• Login
  • Status
  • Support
  • Partners
  • Pricing
  • Careers
  • ENLanguages
    • English
    • Deutsch
    • Français
    • 日本
    • 简体中文
    • العربية
    • 한국
    • Español
Customer Experience (CX) AI Platform
  • Customer Experience (CX) AI Platform×
  • Platform

      CXone Mpower Platform

      • Platform Overview

        Complete AI platform for customer service automation

      • Enlighten AI

        Powering smarter CX with AI-driven insights and automation.

      • Cloud Architecture

        Innovative cloud-native foundation to rapidly scale extraordinary CX

      • Voice as a Service (VaaS)

        Crystal-clear, scalable voice interactions for effortless interactions

      • Dashboards & Reporting

        Gain a full operational picture of your contact center, with enhanced visualization of real-time and historical insights

      • Integrations

        Seamlessly connect your business systems with our platform

      • Trust & Compliance

        Securing your trust with every interaction

      Discover the full value of AI in customer service

      Understand the benefits and cost savings you can achieve by embracing AI, from automation to augmentation.

      Calculate your savings

    • Products
      • Explore all Products

      • Capabilities

      • Interaction Orchestration

        Interaction Orchestration

        Orchestrate all interactions and workflows across every customer service touchpoint.

        Learn more

        • Omnichannel Routing

          Reduce wait times and boost conversions with smart customer-agent matching.

        • Proactive Engagement

          Generate more revenue, minimize hang-ups, and proactively connect to reduce friction.

        • AI Orchestrator

          Unify and optimize every customer service workflow from intent to fulfillment.

        • Agent Desktop Workspace

          Connect front and back office teams with data, conversations, and workflows together in one place.

      • Workforce Augmentation

        Workforce Augmentation

        Amplify team performance with specialized AI copilots for every role.

        Learn more

        • Specialized AI Copilots

          Elevate human performance with specialized AI copilots for every role.

        • Workforce Engagement Management

          Elevate employees, adapt to flexible work, and meet expectations - without compromise.

        • Automated Agent Notetaking

          Instantly summarize interactions - accelerating resolution times and agent efficiency.

        • Voice of the Customer

          Unlock customer insights to enhance experiences, drive loyalty, and boost business growth.

        • Interaction Analytics

          Gain AI-powered insights from 100% of interactions to drive continuous improvement.

      • Service Automation

        Service Automation

        Automated customer self-service solutions increasing retention rates.

        View Products

        • Intelligent Virtual Agent

          Boost self-service satisfaction and conversion with conversational AI agents.

        • Experience Optimization (XO)

          Synthesize real customer conversations to identify your top automation opportunities.

        • AI Agents

          Instantly create no-code AI agents powered by your data—build once, deploy everywhere.

        • Proactive AI Agent

          Keep customers engaged in conversation from onboarding to installation, service, and retention.

        • Knowledge Management

          Activate AI-powered enterprise knowledge to increase self-resolution rates and loyalty.


      • Solutions

      • By Industry

        By Industry

        • BPO

          Business Process Outsourcers

        • Financial Services

          Customer experiences that count

        • Government

          Elevate citizen trust

        • Healthcare

          Healthy patient experiences

        • Insurance

          Secure policyholder experiences

        • Retail

          Delight customers where they shop

        • Telecom

          CX for Telecommunications

        • Travel & Hospitality

          Boost traveler and guest loyalty

        Discover the full value of AI in customer service

        Understand the benefits and cost savings you can achieve by embracing AI, from automation to augmentation.

        Calculate your savings

      • By Business Initiative

        By Business Initiative

        • Grow Revenue

          Boost conversions and win rates to accelerate growth

        • Engage & Empower Employees

          Create a workplace of truly engaged employees

        • Boost Customer Loyalty

          Improve customer loyalty on interactions across the journey

        • Drive Digital Transformation

          Integrate digital technology at the center of CX

        • Small and Medium Business

          Drive growth and boost revenue with smarter, cost-effective customer service built for SMBs.

