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Trends in Online Data Entry that Everyone Wants to Know
Data entry jobs are quite trending these days in the job market. If you are using the internet, every day you will stumble upon at least one requirement for data entry operator in the social media networks, job sites, and newspapers. Since most of the businesses are depending upon an offshore outsourcing company for their digitization and data management, the outsourcing companies are always looking out for data entry professionals who can add value to their services. If you are considering a job without much work-pressure and does not require a great qualification, data entry operator is the right job for you. Here are some more compelling reasons to consider online data entry:
==Increasing Demand==
The demand for online data entry has increased multifold because of globalization and automation of businesses. As most of the businesses want to go online, they need digital data and that requires data entry operators who can efficiently handle bulk data input. You need to have an eye for detail and a penchant for words to become a good data entry operator. Since there’s still a high demand for good data entry operators with industry experience, it has become a trending job in the recent times. The pay is also quite decent considering the flexibility and non-technical nature of the job.
==Variety of Work==
Data entry is a must for all industries and all types of businesses. Hospitals need them to input patient details, treatment details, and doctor’s prescription. Schools need them to input student details, staff details, academic details and payment details. Real estate firms outsource online data entry to make sure their property details, client details, and documentation are all done efficiently. Retailers have huge volumes of product catalog and transaction details to input. In every field, the data entry operators are a precious commodity. Without them, these businesses cannot make use of the huge volumes of information they generate.
==Improving Technology==
With huge volumes of input, data entry becomes a complicated affair. But thanks to technology, bulk data can also be efficiently input into the system. Smart scanners such as OCR and Barcode reader helps bulk data input to be completed faster without many errors.
==Technology-induced Threat==
The ever-evolving technology also poses some threat to the data entry operators. Voice recognition software, smart scanners, and transcription software may seem threatening to the data entry operators. But competent offshore data entry service providers understand that these are only developing technologies and cannot guarantee accuracy without human intervention. The data entry operators need to be updated continuously with the latest technologies to survive in fast-evolving market conditions.
==Flexible Jobs==
One of the biggest advantages of data entry jobs is that it is flexible. Online data entry can be done from home or office. It can be done from anywhere at any time as long as the site is up. It offers a lot of flexibility to the operators which increase their productivity.
==No Need of Technical Knowledge==
Online data entry does not require the operator to be technically qualified. In fact, anyone who is familiar with basic computing can take up data entry jobs. Competent data entry outsourcing services providers look for aptitude for typing, basic computer skills, proficiency in MS Office or the tools used for data entry, commitment to the work, industry experience and speed of the employee rather than his/her qualification.
How A Data Entry Company Holds The Data Successfully?
Ever wondered what data can do for your business? The fact remains that information gives a big boost to businesses in diverse ways. When the business is able to maintain good information flow, it helps the business to reach out better to the customers and grow its market share efficiently. To manage the large volumes of diverse information within the organization, businesses depend on competent offshore outsourcing company that offers seamless data management solutions. This ensures a consistent flow of information that helps the businesses to increase its outreach. Information in the form of customer records, patient records, product records, vendor records and employee records are maintained as a master that is critical to the business’ functioning. The transaction details are updated on a daily basis or in real-time which is used for various analyses. The data entry company ensures proper and efficient methods to maintain your information in the most useful way as follows:
Data Mining
The data entry company provides very important services such as data mining and market research. These are important to get external information, information about the competitors and the market. These are extensively used by the businesses to decide upon many important aspects such as marketing decisions and pricing.
Data Entry
Bulk data entry is very mundane and prone to mistakes. An experienced data entry companies in India will ensure efficient and on-time delivery of data entry projects they regularly undertake. From product catalogs for e-commerce firms to maintaining patient information for healthcare clinics, data entry companies have resources proficient in various industries to ensure the best data quality. When it comes to maintaining transactional information, the data entry companies help businesses with invoice entry, order entry and forms entry for inputting business data.
