Difference Between Call Center and BPO That Makes the Difference

Difference Between Call Center and BPO That Makes the Difference

We often make the mistake of merging the two terms Call Center Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing with each other. And we are doing it for so long that we never once thought these two terms might have different meanings. Well, let me tell you, they have. Both of them might appear one and the same (sharing some similarities as well) but in reality, share some major differences. And we are not talking here about any differences but the ones that matter. Let’s check them out.

Primarily, a call center service is specifically designed to perform the tasks of a business process of client companies that are mostly limited to phone calls whereas a BPO company, on the other hand, shoulders the responsibility of running one or multiple processes for their client companies which are not only conceptualized but are also practiced for businesses to save big on costs and gain in productivity.

Second reason being that call centers handle the front office processes only where its basic function is to keep its existing customers happy while persuading the potential ones through calling whereas the BPO services span across multiple processes from human resources to accounting to financing to much more. In other words, it helps manage your relationships with the customers along with your core back-end business functions.

Call center services cover only the font offices processes limited to calls, both inbound and outbound. Here, the inbound calls are the ones where the customers contact the call center agents to get their issues resolved whereas the outbound

calls are made by the agents themselves to persuade the potential customers to buy the product or service of the company.

On the contrary, BPO services mainly handle front office (including customer management services such as telemarketing, customer support, sales, market research, technical support, etc.) and backend processes (including data entry, payments, management, surveys, accounts, finance, etc.).

Lastly, where call center services are hired for direct interaction with the customers besides nurturing their relationship with the client companies, BPO services are mostly hired for working on the front office and backend work of the client companies. Also, the BPO section may or may not involve interaction with the customers, focussing its attention mainly on the core and non-core processes (or the parts that improve functioning and reduce the costs.)

Conclusion: So, here are our four major differences between call center and BPO that actually makes a difference. And before you leave, here’s a fact for you. There are companies that offer BPO services through websites but has nothing to do with handling telephone calls in order to deliver services to their clients such as medical transcription agencies, etc. This fact further strengthens the point that a call center itself is a BPO organization but with least service spectrum.