        • Call Center Software

          Empower agents to provide better experiences

        • Increase Operational Efficiency

          Leverage AI and automation to increase agent retention

        • Move to the Cloud

          Elevate experiences by moving operations to the cloud

        • Improve Compliance

          Protect your consumers with pre-built compliance solutions

        • Proactive Customer Engagement

          Elevate customer satisfaction with proactive conversational AI

      • Integrations & Custom Solutions

        Integrations & Custom Solutions

        • CXexchange Marketplace

          Discover partner solutions to extend capabilities on our platform

        • Pre-Built Integrations

          Seamlessly connect your business systems with our platform

        • Developer Tools & APIs

          Endless customization options with RESTful APIs and robust SDKs

        • Partner Ecosystem

          Embark on a journey of shared success and collaboration

        91% of customers recommend NiCE as a preferred CCaaS vendor

        Gartner® named NiCE the only Customers’ Choice CCaaS vendor in its 2024 Peer Insights™ “Voice of the Customer for Contact Center as a Service” report.

        Get report


      • View All Products
    • Services
      • Explore all Services

      Professional Services

      • Professional Services

        Industry-leading expertise, tools and know-how

      • Implementation Partners

        NICE-certified implementation partners

      • Business Consulting

        Your partner for successful transformation

      Training

      • Contact Center Training

        Tailored education delivered by CX experts

      Support & Assistance

      • Customer Support

        Global support you can depend on

      Make the smartest buying decision with the latest Gartner analysis

      NiCE has been named a Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Leader for Contact Center as a Service for the 10th consecutive year and is positioned furthest on Completeness of Vision.

      Get report

    • Resources

        Knowledge Base

        • All Resources

          Whitepapers, datasheets, demos and more

        • Analyst Perspectives

          Contact center reports from third party analysis

        • Terms Glossary

          Detailed descriptions of industry-related terms

        • FAQs

          Contact center focused frequently asked questions

        • Guides

          Expert insights for superior CX

        Learning & Insights

        • On-Demand Webinars

          Browse our extensive webinar catalog

        • Interactive Product Tours

          Explore the complete platform with our self-guided demos

        • Blog

          CX industry guidance by contact center experts

        • Why NiCE? Video Series

          Step Inside The Room Where It Happened to see CX AI in action

        • NiCE & Simple: Video Demo Series

          Brilliant, bite-sized videos from our top product pros

        Community

        • Events

          Upcoming events and webinars

        • Customer Stories

          Our customer's success is paramount. Read case studies about real CX transformation

        • NiCE Clubs

          Collaborate, learn, and share best practices for customer service excellence

        Discover the full value of AI in customer service

        Understand the benefits and cost savings you can achieve by embracing AI, from automation to augmentation.

        Calculate your savings

      • Company

          Company

          • About Us

            Powering seamless cloud experiences

          • Investors

            Investors relations, reports and filings

          • Global Offices

            Interactive map of locations worldwide

          • Careers

            View job openings and learn about our culture

          • NiCE Leadership

            Meet our global leadership and executive team

          News & Media

          • Events

            Upcoming events and webinars

          • Press Releases

            Find the latest updates from NiCE

          • Media Center

            Media contacts and resources

          Corporate Governance

          • NiCE Trust Center

            Securing your trust with every interaction

          • Market Leadership

            Discover why NiCE is the market leader

          • Corporate Responsibility

            In a world where you can be anything, be NiCE

          Make the smartest buying decision with the latest Gartner analysis

          NiCE has been named a Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Leader for Contact Center as a Service for the 10th consecutive year and is positioned furthest on Completeness of Vision.

          Get report

          • ENLanguages
            • English
            • Deutsch
            • Français
            • 日本
            • 简体中文
            • العربية
            • 한국
            • Español
          • Get Started
            • Login
            • Status
            • Support
            • Partners
            • Pricing
            • Careers

          Company

          • About Us
          • Careers
          • Global Leadership
          • Media Center
          • Investors
          • Awards
          • Global Office Locations
          • Contact Us
          • CCaaS
          • Customer Experience
          • NiCE Public Safety
          • NiCE Actimize
          • NiCE RPA

          Partners

          • NiCE Partners Overview
          • Developer Partners (DEVone)
          • CXone Mpower Partner Portal
          • NiCE Help Partner Portal
          • NiCE User Group

          Customer Support

          • Customer Support Overview
          • CXone Mpower Support Login
          • NiCE Customer Support
          © 2025 NiCE
          • Terms of Use
          • Site Map
          • Privacy Policy
          • Legal
          • Cookies Settings
          • Accessibility

          Stay Connected

          © 2025 NiCE
          How business process outsourcing can solve the challenges your business is wrestling with

          How business process outsourcing can solve the challenges your business is wrestling with

          by Lisa Hotchkiss
          March 2, 2021
          Share

          BPO, or business process outsourcing, is a common practice where a company or organization hires another to handle a specific process that’s critical to the successful operation of their business.