Data Conversion
Data conversion is required in all businesses. Converting information in the physical form to digital is one of the main types of conversions every business benefits from. Other than that, information in different forms such as an excel document or a Word document may have to be converted into another form for compatibility with the business intelligence software. Data entry firms will have the tools efficient and quick data conversions.
Image Editing and Entry
Image data entry and editing are required in e-commerce, healthcare, education, real estate and many other businesses. Since this requires special expertise and expensive technology, it is usually outsourced to competent offshore data entry service providers who have the right resources for image editing.
Data Cleansing
Data cleansing is a must if the business wants to use the information for critical decision-making processes. Redundant and obsolete information is removed during data cleansing. The existing and input information is proofread and mistakes are corrected. Any incomplete information is either removed or completed using reliable references. Data consistency is also ensured with data cleansing.
Organized Information
Information stored categorically helps in various comparisons and analyses. The data entry outsourcing services provider will help businesses to store the raw data in an organized or categorized way in database or worksheets. This ensures faster access to specific information.
Timely Backups
Backups are a must, especially when dealing with bulk information on a daily basis. The data management solution provider will ensure regular backups of information in multiple channels stored separately which makes ensures availability of information even if there’s a system failure.
How Outsourcing Data Entry Service Helps in Increasing Business Accuracy?
Accuracy is one of the foremost elements required in any business to succeed and sustain. The information collected, input, processed and disbursed has to be accurate to influence and retain customers. This information becomes the basis for many critical decisions taken by the management which determines the success or failure of the business. Data accuracy is the most influential element that helps business accuracy. One definitive way to attain data accuracy is by engaging an offshore outsourcing company for data entry and data management solutions. When all information pertaining to the business is handled by a single entity, it will be more consistent and reliable. A competent data entry outsourcing company will ensure data accuracy. Let us take a look at how data entry outsourcing companies achieve high data accuracy which helps the businesses they partner with:
Technology-based data entry
One of the main reasons for outsourced data entry firms to deliver high-quality data is the use of technology for inputting information. A competent Data Entry Company India will use the latest technology available for data entry such as OCR, MICR, Barcode Reader etc which deliver accurate information. Manual entry is bound to have mistakes especially when there’s bulk data to be handled within a short time period. Technology-driven data entry will be faster and deliver error-free inputs.
Engaging Expertise for data entry
An expert with data entry will be faster and know which tool has to be used for input. The offshore data entry service provider will always engage a data entry expert with ample experience who will ensure faster input with fewer mistakes. They will be familiar with the tools used and be able to use them optimally. When the data entry operator is an expert with the tools being used, the input becomes more accurate and the job gets done faster efficiently. This also reduces the overheads on the part of the resources engaged on each project.
Resource Scalability
Scalability is one of the major concerns every business faces at some point of their business span. Peak seasons call for more resources but during the modest seasons, the same resources become a burden. Data entry outsourcing services offer a scalable and feasible solution to handle both seasons alike. A single data entry outsourcing partner will be dealing with diverse clients at any given time and hence will have one project or the other for the vast resources they employ. They keep shuffling the resources between the projects based on their experience and expertise so that the businesses never have to bother about the resource pool. Data accuracy is the most affected during the peak seasons when there are no ample resources to handle the vast pool of information to be input. But with outsourcing, this issue is also resolved as the outsourcing firm will employ more resources from their existing pool as required to handle the increasing workload.
The outsourcing firms are a boon to businesses to succeed and sustain in a highly competitive market as they provide end to end solutions covering different verticals and industries.
Tips and Tricks to Save Time in Data Entry Service
Bulk data entry can be the most daunting task to complete. Imagine the plight of catalog data entry operators who work for e-commerce giants like Amazon and eBay! Ever wondered how they manage such high-volume information input that remains impeccably accurate and yet irresistible? The offshore outsourcing company that undertakes such bulk data entry for many industries have full-time data entry operators that need to be very efficient and productive despite the monotonous work they have to handle in large scale. They follow these tips and tricks to make sure that they remain the most productive saving time in data entry:
Ergonomic Workplace
Bulk data entry definitely involves long working hours sitting in front of the computer. Whether you use a laptop or a desktop, it is very important to use an ergonomic workspace to make sure the resources sit comfortably and complete the work. Ergonomic Workspaces are a must for Data Entry Company India as they help the resources to concentrate better on their work without affecting their health despite the long hours of screen-time involved. It also increases their productivity which makes sure the quality of data entry is far superior.
