What’s a BPO call center or contact center? All you need to know about outsourcing

If your business is growing, so too will be the number of customer interactions or sales conversations you need to handle every day. At a certain point, your in-house staff or contact center agents and reps may start to struggle under the weight. That’s where employing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) can come in. A BPO call center or contact center takes over some or all of the workload to help you scale more efficiently. 

Sound interesting? It should, as BPO contact centers can play a key role in enhancing service quality, streamlining operations, and allowing your own staff to focus on core business activities. Read on, to get answers to key questions like what is a BPO call center, how does it work, what are the pros and cons, which services could you outsource, and more.

BPO call center definition

A BPO call center is a third-party service provider that handles customer interactions over the phone on behalf of another business. 

These call centers allow businesses to outsource customer support, technical assistance, and other communication tasks to specialized teams.

For example, a global company might use call center BPO to manage customer inquiries 24/7, ensuring timely responses without the need for an in-house team in every time zone. 

This approach helps businesses improve service quality, reduce costs, and focus on their core operations.

BPO call center vs BPO contact center

What about our other communication channels? We hear you ask. That’s where we come to the difference between a BPO call center and BPO contact center. It’s the latter which refers to the outsourcing of customer interactions across channels including live chat, email, and social media—as well as phone calls. 

In practice, however, most of today’s call centers are really contact centers, anyhow. There are very few centers either in-house or outsourced which are truly limited to just calls. Therefore, throughout this guide we’ll be applying a broader BPO call center meaning, encompassing all channels, and using BPO contact center and BPO call center interchangeably.

How does outsourcing a BPO contact center work?

BPO is when you outsource your contact or call center operations to third-party vendors.

Trusted BPOs take over customer communication tasks for a business, handling interactions such as inbound and outbound calls, emails, and live chats.

Companies partner with BPO providers, who set up dedicated teams trained to represent the brand and meet specific service standards. 

These BPO call centers can operate 24/7, using advanced technology to manage large volumes of customer interactions efficiently.

For instance, an eCommerce company might use an outsourced contact center to manage customer inquiries during peak shopping seasons, ensuring timely support without overwhelming their internal teams. This setup enhances customer service and operational scalability.

Types of BPO call center and contact center and who uses them

BPO call centers and contact centers come in various forms, each designed to serve specific business needs. 

Whether you’re looking to enhance customer support, drive sales, or manage complex communications, understanding the different types of BPO call centers is essential for achieving your business goals.

Inbound call centers and contact centers

Inbound call centers and contact centers specialize in receiving and handling incoming calls and other contact requests from customers. These centers are primarily focused on customer support, technical assistance, order processing, and handling other queries from callers.

Inbound call centers are ideal for businesses with high volumes of customer queries, such as eCommerce companies during peak shopping seasons, utility providers managing service issues, or financial institutions handling account-related queries. 

For example, a software company might use a BPO inbound call center to provide 24/7 technical support, ensuring customers can get help whenever they encounter an issue.

Outbound call centers and contact centers

Outbound call or contact centers are typically focused on making outgoing calls on behalf of a business. These calls are often related to sales, marketing, customer surveys, lead generation, or appointment setting.

For example, a BPO outbound call center might be employed by a telecommunications company to reach out to potential customers with special offers or new service packages. 

Unlike inbound call centers, the primary objective of outbound centers is to initiate contact with customers or prospects, driving business growth through proactive communication.

Companies in industries such as retail, insurance, or hospitality may use outbound call centers to collect feedback, upsell products or services, or launch new marketing campaigns. This helps build brand awareness, generate new leads, and nurture existing customers.

Virtual call centers and contact centers

Virtual contact centers operate remotely, with agents working from various locations rather than a centralized office. 

These centers offer the flexibility to tap into a global talent pool, allowing businesses to scale their operations and provide 24/7 support without the limitations of physical infrastructure.

For example, a global tech startup might use a virtual call center to manage customer support across different time zones, ensuring seamless service around the clock.

Virtual contact centers are particularly beneficial for businesses looking to reduce overhead costs while maintaining high levels of service. They’re also ideal for companies that need to ramp up customer service operations quickly during product launches or seasonal peaks, offering the ability to scale up or down as needed.

BPO call center services: What might you choose to outsource?

Outsourcing communications to a BPO contact center can save your business a lot of time and hassle. Here are seven areas in which BPO solutions could help you to streamline operations, boost revenue, and enhance your customer service.

1. Customer service support

Exceptional customer service is the heart of any thriving business. BPO call centers can provide 24/7 customer support that’s both efficient and personalized. 

