Companies outsource their business processes for a variety of reasons. From cost reduction, increased efficiency, and access to specialized skills and knowledge to improved service quality. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) has become a vital strategic tool for many organizations. It lets them focus on their core competencies while outsourcing non-core functions to an external service provider.
But with the increasing complexity and volume of business processes, the need for automation in BPO has become more apparent. Take, for instance, omnichannel call centers or document processing. They generate massive amounts of data that require efficient management.
This is where BPO automation software comes into play.
What are BPO automation software?
BPO automation tools are software applications that automate repetitive, routine tasks in business processes. They use AI technologies like Natural Language Processing (NLP), voice analytics, and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to extract, analyze, and interpret data. By automating these tasks, companies can significantly improve their efficiency, reduce errors, and save time and resources.
Here are some examples of tasks in BPO that can be automated to increase efficiency and accuracy:
1. Data entry: You can automate data entry tasks with OCR and information extraction to greatly reduce the need for manual effort and improves accuracy.
2. Customer service: Bots can be used for contact center automation. They handle routine customer inquiries and provide essential support, freeing human agents to focus on more complex issues.
3. Reporting: Generate reports by extracting and analyzing data from various sources. This removes the need for manual data gathering and compilation.
4. Workflows: Streamline and automate the sequence of administrative checkpoints and actions involved in processes such as invoice payment or insurance claim approval.
5. Back-Office processes: You can utilize Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to automate repetitive tasks in back-office processes, such as data validation, data reconciliation, and invoice processing.
How to choose the right BPO automation software
Your tool choice constantly changes according to your business needs. For instance, if your client uses a specific ERP system, you’d have to go with software that can integrate with it.
But there are some general factors that you should consider when choosing a BPO automation software:
1. Functionality: Assess the software’s functionality and ensure it aligns with your needs. Look for features such as OCR, workflow automation, data extraction, and integration capabilities.
2. Ease of use: Consider the user-friendliness of the software. Look for a solution that is intuitive and easy to navigate, as this will facilitate adoption and minimize training requirements.
3. Customization options: Determine if the software allows customization to meet your unique business requirements. Look for flexibility in creating custom workflows, rules, and templates.
4. Integration capabilities: Consider the software’s ability to integrate with other systems and applications used in your organization. Seamless integration will enable smooth data flow and avoid duplication of effort.
5. Support and training: Evaluate the level of customer support provided by the software provider. Look for responsive support channels and resources such as documentation, tutorials, and training materials.
6. Cost and ROI: Consider the pricing model of the software and evaluate the return on investment (ROI) it can provide. Compare the cost of the software with the potential cost savings and efficiency gains it can offer.
7. Analytics and reporting: Look for software that provides robust reporting and analytics capabilities. These features can help you track performance, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions.
8. Security and compliance: Ensure the software complies with relevant industry regulations and has robust security measures to protect your data.
Always request a demo or trial before making a final decision. This will give you a firsthand experience of the software’s capabilities and help you assess whether it meets your specific needs.
BPO automation software to optimize your operations
Now that we’re up to speed on BPO automation tools and how to choose the right one, let’s look at powerful BPO software for different use cases.
The automation software for BPO aims to enhance efficiency and productivity, improve transparency and accuracy, facilitate better collaboration, and reduce operational costs.
1. Automate document processing with Nanonets
Document processing is a common task in many BPOs. However, manual data entry and document handling can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Nanonets offers a powerful solution for automating document processing.
It combines AI and OCR technologies to extract data from documents and classify and validate the data.
Nanonets enable BPOs to:
- Automate the process of extracting data from invoices, receipts, purchase orders, and other documents, reducing the need for manual data entry and improving accuracy.
- Set up task routing and review and approval workflows for incoming documents to ensure they are processed efficiently and accurately.
- Easily import and export data to and from various systems, like Zapier, Google Drive, Xero, Sage, Quickbooks, and more, ensuring seamless integration and data flow.
- Automate data extraction and population into various formats, such as CSV, JSON, and XML, making it easy to use and analyze the data.
- Train the AI to recognize and extract specific data fields from your documents, making it a highly customizable solution.
- Provide detailed analytics and reports, allowing you to track performance, identify bottlenecks, and make data-driven decisions.
Whether your BPO firm is into finance, healthcare, insurance, or any other industry, Nanonets can help streamline your document processing tasks and significantly improve efficiency and accuracy.
Pricing:
- The Pro edition is priced at $499/month/model.
- Additional add-ons include SSO/SAML Login, SLAs, Dedicated Account Manager, Custom Integrations, and API Responses.
- Self-serve setup is available.
2. Manage customer interactions from one place with Dialpad AI Contact Center
Clients often hire BPOs to manage their customer interactions. Here, success often depends on efficient communication and quick and satisfactory resolution of customer queries.
Dialpad AI Contact Center helps streamline customer interactions. It uses AI to provide real-time call transcriptions, sentiment analysis, and coaching insights, helping your team deliver better customer service.
Dialpad allows BPOs to:
- Set up an omnichannel contact center quickly and easily. It supports various communication channels such as chat, email, instant messaging, social media, and voice calls.
- Provide your agents with AI-powered live coaching, sentiment analysis, real-time recommendations, and the next best actions to help them resolve customer issues efficiently.
- Effortlessly review, analyze, and archive conversations with instant call and meeting transcriptions and post-call action items and summaries.
- Communicate and support customers from a single workspace with integrations with tools like Zendesk, Microsoft 365, and Google Workspace.
