When it comes to the BPO industry or call center services provider, being spoilt for choice is common. Post the streamlining of the Coronavirus pandemic, the implementation of technology in the sector has been rapid and staggering. As a result, the bucket for the services is quite exhaustive, and there is assistance for every operation that you want to outsource.

There are two aspects of the BPO industry that may create quite a dilemma for businesses to choose from. It is like choosing between a United States call center and a premier BPO in India. However, the decision to choose one from the two would become easier if you knew about them in-depth.

Let’s get on to describing both these aspects, talking about advantages and disadvantages too.

What’s an Off-shore Call Center?

Just as the name suggests, an off-shore call center provides customer communication services to businesses from a remote location. Such call centers can serve as a strategic outsourcing location that eases customer communications, cultural similarities, and even the budget factor.

An off-shore BPO, like Philippines call center outsourcing, is a great way to reduce the cost without any compromise on the quality front. Moreover, the service offerings from the BPO sector for off-shoring remain the same as on-shoring, be it inbound or outbound.

A lot of established brands consider off-shoring to be a great option for their business process, and we will mention the reasons behind that. Read further.

Advantages of Off-shoring BPO Services

A lot of brands based in the NALATAM region don’t prefer a United States call center for their business operations. Instead, they consider outsourcing to an off-shore location, and here are some reasons why.

• Multi-lingual Services

Off-shore call centers are available across the globe, irrespective of the country’s economic status. However, only a few of these places are truly locations that provide expert-level off-shoring. The popular off-shoring hubs have expertise in offering multi-lingual services: customer communications in two or three languages.

Multi-lingual services are crucial in countries that are known to have two or more languages spoken by a significant portion of the population. It enhances the overall service experience and makes it easy for both the agents and the customers to communicate about the issue.

• Full Range of Services

Off-shoring business operations to a BPO company does not mean that you will have to compromise on the kind of services you need. Instead, an off-shore call center can offer almost every service that the BPO industry is known to offer.

This includes even lesser-known processes, like phone answering and appointment setting services, virtual assistance, etc.

• Lower Cost

Even though you get a full range of services and multi-lingual operations, the cost involved with off-shore call center outsourcing is lower than on-shore. Off-shoring is mostly common in places that are rich in people and skill availability. The easy availability of these aspects brings the cost down to a great extent.

Besides just this, such off-shoring hubs, like any Philippines call center outsourcing, are no exceptions in terms of the technology too. They are in line with the kind of technology and developments to enhance the customer service quality metrics.

Disadvantages of Off-shoring BPO Services

Every type of call center outsourcing operation comes with its share of drawbacks, and so does off-shoring. Here they are:

• Language Barriers

One of the greatest disadvantages of off-shoring is the language barrier. Even though you get multi-lingual agents, the number of languages they speak will always be limited. Moreover, fluency will also not be as good as any native.

Here is an example of this. Even though you will find Espanol-speaking agents in India, the fluency they offer will be nothing close to that of a native from Spain. So, conveying the message or offering support will not be as smooth as it could be.

• Less Control

Since off-shore call centers are located at remote locations, the chances are high that you will never visit the office. From the contract to the delivery of services, the entire communication is carried out remotely. Due to this, there is always a restriction on how much control you can have over the process.

• Concerns over Security

Regulating security and data management is not seamless with an off-shore call center unless both sides make extra efforts. Moreover, not every off-shore BPO may follow the required security and data protection protocol, leading to chances of a data breach. So, you have to choose the BPO company with utmost clarity.

What’s an On-shore Call Center?

On-shore call centers are the premier form of BPO outsourcing. In this form of outsourcing, the BPO company is based in the sales country as the brand, making it extremely convenient with cultural and language similarities. For example, if the brand is from the USA, then a United States call center would be the perfect fit for on-shoring.

Advantages of Off-shoring BPO Services

Let’s take a look at the advantages off-shoring call center operations.

• Language and Cultural Similarities

The biggest positive of an on-shore BPO company is the language and cultural similarities it has with the target audience. This similarity positively impacts the customer experience, and they can connect with the agents on a deeper level and share and understand the service support better.

• Better Control

Since the BPO company and the brand are located within the same geographic boundary, collaboration is better. In addition, brand representatives can visit the BPO company any time they want, which establishes a strong control.

• Better Efficiency

With an on-shore BPO company, brands can have better efficiency overall. This is due to the fact that there are no language barriers while the control is stronger. So, as a result, you get better output for your business.

• On-point Data Security

There are multiple benefits of being geographically close to the BPO company. First, with the kind of location proximity, you will be more familiar with the company’s kind of data policies. This gives you maximum control over the way the call center functions with your confidential data.

Disadvantages of On-shoring BPO Services

• Expensive

When it comes to on-shoring BPO operations, brands shell out a huge amount of investment. In addition, On-shoring is practiced in locations where their off-shoring would not be very effective. As a result, the cost is extremely high. Plus, if you consider something like a United States call center, the kind of services that they offer is beyond goodness. Technology, monitoring, security, etc., are all on-point with an on-shore BPO company.

However, this also means that both the manpower as well as technological resources are expensive to acquire and maintain, taking the BPO companies to a notch higher.

So, Which One Should You Choose?

Choosing one between on-shoring and off-shoring depends entirely on the business requirement of the brand in question. Most startup brands survive over off-shoring as they are cost-effective, and the difference in the quality and output is not a lot.

On the other hand, most established brands, who have a huge budget to spare, consider on-shoring since their primary focus is on customer satisfaction and experience. So, the end decision is entirely on your

• Business type
• Location
• Budget
• Quality requirement

Once you have a strict answer to these, you have a better chance of getting the desired output.