Using AI-powered solutions like RingCentral RingCX, your BPO customer support team can answer your customer calls, resolve issues faster, ensuring that customers remain satisfied and your brand reputation is maintained.

2. Order processing

Speed and accuracy are crucial when processing orders. BPO call centers streamline this process, handling everything that might otherwise occupy your back office, from order entry to shipment tracking with precision. 

Integrating with your CRM ensures that every order is processed efficiently, reducing errors and boosting customer confidence in your brand. This efficiency leads to faster fulfillment and happier customers.

 3. IT operations

Managing IT operations can be complex, especially for SMBs. BPO call centers offer robust IT support, including helpdesk services, network monitoring, and technical troubleshooting. 

With powerful AI-driven insights, they can proactively address issues before they escalate, ensuring minimal downtime. This support allows your business to focus on growth while keeping technology running seamlessly.

4. Dispatch services

Timely dispatch is key to business operations. BPO call centers coordinate dispatch services with precision, ensuring that your products or services reach customers when promised.

5. Sales

BPO contact centers can supercharge your sales efforts. Equipped with the right AI tools, agents can use outbound calling to engage with potential customers, nurture leads, and close deals more effectively. 

They provide a seamless transition from lead generation to sales conversion, helping you expand your customer base and increase revenue without adding to your internal workload.

6. Telemarketing

Targeted telemarketing campaigns can drive significant business growth. BPO call centers use data-driven strategies to reach out to the right prospects at the right time. 

By combining AI with skilled agents, they can personalize pitches, increase conversion rates, and build long-term relationships. This approach turns cold calls into warm leads, maximizing your ROI.

7. Market research

Understanding your market is key to staying competitive. BPO call centers can conduct market research on your behalf, gathering valuable insights that inform your business strategy. 

Analyzing customer feedback, industry trends, and competitor activity helps you make data-driven decisions.

Pros and cons of a BPO call center

Outsourcing your call center operations to a BPO provider can be a game-changer for your business. It’s not, however, a magic bullet without its potential challenges and does need careful management to ensure success. We’ll get to some outsourcing best practices in a moment, but first let’s get to grips with the pros and cons of BPO call centers.

Below, we explore some of the key benefits of outsourcing services to a BPO provider, such as how it can help cut costs, improve business outcomes, and expand your reach.

Reduce costs

One of the most compelling reasons to outsource your contact center operations is the significant cost savings. BPO companies leverage economies of scale, offering skilled labor and advanced technologies at a fraction of the cost of maintaining an in-house team. 

You can avoid expenses related to recruitment, training, salaries, benefits, and infrastructure, all while receiving top-class service.

Using a BPO partner allows you to reallocate resources to other critical areas of your business, optimizing your budget and increasing profitability. This cost-efficiency allows you to invest in growth opportunities and stay competitive in your industry.

Increase flexibility & efficiency

As well as being cost-effective, outsourcing your call center operations can empower your business to become more agile and responsive to market changes. 

BPO services offer scalable solutions that can easily adjust to your business needs, whether you’re dealing with seasonal spikes in demand or entering new markets.

This flexibility ensures that your customer service is consistently efficient, even during peak periods.

Your BPO provider should be equipped with the latest technologies and best practices, allowing for faster issue resolution and higher customer satisfaction. 

This enables you to further optimize your operations, improve overall efficiency, and deliver a superior customer experience—something which can also have a positive impact on customer retention.

Enjoy global reach

BPO contact centers give your business access to a global talent pool, enabling you to provide 24/7 customer support across multiple time zones and languages. 

This ensures that your customers receive consistent, high-quality service no matter where they are or when they need help—without you needing to set up and manage multiple contact centers around the world.

When you have customers scattered across different regions, time zones, and languages, providing timely and localized support becomes essential to maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

A BPO call center allows you to meet these demands seamlessly.

Focus on core functions

Using a BPO partner frees up valuable time and resources, allowing you to focus on your core business functions. 

With a third party handling your inbound call center services, order processing, or telemarketing, you can concentrate on your primary objectives and areas of expertise without diverting attention from the day-to-day management of customer interactions. 

This strategic focus not only boosts efficiency but also enhances your ability to scale and compete in a dynamic business environment—positioning your business for long-term success.

Potential challenges of outsourcing your call center

Although there are many advantages of outsourcing your call center, there are also risks you need to be aware of. 

These challenges might mitigate the benefits you hope to see, so it’s important to do your research before choosing a BPO supplier and consider whether these potential problems are worth the risk. If not, keeping operations in-house and investing in an omnichannel contact center solution like RingCentral RingCX may prove more beneficial.

