Virtually every business always involves at least one data entry process. With data increasingly becoming the core asset for many businesses, we can expect more and more data entry processes will become even more important than ever.
On the other hand, data entry tasks can be both time-consuming and repetitive, and often result in our employees not using their valuable time to perform their core competencies to contribute more to achieving the organization’s goals.
This is why many businesses are now considering data entry outsourcing, which is the fastest and cost-effective way to convert data from one format to another and to digitize data.
What Is Data Entry Outsourcing?
Data entry outsourcing is, simply put, subcontracting your data entry tasks to a third party, whether is an individual data entry professional or a data entry service provider company. The third-party vendor may also use special tools like OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software to improve the speed and accuracy of the data entry process.
There are various data entry tasks that can be outsourced, including but not limited to:
- Product catalog data entry
- Payroll data entry
- Online data entry (inputting data into a web-based online system)
- Transcription in various different forms (meeting transcript, medical transcripts, legal transcripts, etc.)
- Audio to text data entry
- Image to text data entry
- Email processing
- Database integration
- Online form billing
Pros and Cons of Data Entry Outsourcing
Advantages of Data Entry Outsourcing
- Improved productivity and efficiencyBy outsourcing some if not all your administrative data entry tasks, you can allow your employees to focus on their competencies and contribute more to achieving your organization’s objectives and growing your business.
- Saving time
Your data entry service provider might provide you with data entry experts with years of experience handling various data entry tasks in various fields. You can set a KPI per agent with your data entry outsourcing provider, ensuring a faster turnaround time for each data entry task, which will also reduce operational costs. - Improving cost-efficiency
Furthermore, by outsourcing your data entry tasks, you will ultimately spend less because you don’t have to pay extra for office space and equipment. Also, professional data entry service providers like Oworkers can provide service of data entry experts from offshore destinations with more affordable labor costs. Not to mention, you can completely eliminate the hefty costs tied to onboarding and training your in-house data entry employees. - Accuracy
By employing well-trained and experienced data entry experts provided by your data entry outsourcing vendor, the possibility of data entry errors is reduced. By partnering with the right data entry service provider, you’ll ensure getting the experience and expertise that will in turn allow a professional and on-time delivery of your data entry projects.
Disadvantages of Data Entry Outsourcing
- Data security and privacy
When outsourcing your data entry process, you are essentially sharing your confidential and/or sensitive data to a third-party vendor with its own employees. Even if the vendor and its employees can be trusted, there’s also the risk of potential data breaches and other cybersecurity threats. It’s important to choose a data entry provider that has implemented security best practices and confidentiality policies. - Cultural and language barriers
If you are working with vendors that provide offshore data entry staff, cultural barriers can be a potential issue. You might not have enough understanding of the language and cultural norms of the data entry expert, and vice versa, and there’s also the potential issue of different time zones, trouble understanding their accents, and so on. Our recommendation is to work with an outsourcing company that has often worked with clients in your location, and if possible, ask for a trial period. - Less control
Another concern is that unlike having your own in-house data entry team, you’ll have less oversight when outsourcing your data entry tasks. However, we can tackle this issue by partnering with a provider with good customer support and maintain regular communication with your offshore data entry experts.
How To Choose The Right Data Entry Outsourcing Partner
As we can see, the pros of data entry outsourcing far outweigh the cons. However, choosing the right data entry service provider is very important, and here are some key concerns when evaluating your potential data entry partner.
1. Staff and Technology Qualification
It’s very important to first assess your data entry needs and requirements. Based on this assessment, you should try to find a data entry outsourcing provider that has the ability in the form of qualified staff and technology to handle your data entry task workload.
Also, depending on your data entry tasks’ complexity, you might need special technological tools like OCR, RPA, and even A.I. machine learning to ensure timely and accurate data entry processes.
2. Customization and Personalization
For example, if you require data to be converted into charts or tables, then you might need a data entry outsourcing provider that has the capability and versatility to execute your specific instructions. Check your potential outsourcing vendor’s flexibility regarding the level of customization that your business process needs.
3. Quality Control
Check the data entry outsourcing company’s quality control system when ensuring their data entry staff is meeting your accuracy benchmarks. Choose a data entry outsourcing company that can provide the consistency you need.
4. Data Security Infrastructure and Best Practices
As discussed, there will always be data security and privacy concerns when outsourcing your data entry processes. To tackle this issue, it’s important to find an outsourcing company that has implemented data security best practices with multiple layers of security infrastructure.
You might also want to consider companies that have met the compliance of security certifications like EU GDPR, ISO, HIPAA, and others.
Conclusion
Data entry outsourcing can be a cost-effective solution to improve your business’s productivity and efficiency in achieving your organizational objectives. However, choosing the right data entry service provider is very important, and it all begins by determining your purpose and objective for your data entry outsourcing. This way, you can come up with a list of requirements that can help you in finding the right data entry outsourcing company based on your needs.
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