Technology to the Rescue
Technology helps automate data entry and reduce errors at the same time. Using the latest technology devices such as the Optical Character Reader, Barcode Reader, Magnetic Ink Character Reader etc makes the input much faster and error-free. Forms and other data entry techniques also help improve the quality of data being input at a much faster pace.
Master the Tools
Whatever tool you use for data entry, if you master it, it saves your time considerably. The offshore data entry service provider either employs trained and experienced data entry operators who are masters in the tools used or trains them to use the tools more efficiently. In most of the cases, MS Excel is used for data entry. Excel allows you to automate a lot of data entry with options such as auto-fill and sequence.
Use Shortcut Keys
The experts at data entry outsourcing services will definitely be masters at using keyboard shortcuts too. It can reduce the data entry time by saving precious seconds that you spend otherwise on using the mouse to point and click every time which adds up to many minutes. Experienced data entry operators will know the keyboard shortcuts available in the tool being used which help them save time significantly. Instead of using the mouse to copy and paste, if you use the keyboard shortcuts, it saves you many seconds. The more you use them, the more you will improve in your data entry speed.
Proofread the Output
Ultimately, it is very important that the result of your data input is proofread and presented without errors. So no matter what you enter, make sure that you spend ample time to proofread the information before submitting to the client so that errors can be sorted out at the lowest level itself. Escalated errors may be difficult to correct at a later stage. This will save time in reworking on your data input later.
Myths and Facts About Outsourcing Services
Businesses have adopted outsourcing as an essential service irrespective of their industry. Every business whether small or large can benefit immensely from outsourcing their supporting services to an Offshore Outsourcing Company. But as with every new concept that comes to the market, there are many myths that are spread regarding outsourcing. Here are some such myths and the realities:
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Outsourcing is for the Large Organizations
SMEs also benefit greatly from outsourcing. In fact, the SMEs benefit much more than the large organizations. Start-ups and SMEs typically operate on stringent budgets and hence won’t have provisions for adopting the best of Technology and Resources they actually need. Outsourcing lets them leverage from both by paying a much lesser subscription instead of the huge investments they otherwise need. The SMEs can also benefit from outsourcing most of their supporting services such as data management to competent Data Entry Company India which will let them function well without an office, saving a significant amount of development.
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Cost control is the only reason to outsource
It is a known fact that outsourcing helps in cost-cutting significantly. But that’s not the only reason organizations look for outsourcing partners. More than often, resource crunch and non-availability of expertise are the reasons for outsourcing. Even large organizations prefer Outsourcing when it comes to processes that are not required regularly.
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Outsourcing is only for call-centers!
People generally believe that outsourcing is synonymous to a call-center which is not true. Accounting, Data Entry, Document Management, Payroll Processing are also widely being outsourced. In fact, marketing research, customer surveys and data solutions are some of the most commonly outsourced supporting services for many businesses. Micro-specialization has become the forte in outsourcing. Minute processes such as data conversion, image editing, transcription services, Digital marketing etc that require expert skills are commonly being outsourced to a BPO company these days. This benefits the organization significantly.
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Outsourcing is not secured
While it may be true when you consider low-priced outsourcing vendors who are less experienced, the competent and experienced ones will never compromise on information security. Before outsourcing the business processes, the parent company enters into a legal contract with the Offshore Data Entry Outsourcing Service partner wherein the outsourcing company becomes legally obliged to protect the information it handles. Reputed outsourcing partners will ensure data privacy and available only to the authorized people.
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Once outsourced, forget about the process
This is the biggest mistake done by many entrepreneurs when they outsource initially. Constant communication and periodic evaluation of the progress are a must for outsourcing to become successful. This makes sure that any shortfalls are identified at an earlier stage and remedial action is taken promptly.
