BPO tools are services offered by third parties to outsource business processes for a fee. Vertical tools complete a specific activity’s unique tasks, while horizontal tools complete correlated tasks for multiple activities. Data entry and customer service are commonly outsourced activities. Companies can choose local or international sourcing partners and bundle or separate services.
BPO tools are not so much physical items as they are services offered by third parties. Companies can outsource certain business processes to third parties, allowing those businesses to complete the activity for a specified fee. First, BPO tools can be vertical or horizontal. Vertical tools perform an activity from start to finish; horizontal tools complete correlated activities of two different activities. Activities commonly outsourced could be recruiting, sales, purchasing, or accounting.
Each activity in a company usually has several tasks lined up in a specific order. Vertical BPO tools handle each of these unique tasks to fully fulfill a company’s activity. For example, the purchasing activity might have tasks such as identifying and selecting suppliers, resource reviews, placing orders, and receiving goods and paying. The outsourced company completes all of these tasks as part of the vertical outsourcing process. Other activities have steps that fall this way, although the tasks relate specifically to the activity.
Horizontal BPO tools allow a third-party company to work on multiple activities while completing tasks. Accounting is a common activity that often falls under the horizontal BPO process. For example, the sales department is usually responsible for collecting payments from customers. The purchasing department requests payment from vendors who ship goods to the company. When the third-party company handles these two tasks as part of the accounting activity, this is horizontal BPO.
Out of each of these types of BPO tools, data entry or customer service is the most common outsourced activity. Data entry activities are usually common tasks that require the use of unskilled workers. Companies can outsource these activities to save time, capital and effort in building payroll and maintaining facilities for employees to work. Call center services are a similar task outsourced for the same reasons. Without the technology, facilities or ability to handle high volumes of customer inquiries or orders, BPO tools are the way to go when handling this activity.
When a company looks to third-party companies, BPO tools offer a variety of options. For example, a company can select a local or international sourcing partner. Third party companies may offer various services such as call service, answering service and direct mail advertisements. Companies can choose to bundle services with a third-party company or look to separate activities. It usually takes some time to research the tools available when outsourcing activities.
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