- Get built-in analytics and reporting capabilities to monitor contact center performance, track key metrics, and make data-driven decisions.
Overall, Dialpad AI Contact Center leverages AI technologies to empower customer-facing BPOs, improve support across multiple channels, automate workflows, and enhance the overall customer experience.
Pricing:
The pricing for Dialpad AI Contact Center is not explicitly mentioned in the search results. You need to contact them directly for a custom quote.
3. Streamline payroll management with Intuit QuickBooks Payroll
Payroll processing is complicated. From ensuring compliance, and following tax regulations to calculating employee wages and benefits accurately, it can be a complex and time-consuming process. And it requires specialized knowledge and expertise. This is why clients often outsource their payroll tasks to BPOs.
Intuit QuickBooks Payroll is a comprehensive solution that simplifies payroll processing. It automates payroll calculations, tax filings, and payments, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
QuickBooks Payroll allows BPOs to:
- Automate depositing employee paychecks into their bank accounts, eliminating the need for paper checks.
- Stay compliant with automatic tax updates and end-of-year W-2s and calculate federal and state payroll taxes and deductions for benefits and retirement plans.
- Calculate and file payroll taxes automatically, reducing the risk of errors and penalties.
- Access detailed payroll reports to keep track of your payroll activities and make informed decisions.
- Integrate with Nanonets to automate data extraction from payroll documents, further streamlining the payroll process.
- Provide employees with online access to their pay stubs, tax forms, and other payroll-related documents, improving transparency and communication.
QuickBooks Payroll is a reliable tool that can save BPOs a lot of time and effort in managing payroll tasks and ensure that they are done accurately and in compliance with tax laws.
Pricing:
The EasyStart plan costs $25 monthly plus $4/month for every employee.
4. Optimize workflows with Zapier
Take any BPO firm, and you’ll find many tasks requiring interaction between different software and tools. It could be tasks outsourced by clients like email marketing, data entry, and customer support, or internal tasks like project management and HR. All of these require seamless integration and automation for maximum efficiency.
Zapier is a powerful no-code automation tool that connects different apps and allows you to create automated workflows. They have an extensive library of integrations and preset “Zaps” that can automate tasks between various apps, saving you time and reducing manual effort.
Zapier allows BPOs to:
- Automatically capture and sync data between different platforms, eliminating the need for manual data entry.
- Set up triggers and actions to automate repetitive tasks, such as sending emails, updating spreadsheets, creating tasks, and more.
- Reduce the need for manual supervision and intervention by setting up automated workflows that run in the background.
- Use the Zapier-Nanonets integration to automate data extraction from documents and sync it with other apps.
- Automate task routing between team members or departments, ensuring smooth communication and collaboration.
- Integrate with client-side tools and platforms, allowing efficient data exchange, seamless collaboration, and task management.
- Monitor and analyze the performance of your automated workflows with built-in analytics and reporting, allowing you to identify bottlenecks, optimize processes, and make data-driven decisions.
Most BPO firms can benefit from the automation that Zapier provides. It helps to streamline operations, improve productivity, and reduce the risk of errors, all while saving time and resources.
Pricing:
The paid plans start at $19.99/month when billed annually. The monthly fee for this plan and all the other plans changes according to the number of tasks you need to automate and the complexity of your workflows.
5. Improve sales and support efficiencies with Intercom Bots
BPO companies can never afford to be completely offline. Client-outsourced tasks aside, sales, marketing, and support must be available around the clock. But maintaining a full-time staff around the clock can be expensive and impractical. This is where Intercom Bots come in.
Intercom’s chatbots are designed to automate customer support, lead generation, and other tasks that require human interaction. They can be programmed to function in a certain way, ensuring that your customers and prospects receive instant responses, even outside of business hours.
Intercom Bots allow BPOs to:
- Provide 24/7 support to clients by answering common queries, directing them to relevant resources, or escalating complex issues quickly.
- Automate incoming lead qualification by asking pre-set questions and gathering essential information, allowing your sales team to focus on high-quality leads.
- Evoke action from website visitors by delivering personalized messages based on their behavior, improving conversion rates.
- Share the right content at the right time with automated content recommendations, enhancing user experience and engagement.
- Ensure the support team only deals with complex issues that require human intervention, freeing them from answering repetitive and straightforward queries.
- Integrate with CRMs, email tools, chat tools, website builders, online stores, and other platforms to streamline communication and data sharing.
Intercom Bots are an effective solution for BPOs to ensure continuous client engagement and support, even during off-hours. More importantly, it allows your sales, marketing, and support teams to focus on more strategic tasks while the bots handle the routine and repetitive ones.
Pricing:
The pricing starts at $74/month when billed annually. This package includes two seats and 1000 people contacted per month.
Wrapping up
Delivering high-quality service consistently becomes easier with BPO automation. It allows BPOs to meet client expectations more effectively and with fewer hassles, thereby fostering stronger client relationships.
Remember, the key to successful BPO automation lies in choosing the right tools and implementing them correctly. So, take the time to evaluate your processes, identify areas that can benefit from automation, and choose the tools that best fit your needs.
Nanonets can help you in this journey by providing advanced AI solutions for data extraction, process automation, and workflow optimization. With Nanonets, you can automate complex tasks, reduce manual efforts, and improve the efficiency of your BPO operations.
Sign up for a free trial and explore how Nanonets can transform your BPO operations.