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Outsourcing does not provide you quality outputs
If your outsourcing partner is experienced and reputed and if you follow up closely on the work being done, you can extract better quality deliverables from your outsourcing partner that you would get in-house. This is because of the experienced resources and the latest technology used by the outsourcing partner which ensures the best of quality delivered on time.
Data Mining – Art of converting data into valuable information
Extracting valuable and relevant information from the vast ocean of information available on the internet is a challenging job process. Businesses can leverage from information if it is relevant and useful for them for their market expansion. Data mining is an effective option adopted by many businesses for getting information on various aspects including the market and the customers and their behaviors. They engage a competent data entry outsourcing company in mining and input information after processing it thoroughly which ensures that only relevant information is used in the reports presented to them. Here’s how raw data is converted into valuable information through the art and science of Data Mining:
Define your Data Mining Goals
Since there’s significantly large volume of information available on the internet, it is important to refine the requirements so that data mining can be specific to the requirements. This saves a lot of effort, time and money to the organization as well as the outsourcing Data Mining Company India. Clustering of too much information can be avoided when the data goals are perfectly set. Once the goals are set, the outsourcing company can also specify the time they will need to work on the requirements. They will draw a data mining strategy and plan the process accordingly.
Use the available information
The information already available with the organization must be used to for processing and analysis. The mined information must be checked against the available information, combined and compiled to provide better information for a more efficient analysis. The BPO Company must collect the information available and process the collected and available data in the same format so that they can be compared and compiled for detailed studies.
Cleanse the information
Once the dataset is confirmed, which includes the available information and the acquired information through data mining, it needs to be cleansed. Data cleansing removes redundancy, obsolete information, mistakes and inconsistent data. During this process, any missing elements are identified and filled using reliable resources. Cleansed information can be processed to analyze.
Analyze the information
Once the information is collected, compiled, cleaned and processed, it is ready for complex analysis which is done by the data scientists with offshore data entry outsourcing services. Since for each requirement, the type of analysis will be different, seeking the help of an outsourcing partner will be a more feasible solution.
Reports that can be customized and drilled down
Once the analysis is completed, the results must be prepared such that they are easy to comprehend for the management as well as managers. Ideally, reports that summarize the information which can be drilled down to report the details are preferred by the management. This way, they can get the overall information and then drill down to analyze the details for each set of information.
With bulk volumes of raw data in the form of Big Data and real-time data that involves multimedia and large tables available on the internet, data mining becomes a challenging task to refine the entire information available and extract only what is relevant and required. A competent and experienced outsourcing solution provider will be the ideal choice for extracting such information.
Quality service or time management is best for data entry outsource
In the battle between quality and time, both have to emerge winners equally. When it comes to business information, both quality of information and the time when it is available are equally important. Usually, most of the businesses have to choose between timely delivery and quality deliverables. When bulk data needs to be input using the available resources within the stipulated time, the quality is compromised. When bulk data is input ensuring its quality, it takes considerable time to complete the data entry. This issue can be sorted out by choosing a competent data entry outsourcing company for efficient data entry services that are delivered on time. Since the outsourcing partners have ample resources with expertise and use the right technology for data entry, they can speed up the process while maintaining quality standards too.
Quality satisfies the customer
As far as the customer is concerned, quality comes first. When the organization is particularly data-centric, the quality of information being input and processed make a huge difference to the management. Certain information such as patient records, customer data, student records, product information, pricing, accounting and payroll processing etc should be completed without compromising on the quality. This is best done by Data Entry Company India that specializes in outsourced data solutions. They will have experienced resources who can ensure data quality.
Time is important for sensitive information
When it comes to time-sensitive information such as accounting, time taken to close an order, to deliver something, time taken to design / deliver or test software, time taken to close a deal or process some information etc you need to make sure that the required information is made available within a short period of time. This is critical to the success of the organization.