Let’s take a closer look at some of these issues and the impact they could have on your business:

Quality assurance

When you outsource your contact center to a BPO provider, ensuring consistent quality can become a challenge. If your service quality fluctuates, it can harm your reputation and lead to dissatisfied customers. 

Different BPO providers may have their own approach to customer service, leading to inconsistencies that leave customers frustrated or dissatisfied. Plus, the physical and operational distance between your business and the BPO makes it harder to monitor and maintain high standards in real time. 

If issues arise, they might go unnoticed until they become significant problems, potentially costing you customers and damaging your brand.

Keeping your contact center in-house means you have direct control over quality assurance. You can closely oversee your team, ensuring every interaction aligns with your brand values and customer expectations.

Solutions like RingCX give you AI-powered insights during and after interactions—enhancing efficiency, monitoring agent performance, and enabling more effective customer interactions. 

This hands-on approach allows for immediate corrections and provides a consistent, high-quality experience that strengthens customer loyalty and enhances your brand’s reputation.

Security

Security is another critical concern when outsourcing your contact center. Your customers entrust you with their personal information, payment details, and transaction histories—data that must be protected at all costs. 

When a third party handles this sensitive information, your visibility into their security protocols may be limited, increasing the risk of data breaches or unauthorized access.

A security lapse could have devastating consequences, from financial losses and legal penalties to a tarnished reputation. 

The fallout from a breach can take years to recover from, as rebuilding customer trust is no small feat. 

By keeping your contact center in-house, you maintain full control over data security. You can implement the strictest protocols, ensuring compliance with industry standards and safeguarding your customers’ trust. 

This direct oversight helps minimize risks and provides peace of mind for both your business and your customers.

Training

Training is key to delivering exceptional customer service, but it’s an area that can suffer when you outsource to a BPO provider. 

BPO call center agents might not be as well-versed in your products, services, or brand values as an in-house team would be. This knowledge gap can lead to misunderstandings, incorrect information being relayed to customers, and a lack of personalized service that your customers expect and deserve.

Moreover, BPO providers may offer generic onboarding and training programs that aren’t tailored to your specific needs, resulting in uneven service delivery. Keeping your contact center in-house allows you to create and implement customized training that reflects your company’s unique offerings and customer service standards. 

This ensures your agents have the expertise they need to handle queries effectively and provide accurate, personalized assistance. The result is that customers feel valued and satisfied, and you can maintain the quality and consistency that sets your brand apart from the competition.

BPO call center best practices: How to make outsourcing work for you

Selecting the right BPO call center solution is crucial. Partnering with the wrong provider can have serious consequences for your customers, your reputation, and your bottom line. 

To help you make the best choice and otherwise ensure successful outsourcing, here are seven essential steps to guide you through the process:

1. Determine your current and future requirements

The first step is to evaluate your current needs and anticipate future demands. Consider call volume and the number of other customer interactions, the complexity of queries, the channels you want to support (such as phone, email, chat, or social media), and any specific industry requirements. 

It’s also important to think ahead about how your business might grow or change in the next few years—for example, if you’re expanding into new sectors or markets—as your chosen solution should be scalable to accommodate that growth.

2. Confirm your budget

Call center services can vary widely in cost. This depends on a number of factors such as the level of service, the technology used, and the geographic location of the provider. 

Before you start narrowing down your options, get a clear idea of your budget constraints and the capabilities you need from your BPO provider. 

Be sure to account for both upfront costs and ongoing expenses, including potential upgrades or additional services, as your needs evolve.

3. Research potential providers

Once you have a clear understanding of your needs and budget, it’s time to start researching potential BPO call center providers. They should have a strong reputation, positive reviews, and a proven track record in your industry. 

Double-check the security systems they have in place and ask about their training and quality assurance processes.

It’s also essential to consider the contact center software solutions that each provider uses, as this can significantly impact the quality of service you receive.

Many BPO contact centers use RingCentral RingCX to deliver top-tier service, leveraging powerful features to enhance customer interactions, including omnichannel support, advanced analytics, and AI-driven insights. 

These features help BPOs provide more personalized and efficient service, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Avantive Solutions, a leading BPO call center, chose RingCX to deliver best-in-class contact center solutions to power its customer experiences around the world. 

With RingCX, the company has been able to replace complex legacy systems, streamline workflows, generate leads and sales, and so much more. 

Choosing a BPO call center that uses the latest software and technology will ensure your customers get the best service possible.

4. Create a clear BPO strategy

Developing a clear BPO strategy that aligns with your business objectives will help you define your goals for outsourcing. 