          The first industry that took advantage of BPO was manufacturing. Rather than incurring the costs of building numerous facilities and hiring more employees to make every part for every automobile they manufactured, the big auto companies engaged other manufacturers to produce some of the parts they needed, such as brakes, seats, airbags, etc. By hiring other companies to handle processes related to the running of their primary business, auto manufacturers saved time and money.

          Even though a single industry began using BPO, it has quickly become common practice in a host of different industries. At this point, BPO has expanded to where all kinds of organizations are realizing the benefits of business process outsourcing, including government offices, nonprofit organizations, for-profit retailers, and more.

          Many of these organizations seek help from BPO service providers in the United States, while others branch out to other countries in North America or around the globe. Call center brands using BPO services achieve success by following industry best practices for outsourcing, including implementing BPO management software such as NiCE CXone.

          What processes can be outsourced?

          Business process outsourcing can be used for two primary areas of work depending on a company’s needs. These include both back-office and front-office functions.

          Front-office processes are those related to sales or sales support, such as customer relations and support, marketing, and advertising.

          Back-office processes include those that take place after the sale is finished or that are structural. These processes may comprise everything from payment processing and fulfillment to accounting, quality assurance, information technology, and human resources.

          While some businesses might choose to outsource all back- or front-office processes, others might choose to outsource a single department, such as HR. In other situations, only one function of a department might be outsourced. For example, some organizations may only outsource the payroll function of their HR department. It all comes down to the kind of help a company needs to be successful.

          The functions that can be outsourced today can span from typical back-office tasks, like payroll processing, data processing, and accounting, to newer functions such as customer service and social media marketing.

          While most businesses choose to outsource functions that are not a part of the company core, sometimes critical tasks are being outsourced. This is common with financial services, customer service, and IT operations. Some companies also outsource strategic tasks like data analytics and data mining, both of which are essential parts of digital transformation, keeping the business competitive in the new digital economy.

          Deciding to outsource business processes

          business hand concept

          Sometimes it makes good sense as a business to outsource to specialists. Executives or owners of a company may decide to outsource a certain business process for various reasons. For example, a new startup company might need to outsource both front- and back-office functions if they don’t have the proper resources to build a team and support all the functions in-house.

          On the other side of the coin, an established company may choose to outsource something that used to be done in-house after doing analysis and realizing outsourcing offers better results and lower costs.

          Experts in BPO note that executives should first look at the functions that are easily outsourced with minimum impact to daily operations. Next, look at each of those functions through a list of pros and cons to see whether outsourcing is a solution that makes strategic sense for the business.

          If BPO appears to be the right solution, the company then needs to find the right vendor to do the work and go through shifting from in-house to external processes. While this can take time and energy, it’s often worth it for reasons we’ll go into a bit later.

          Having a handle on change management is a must in this situation, since moving a process to an external company will affect existing workflows, staff, and established processes. Everyone needs to know what changes are being made and how they impact everyone who is a part of the company. Making a large shift will also affect company finances. The shift from handling processes internally to outsourcing is often done to save money, but this shift also influences reporting requirements and taxes.

          The company needs to have the right technology solution in place to ensure that work flows smoothly from the business to the outsourced providers. The cost and extent of that solution will vary based on the level of difficulty of the outsourced processes and the technology infrastructure available at both companies.

          Thankfully, NiCE offers cloud-based contact center software solutions that can help call centers achieve greater efficiency. First, we’ll describe general BPO scope and objectives then discuss the specific benefits NiCE provides.

          Determine the scope and set objectives

          When a business moves a process to an outsourced company, it also needs to determine the scope of work to be moved to a partner in another location. This involves identifying the processes and workflows that will be impacted by the shift and any adjustments that need to be made for outsourcing to be a success.

          The people in charge of the business need to have an awareness of the main objectives related to outsourcing a specific need. This might come down to a quicker turnaround, cost savings, better quality, or something completely different. Once the key factors are known, those can be used in the search for a provider that will best meet a company’s needs.

          Outsourcing objectives should also serve as the basis for contractual obligations to help determine how well an outsourced provider is performing in the process it is being hired to handle.

          Where will you outsource?

          web agency

          Companies around the globe offer a variety of BPO services to companies just like yours. BPO can be broken down into different types based solely on where the outsourcing company is located.