Quality comes at a cost
Maintaining quality is not as easy. Significant effort, latest technology and trained expertise are required to ensure data quality in all industries. All these come at a cost which not all businesses can afford. That is where the outsourcing BPO Company is helping with accounting and sales data entry. When the numbers are very critical factors and hence need to be checked and rechecked for accuracy and reliability, the outsourcing company employs the best of its resources and uses the latest technology that ensures data quality. If you choose to outsource your data requirements, you may also save significantly while ensuring quality information.
Timely delivery saves the customer
When data is available to the customer at critical junctures of business, they value it more. Timely availability of accurate and reliable information helps businesses to take important management decisions that increase their productivity, improve their performance and also increase their turnover. All businesses will have fluctuating seasons wherein some months will have more data requirements while the others will have less. With offshore data entry outsourcing services, peak and off season data requirements can be dealt with the same fervor and ease as the outsourcing partners will offer scalability. This ensures timely delivery of information even during the peak business seasons when the information flow will be at its peak.
8 Steps to Selecting the Apt Data Entry Company for Your Outsourcing Needs
At a time when freelancers and outsourcing companies are available at every nook and corner of the world, it becomes a difficult job to choose the most efficient data entry outsourcing company for your business. Quality cannot be compromised over cost as it affects the reputation of the parent company and does not serve the purpose intended by digitization. So how do you choose the right data entry company for your outsourcing needs? Here are some tips on how to do that:
- Shortlist the Reputed and Experienced Outsourcing Firms
Even though inexperienced and newly started outsourcing firms may offer their services at a lower rate, it is always better to choose an experienced and reputed firm. They will have a solid infrastructure and working culture in place which will ensure better quality deliverables.
- Check for the ones who can provide customized solutions
Every business runs in a different way. So it is always the best for your business to get customized data solutions. Look for a Data Entry Company India that provides specially customized data solutions for your business.
- Check for the resource strength and technology used
While outsourcing, it is important to ensure that the outsourcing partner uses the latest technologies for data entry and processing. They also should have ample resources to upscale when required. So check for the technologies used by the outsourcing firm and their scalability before choosing one.
- Check for references and past work
You can ask the outsourcing firm to provide references and samples of previously done work. Cross check their reliability and quality of work with the references provided and check the previously done work to know how good they are with data.
- Check for quality and security policies in place
A reputed and experienced BPO company will definitely have a written quality policy and information security policy which they follow strictly. You can check for these two before you decide upon the outsourcing firm. Randomly ask for some audit reports to understand the level of quality assurance steps they undertake.
- Ask for trial work or short-term contract
The best way to evaluate an outsourcing firm is by asking for trial work. To be fair, you can enter into a short-term trial contract with the outsourcing firm during which you can evaluate the quality of their data input and the time taken to complete.
- Check the cost involved
Even though cost should not be a constraint for getting quality work done, it should be checked to make sure that the offshore data entry outsourcing services are feasible to your company’s budget. If more companies are offering quality deliverables that meet your company’s requirements, you can consider the cheapest among them to gain further.
- Other Terms and Conditions
Some outsourcing firms do not allow the parent company to supervise or audit their work which will be mentioned in the contract. Similarly, you need to explicitly check for all the terms and conditions that are mentioned in the contract as it will bind the parent company and the outsourcing firm legally. Upon mutual consent, new terms can be added to the contract before it is signed.
Data Protection Laws and Outsourcing
The recent ransom-ware WannaCry attack has everyone worried about information security yet again! As such, data security has been one of the biggest issues organizations fear when it comes to outsourcing data management. But with the latest data protection software and laws prevailing, a reputed and experienced data entry outsourcing company will offer totally risk-free data management services to each of its clients. Every business expects the outsourcing firm to ensure complete privacy and safety of its information whether in raw form or processed form. They assign data entry of products, customers, accounts, employees, stock, sales, and even pricing details to the outsourcing firm, Misplacing or leaking these information to a third party may even lead to the failure of the organization, especially when the critical information reaches its competitor.
