BPO employees can work from home soon

New Delhi: Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has given permission to Raman Roy's company Quatro to start pilot project in which BPO employees can work from home. "This is a provisional permission. Once the company is able to meet all our security concerns, we will grant them a licence," confirmed a Senior DoT official to Business Standard.

The $11-billion BPO sector employs over 750,000 people, and working from home could add many more to these numbers, said Roy. He added that he has been "toying with the idea for nearly two years before I got help from software body Nasscom and the required permission from the DoT". Raman Roy, who is the Chairman and Managing Director of Quatrro BPO Solutions, has started pilot projects in Mumbai and Delhi to explore the possibility of this model. He plans to launch another pilot in Chennai soon. He has also appointed a dedicated team of six senior employees - including a lawyer and a technician - to make these pilots successful.

"We feel this is the next-generation step for the industry. It will create jobs for people who are educated but don't have the flexibility to go to offices. Besides opening a career option for them, it will create a flexible workforce. So, housewives and others can work from home, will have flexible work timings and also earn money," said Roy.

This is how it works right now - around 30 employees who work from home have a computer that is connected to the company's server (using virtual private network or VPN technology). Whenever an employee logs on to the computer, the data on the screen is monitored by a supervisor sitting at the Quatrro headquarters in Gurgaon. The supervisor has four large plasma screens on which he can see employee's monitor. If he wants to speak with the employee he uses webcam.

The employees who are involved in this pilot project are in non-voice which comprises both low-end data entry work and in some cases high-end data analytics, Roy said. But main problem in this case is ensuring that a client's data is secure. "The test is all about security. So, the solution is that when the employee logs onto our server, the supervisor will be able to see him and his activities. The plasma screens ensure constant monitoring and guidance. The VPN pipe takes care of security," Roy said.

Usually there are 8 to 15 supervisors in one shift but for this virtual model one supervisor will be able to supervise 16 or 32 sessions at one go. Analysts, however, remain skeptical about work from home on the ground of data security, infrastructure, data processes, employee motivation and monitoring problems and lack of a controlled environment. "Independent work can be done in a work-from-home arrangement but group work requires a controlled environment. Models like these work only when data masking is possible," says Sabyasachi Satpathy, Partner at advisory firm Tholons.

"We understand and appreciate these concerns," countered Roy, adding: "After all, I have been there and seen this industry grow to its present size. But I believe that we will make this concept work."