Whether it’s improving customer satisfaction, reducing costs, or expanding support hours, this strategy should also outline the specific tasks you want the BPO provider to handle and any metrics or KPIs you’ll use to measure success. 

A well-thought-out strategy ensures that both you and your BPO partner are aligned from the start.

5. Choose your service provider

With your budget set and strategy in place, you’re ready to choose a service provider. Review your shortlist of potential BPOs, considering how well each one meets your requirements, fits within your budget, and aligns with your strategy. 

Don’t hesitate to ask for detailed proposals and conduct interviews to ensure you’re making an informed decision. The right provider should meet your current needs but also have the capacity to expand as your business evolves.

Ensure you nail down the details of contracts, service level agreements (SLA), and other crucial documentation.

6. Make a transition plan

Once you’ve selected a BPO provider, it’s time to create a transition plan. This plan should include a timeline for moving services to the new provider, training for both your internal team and the BPO’s team, and a clear communication strategy to keep everyone informed throughout the process.

7. Monitor results

After the transition is complete, it’s essential to continually monitor the results to ensure that the BPO call center solution is meeting your expectations. 

Regularly review performance against your KPIs, gather feedback from customers and employees, and work closely with your BPO partner to make any necessary adjustments. 

Monitoring this progress will help you maximize the benefits of your BPO call center solution and ensure that it continues to support your business goals.

Deliver exceptional customer service with BPO contact center solutions powered by RingCX

Implementing BPO contact center services can be a game-changer for your business. Outsourcing cuts costs, ramps up efficiency, and lets you deliver top-class customer service around the clock—all without the headache of managing it yourself. 

Plus, with the flexibility to scale as you grow, BPOs free you up to focus on what you do best.

If your chosen BPO provider uses advanced software solutions like RingCX, the benefits are even greater. With features like omnichannel support, AI-driven insights, and advanced analytics, RingCX enhances your customer interactions—making every conversation count. 

This technology not only streamlines operations but also provides valuable data that can help you refine your customer service strategy over time.

If you’re considering outsourcing your contact center operations, the advantages are clear. However, if you prefer to keep things in-house while still benefiting from top-tier technology, why not explore a demo of RingCX yourself? 

Whether you choose to outsource or maintain your customer support internally, the right tools and strategies are key to achieving exceptional service and driving business growth.

 BPO call center FAQs

What is BPO in a call center?

BPO, or Business Process Outsourcing, in a call center context, refers to the practice of hiring a third-party company to handle your customer interactions. 

This can include everything from answering customer queries and providing technical support to managing outbound sales calls. 

For small to medium-sized businesses, this means they don’t have to set up and maintain an in-house call center team, allowing them to save costs, leverage the BPO’s expertise, and focus on what they do best.

What type of companies use BPO?

A wide range of companies, from startups to large enterprises across various industries, use BPO. eCommerce businesses, for example, often outsource customer service to handle seasonal spikes in demand, while financial institutions might use BPO for customer support or data processing. 

Software companies, healthcare providers, and telecoms often rely on BPO call centers to manage customer interactions, freeing up their resources to focus on core operations while still delivering high-quality service.

What’s the difference between BPM and BPO?

BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) and BPM (Business Process Management) are related but distinct concepts. BPO involves outsourcing specific business processes to a third-party provider, while BPM focuses on optimizing and managing those processes within the organization itself. 

In other words, BPO is about who does the work, while BPM is about how the work is done. Companies might use BPM strategies to improve efficiency internally, or they might combine BPM with BPO to ensure outsourced processes are streamlined and effective.

What’s the difference between BPO and KPO?

While BPO deals with outsourcing routine, process-driven tasks like customer service or data entry, KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) involves outsourcing more specialized, knowledge-intensive work. 

KPO tasks require expertise and analytical skills, such as market research, legal services, or financial analysis.

What’s the benefit of call center BPO?

The biggest benefit of call center BPO is that it allows your business to deliver excellent customer service without the hassle and expense of managing it in-house. 

Outsourcing means lower costs, higher efficiency, and the ability to provide 24/7 support to your customers, all while freeing up your internal team to focus on what they do best.

When is it time for a BPO contact center?

Some tell-tale signs that it’s time to outsource contact center operations are if your in-house staff become overstretched and customers are having to wait longer and longer for support. 

In truth, though, those are signs that outsourcing or finding another solution is perhaps overdue. The best time to look into BPO call centers or contact centers is just before your current customer support or sales efforts start to struggle. Try to keep proactively assessing your processes and results, to recognize when you might need to outsource to cover upcoming growth and increased demand. 

Originally published Mar 12, 2025, updated Mar 19, 2025