When a parent company outsources its data solutions to an outsourcing company, data may be lost due to many reasons:
- Inadequate security measures may lead to information leakage
- Insufficient backups may lead to loss of information is the system fails
- Database or server may be hacked if the security encryptions are insufficient and/or outdated
- Malware or virus attach which may render the network weak
To ensure data security a legal contract is entered into between the parties – the customer who is the parent company and the outsourcing firm which is working on the data. The customer may be the actual owner of the information or might be entering the outsourcing contract on behalf of his/her customer. But as far as the outsourcing Data Entry Company India is concerned, the customer is the owner of the information and the contract should mention that all legal rights and intellectual rights of the information they are handling remain vested in the customer.
One common issue in outsourcing is that the parent company is located in one place and the outsourcing BPO Company is located elsewhere. This creates confusion as to which country’s law should be considered in case of a breach of contract, especially in the case of information security. Hence, details as to which country’s information security law will bind the contract should be clearly mentioned in the contract. Every country’s outsourcing laws clearly mention how it should manage its data especially while outsourcing. Similarly, the outsourcing country’s law will also have provisions to safeguard the customer’s interests who are paying for outsourcing their business processes.
Further, the parent company or the customer can check the security policy of the offshore data entry outsourcing services provider and insist upon periodic internal and external security audits. This also can be mentioned in the outsourcing contract and adequate measures can be taken to carry out the external audit by the parent company.
Choosing a reputed company which has proven records of experience is the best way to ensure information security in outsourcing. The reputed and experienced firms will never compromise with information security because they know its significance and the adverse effects it will have on the firm’s reputation which it built with painstaking effort over many years. That’s one of the reasons a reputed firm is the preferred outsourcing partner over newer firms even if the cost factor is competitive.
The impact of Brexit on Indian Outsourcing scenario
Even though Brexit caused an initial slowdown in the business sector of UK, the market has been seeing a positive impact as far as outsourcing is concerned. Since the movements inside of UK is affected, companies are considering an offshoring data entry outsourcing company to make sure their data entry and processing jobs are not affected adversely. India being one of the most prominent investor in the UK, so far a significant slowdown or negative impact has not been resulted in outsourcing these processes to the country. Even though some experts suggest that there could be a positive impact on outsourcing more to offshore, this is rather unlikely because of the mature outsourcing policies UK already has in place. However, the general expectation is a temporary slowdown in outsourcing, especially the more valued types of outsourcing which is likely to get better once the uncertainties are settled.
According to one survey done by the National Outsourcing Association (NOA) more than 70% of the outsourcing partners did not favor Brexit citing that EU was more favorable for UK’s progression. However, it is understood that no drastic changes would occur in the outsourcing sector overnight and whatever changes occur, will happen slowly over a long period of time. The uncertainties regarding renewal of agreements, tax variations, currency etc will settle over a few months’ time. In spite of these confusions and slowdowns, Data Entry Company India would still be a strong competitor to outsourcing partners from other countries as the language, skills and education level of UK is closely related to those in the Indian sub-continent.
India and UK share a close bilateral relationship in terms of education, legalities, investments etc. This relationship will definitely prove to be positive for an Indian BPO Company to continue to service the UK industries for data entry and management even if there are strong competitors from other parts of the world. The more familiar systems and processes followed in the Indian companies and the liberal laws for outsourcing prevailing in India would mean that more UK companies would prefer to choose Indian outsourcing partners which would benefit them from lower costs at a time of uncertainties and economic slowdown.
Lower costs and better talents will remain the major reasons for UK to continue considering offshore data entry outsourcing services to an Indian company. India definitely has more talented resources that follow the same UK English pattern for education and legal purposes. Indian resources offer their valued services at a much lesser cost which would help the UK companies to survive during the economic slowdown immediately followed by Brexit.
The outsourcing partners in the UK will no more enjoy tax-free outsourcing once they exit the EU. This would mean more opportunities for Indian and other outsourcing partner countries. Since a majority of the investors in the UK are Indians and considering the historic ties shared by Indian and UK, it is more likely that Indian outsourcing companies will get a preference over the other competitors.