Data entry outsourcing and its advantages

Sep 29, 2014SHORE Blog

Most companies in most industries have data entry requirements. In fact, many areas of corporate operations have data entry components. Because data entry is widely needed, yet time-consuming, it is one of businesses’ most outsourced functions.

What is data entry outsourcing?

Data entry is transcribing or entering written data into electronic data. It could also be transcribing one form of electronic data into another form of electronic data. When data entry is outsourced, the function is done outside the company by another company or even by a group of individuals. When data entry is offshored, the other company undertaking data entry is outside the country where the data originates.

A common companion of data entry is the higher-level data processing. Data processing requires more discernment than entering data as clients will prescribe organizational guidelines and such. However, many companies lump data entry and data processing into one.

Advantages of data entry outsourcing

Data entry is a commonly outsourced nonvoice business process because of the many advantages it offers to a company. Among these advantages are the following:

  • Cost savings. Data entry work is necessary, but tedious and time-consuming. Instead of hiring a few people in a company to do data entry part-time, it would be cheaper to have the work outsourced to a company whose staff will be assigned to dedicate their time to data entry. To illustrate, healthcare companies need to transcribe huge volumes of data, and having many people in-house doing the data entry would be too costly. Funds saved from data entry outsourcing can be used for more mission-critical pursuits.
  • Accurate, quality data delivered quickly. Data entry outsourcing providers adhere to high quality standards and employ people who are trained to efficiently deliver error-free data such as names, addresses, financial information or medical records. A company can fully rely on the accurate, readily available output.
  • More time to focus on important business goals. With time freed up from data entry outsourcing, a company can be more productive and concentrate on more important goals such as driving revenues or improving customer satisfaction.

Once a company makes the decision to outsource its data entry functions, and has chosen a reliable provider, the transition to the provider can be done quickly so the company can reap the benefits immediately. It’s not surprising that many global companies have opted for data entry outsourcing.