          • Onshore outsourcing: This sort of outsourcing, also called domestic outsourcing, occurs when a business contracts services from a company that operates in the same country as the hiring company.
          • Nearshore outsourcing: With nearshore outsourcing, an organization contracts services from companies located in countries neighboring their location. For a US-based company, this could mean outsourcing to another company in Mexico or Canada.
          • Offshore outsourcing: Also known as offshoring, this option involves contracting services from an organization that is located in a country not near the hiring company.

          Business process outsourcing can go by a variety of names. One of those is IT-enabled services or ITES, which offers recognition that IT infrastructure, such as that from NiCE, is needed to create outsourcing opportunities.

          BPO by other names

          In addition to categorizing BPO based on the country where the second organization is located in regard to the first, BPO may be categorized according to the services being provided. Several main specialties can be found.

          • ITES: Information Technology-Enabled Services uses information technology over a data network or the internet to provide services. Some common ITES BPO positions include IT analyst, service desk analyst, and production support analyst.
          • KPO: Knowledge Process Outsourcing applies to a service provider who is hired to help perform a business function or process but also offers additional expertise related to the process being performed.
          • LPO: Legal Process Outsourcing, is a subcategory of KPO and specifically relates to matters revolving around legal services. This category includes a variety of processes, from performing legal research to drafting legal documents and offering advice on legal matters.
          • RPO: Research Process Outsourcing is another form of KPO, but RPO is focused on research and analysis. This type of outsourcing is often used by investment firms, biotech companies, and marketing agencies who need to deal with large amounts of research in their work.
          • Travel: This category applies to all business-oriented travel operations. It can include anything from making hotel reservations to booking vehicles. Travel BPO can save a company money by improving the travel experience of its employees and decreasing the associated stress. Travel companies and airlines may also use BPO for front- or back-office needs, such as the ticketing process.

          The Benefits of Call Center BPO

          In the world of call center operations, business process outsourcing has some pros and cons to consider. The modern contact center has several operations, tasks, and daily efforts that may benefit from outsourcing, but a proper evaluation and assessment will need to be done to determine if it is the right choice for your brand. In the event that BPO works for your contact center, you’ll enjoy benefits like:

          Meeting the Service Level Agreement (SLA): Today’s customer demands a higher level of service and support than ever before. When you choose to outsource your contact center operations, in any capacity, you are giving your brand the chance to better measure success and deliver a higher level of service. Essentially, it’s another way to hold your brand accountable for reaching goals and hitting performance metrics. Plus, then you’re not doing all the data and metrics yourself.

          Cost Savings: Contact centers can improve their budgetary concerns and reduce their spending by outsourcing various services. When you have a budget in mind, you can present it to your contact center outsourcing partner and allow them to help you maintain a high level of service while cutting costs and delivering results.

          Access to Industry Best Practices: Even if you’ve been in the contact center or customer service industry for years, you still have much to learn. Outsourcing companies that handle contact center BPO have years of dedicated experience exclusively in contact center operations and know what it takes to keep your brand growing and improving.

          24/7 Support and Service: Today’s customer demands always-on service and support. Thanks to the Internet, people expect answers when they want them. If your contact center is staffed in a way that limits hours and availability, outsourcing can resolve that. You can use a shared environment contractor and AI contact features like chatbots to ensure that your audience can always reach you.

          Scalability and Growth: Whether you choose a physical partner or a software platform, outsourcing your call center operations will provide a more accessible solution to help grow and scale your brand. You will be able to adjust support and service on the fly, thanks to real-time analytics, and enjoy future growth without major overhauls or changes along the way.

          Total Customization: In the past, having a dedicated, customized customer service and business management platform was something reserved for those who could afford to have it built. Today, however, cloud-based solutions make it easy for any contact center to build a better platform that fits the exact needs of their organization. In addition to being flexible and scalable, BPO solutions can also be customized down to the last detail to ensure they meet your budgetary and business concerns alike.

          Now that you’ve seen some of the biggest benefits of using contact center BPO, let’s talk about the common pain points that might have brought you to this decision.

