financial
services, telecommunications and media and the healthcare industry.

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Firstsource provides services throughout the customer lifecycle, including
customer acquisition, customer care, billing and collections, transaction
processing and business research and analytics.

They offer the benefit of our global delivery model across 43 world class
centers and over 21,000 employees across India, US, UK, Argentina and the
Philippines. Founded in 2001, Firstsource has quickly risen to the top of the
BPO and contact center industry and built a reputation for high quality service
and proven results. They have been ranked by NASSCOM amongst top 10
ITES-BPO companies in India from 2003-2008.

Firstsource delivers innovative and value added business process

management services across the end customer lifecycle. Firstsource offers a
comprehensive suite of customer management services through a
combination of deep domain knowledge, strategic alliances and internal
competence building, backed by the right technology

Our service offerings across multiple industry verticals cover:

1. Customer Acquisition :-Firstsource assists clients in the processes

associated with acquiring new customers. This includes outbound
telesales, inbound telesales and direct marketing.
2. Customer Care: Firstsource helps clients in contact / call center
management by providing services that span voice-enabled customer
care, online transaction support, help desk services, back office
processing and customer retention programs. We understand that
acquiring new customers is only part of the picture. Businesses need to
increase customer retention rates and Firstsource can help them with
their customer retention and customer management solutions.
3. Transaction Processing: Firstsource assists clients in transaction
processing across a broad range of markets. Our team supports vertical
specific processes, such as disputes, complaints resolution and form
processing.
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 4. Billing and Collections: Firstsource manages client collection
processes which include inbound collection, early fraud identification
and skip tracing. We offer collections services with both first party and
third party collections capabilities to best meet the needs of our clients.
5. Business Research and Analytics :Firstsource complements the
voice and transaction processing services with knowledge services such
as research and analytics. We offer this service through our subsidiary,
Pipal Research which is a leading business research and analytics
services company

Accolades

 National Outsourcing Association (NOA) award for best Telecom

outsourcing project, 2007
 Ranked among the top 10 ITES companies by NASSCOM, 2007
 Ranked third in BusinessWeek list of 'hot players' in the offshore
outsourcing world - call centers
 First pure play BPO company in the world to secure ISO 20000 (IT
service management) and ISO 27001 (information security
management) certifications

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HCL:

HCL is a 32-year-old enterprise, with USD 5 billion revenue, 59,000

professionals operating out of 20 countries. HCL BPO is a division of HCL
Technologies Limited, a Global Technology and IT enterprise and is one of the
early players in Business Process Outsourcing in the world. HCL BPO offers a
comprehensive range of voice/web based contact and front-office services like
technical support services, supply chain management, finance and accounting
services, knowledge and legal services, customer life cycle management and
more.

HCL BPO Services represents one of the most significant strategic business
extensions and investments to date. Consistently ranked among the top ten
outsourcing companies in India, HCL BPO Services operates out of various
locations in India, as well as in US and UK.

The focus on and commitment to BPO is based on the following

assets and attributes:

 Global Client Base & Relationships

 Global Presence & Reach
 Related Technology Domain Expertise
 Relevant Industry Practices.

Accolades of HCL BPO Services:

a) Ranked No. 1 Employer in India and Best Employer in Asia by Hewitt

Associates, 2009
b) Ranked in the "Leaders" Category of the Global Outsourcing 100, by
International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) 2009
c) Ranked 3rd in the Employee Satisfaction Survey by DQ-IDC, 2008

52
 d) Won Technology Award at the BPO Industry Awards by Indiatimes,
2008
e) HCL NI Won European Call Centre of the Year ‘Best People Practice’
Award by Call Centre Focus (CCF), 2008
f) The first Indian BPO to enter the Telecommunications Expense
Management (TEM) market
g) HCL BPO among the Top 5 service providers in the UK market for Life
& Pensions
h) First Indian BPO to be COPC certified for Collection services First
Indian BPO to be COPC certified for Collection services

Key Terms :
Business Focus – Retail / Telecom / BFS / Insurance /
Hi-Tech & Manufacturing / Media Publishing & Entertainment
 Wing to Wing Solutions
Order to Cash, Procure to Pay, CRM & Technical Support Services

 Quality and Compliance Driven Delivery

COPC, ISO 9001:2000
ISO 27001:2005, ISO 20000:2005, SAS 70 Compliant
ISO 14001:2004, OHSAS 18001:2007
Purdue Benchmark: Ranked 2nd in the Global Peer Group
Six Sigma, BPR & Continuous Innovation for Continual Improvement

 Technology Upgrade
EnsureIT
an IT Service Management (ITSM) Programme
Targets to deliver 99.9% of service uptime

 Multi-lingual Support
8 European languages
Key Relationships – BT, Macy’s, Safeway,
Deutsche Bank, Office Depot
 Business Revenue*
•US$ 233.75 Million

 Customers
•103 (27 Fortune 500 / 27
Fortune Global 500)

 Service Offerings
• Business Generation
• Operations Management
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 • Management Decisioning

 Professionals: 12,750+
• Platform Based Services

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