          Contact center pain points

          signpost outsource inhouse

          Every contact center has its own struggles and growing pains. If you are still trying to assess your situation and determine if it is time for a new solution, let’s take a look at some of the most common pain points that bring people to the customer service BPO arena:

          • High costs related to daily operations, staffing and scheduling, or other parts of the contact center.
          • Management and leadership conflicts and headaches that are affecting service levels and accuracy.
          • Falling short of service standards due to other failures or shortcomings.
          • Inability to accurately forecast workloads, call volumes, or other insights to ensure proper workforce and call center management.
          • High turnover rates that often result from agents who are stressed or feel improperly or not well-trained on their role.
          • Excessive issues with data accuracy and call tracking.
          • Social media and online complaints are on the rise and no one can seem to find a solution.
          • The company is facing human resources challenges or difficulties in being flexible and adaptable to the constantly changing industry.
          • Customers are spending too much time waiting for assistance, but you don’t have the means to provide additional staffing.
          • You need to upgrade or implement new contact technologies, but don’t have the means or know where to start.

          If you’re experiencing these or any other pain points in your contact center, outsourcing customer service might be the way to go. Cloud-based solutions offer flexibility and scalability to help you create a solution that works for you. Plus, integration is quick and easy, which we’ll discuss more below.

          Startups and small companies often exhaust their in-house staff by expecting everyone to wear multiple hats and do everything at once. Unfortunately, this will not only affect the focus on and quality of service delivered, but it could impact productivity and end up costing you a lot more than you think.

          Choosing to invest in BPO for your contact center customer service gives your business the chance to focus on the important things while the service is handled by the pros. You will be able to trust that you have a dedicated staff available to handle any and all customer needs and deliver a level of service that is higher than you might have even anticipated.

          No matter what pain points your contact center is facing, outsourcing will allow you to create a customized solution to address them all. Then, if you notice any new issues coming up along the way, you can revisit your strategy and see if there are ways to make even more improvements with your outsourcing solution.

          The right solution for customer service outsourcing

          If you are considering using BPO for your customer service processes, NiCE offers cloud-based contact center software that ensures the best possible experiences for your customers. Benefits include:

          • Sophisticated automatic contact distribution (ACD)
          • Comprehensive and integrated workforce management options to empower and engage contact center agents to help reach your business goals
          • Omnichannel management of the customer journey
          • Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation solutions that help enhance customer experience and automate typical agent tasks

          When working with a call center outsourcing provider, lots of arrangements are possible. You may want to outsource all calls, or you may only want to send overflow traffic when call volume is at its peak. BPO offers a company more flexibility to shape their service functions to meet all of their business needs, but that can only occur when using robust contact center software solutions.

          NICE’s CXone offers a unified, intelligent suite of applications that cover all facets of contact center management. It can simplify administration requirements while streamlining the experience of users. Businesses looking to keep up with the competition, lower costs, run their operations more efficiently, and realize greater revenues should consider NiCE CXone for call center outsourcing. Visit NICE today for more information.

          Are “These organization” referring to the companies using BPO or those providing it?

          About the Author

          Lisa Hotchkiss

          See All Blogs

          Follow Us

          Follow us to get the latest news from your preferred Social Network

          linkedinlinkedinlinkedinlinkedin

          Popular Posts

          July 21, 2025

          25 moments that made Interactions 2025 a NiCEr world

          Read

          July 18, 2025

          A supervisor’s story: Where trust meets oversight to create a high-performance world

          Read
          Asian call center agent

          July 8, 2025

          Service reimagined: AI creating dynamic end-to-end possibilities for a thriving contact center

          Read
          5 reasons why AI without memory is just guesswork

          July 2, 2025

          AI that forgets isn’t worth paying for: 5 reasons memory is key to AI-powered experiences

          Read

          July 1, 2025

          Create a streamlined world: Where tickets and data live in one place

          Read

          More from the blog

          AI

          25 moments that made Interactions 2025 a NiCEr world

          From the electric energy of Las Vegas to an iconic rugby stadium in the heart of London’s tech hub, NiCE Interactions 2025 brought together thousands of CX leaders across continents.

          July 21, 2025

          Call Center Best Practices

          A supervisor’s story: Where trust meets oversight to create a high-performance world

          In a seamless contact center, your supervisors are the key to everything. Supervisors show up there every day to support their teams – to manage, coach, guide, motivate, and when necessary, steer through chaos.

          July 18, 2025

          Asian call center agent
          Back Office Performance

          Service reimagined: AI creating dynamic end-to-end possibilities for a thriving contact center

          As customer service becomes more dynamic, contact centers play an ever-evolving role in creating exceptional customer experiences.

          July 8, 2025