IAOP - Certified Outsourcing Specialist – Transaction Processing (COS-TP)

Certified Outsourcing Specialist – Transaction Processing (COS-TP)
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While IAOP’s Certified Outsourcing Professional® (COP) program is targeted for business leaders and operational management involved in the outsourcing industry, the Certified Outsourcing Specialist^TMfamily of designations is geared toward individuals involved in the delivery of outsourced services. Although the primary intention is to serve the need of the provider community, certifications in this family may be created to meet customer and advisor need as well.

COS-TP Fact Sheet
COS-TP Standards & Requirements

Benefits of COS-TP Certification

The COS-TP test is a standardized, web-based data entry and data processing aptitude test that evaluates operator productivity and output quality for data entry oriented tasks. The COS-TP test checks an operator’s speed and accuracy on test transactions that reflect the most common data entry scenarios and frequent error patterns.

Previously known as the OperatorEvaluator exam, the scores and ratings will be the same for the new COS-TP test. The functions, availability and pricing also have not changed. Any prior IAOP OperatorEvaulator scores and ratings will automatically become an identical IAOP COS-TP score and rating.

COS-TP Certification Helps the Various Constituents of the Outsourcing Ecosystem

Individual Employee: COS-TP certification helps workers demonstrate their skills via a reliable standardized test
Outsourcing Service Providers: Most service providers use some form of proprietary speed and accuracy test when hiring data entry and data processing workers. By standardizing this testing across the industry, COS-TP testing and certification saves hiring organizations money while improving their hiring decision process
Outsourcing Customers: Customers are justifiably concerned about the quality of workers who execute their outsourced business processes. With IAOP’s COS-TP certification, outsourcing customers can simply set an acceptable range of COS-TP exam scores and empower their service providers to appropriately manage the process
National Associations: To attract outsourcing customers and promote the growth of the local outsourcing industry, organizations need a reliable way to demonstrate the size and quality of their labor pool. IAOP periodically will publish reports of the number of COS-TP certified workers in each of the top outsourcing destinations. These reports will help national associations reliably demonstrate the quality of their labor pool

COS-TP tests are powered by technology from BeyondCore Inc. (www.beyondcore.com). BeyondCore technology has been leveraged by Fortune 500, S&P 500 and Top 10 BPO service providers on four continents. COS-TP testing is based on advanced methodologies pioneered by BeyondCore as well as student research conducted at the Harvard Business School and Stanford University.

What is learned from a COS-TP test?

A COS-TP is certified to have the skills necessary to accurately and quickly perform common tasks to Transaction Processing. The COS-TP test reports each operator’s:

Accuracy (field level and transaction level error rate)
Productivity (speed at which transactions are processed)
Error patterns (distribution of errors across different types of fields)
Error details (list of specific errors made by the operator during the test)
Statistical estimate of long-term accuracy and productivity (based on statistical methods, COS-TP specifies a range of accuracy and productivity rates such that it can be 95 percent sure that the operator’s long-term average accuracy and productivity would lie within the specified range).
For a complete list of the full knowledge and skills, or standards, required for certification, please click here.

Requirements of Certification

The COS-TP test is an online web-based aptitude data entry test that evaluates operator productivity (speed) and output quality (accuracy) for data entry oriented tasks. It consists of a series of thirty or more pages of forms with the data entered by hand, and where the operator must type the handwritten information into the blank form provided. Each page represents a transaction process and is timed. When completed, a report is generated that shows accuracy both at the field level and at the transaction level, and productivity (speed at which the transactions are processed). The report also presents error patterns showing the distribution of errors across different types of fields, and error details consisting of a list of specific errors made by the operator during the test. The report also shows statistical estimate of long-term accuracy and productivity for this operator.

Based on where the operator falls in terms of relative aptitude ranges, they are scored within preset ranges and then given ratings of Bronze, Silver or Gold certification. A mimimum of Bronze level must be achieved in order to receive COS-TP Certification.

Gold: Average speed is better than 60 seconds and average field-level error rate is better than 0.25% (approximately 2-3 errors allowed in 30 test transactions).
Silver: Either a) Average speed is between 60 to 90 seconds and average field-level error rate is better than 0.25% (approximately 2-3 errors allowed in 30 test transactions) or b) Average speed is better than 60 seconds and average field-level error rate is between 0.25% to 0.5%.
Bronze: Average speed is better than 120 seconds and average field-level error rate is better than 1%.
Please note that these ranges may be changed over time.

The test may be purchased individually and taken as a “self-assessment” where the operator is given a validation code that may be given to a single potential future employer who can conduct a free test to then confirm the candidate’s score. The test may also be taken at a Test Center partner (TCP) company who can administer and certify the results. Candidates are also provided a score certification code that they can share with potential employers so that employers can confirm the score online in the COS-TP database.

IAOP Corporate Members receive 50 complimentary COS family of certification tests per year and significant discounts for expanding their use of the test across their organization’s recruitment, hiring, and testing operations. Please contact memberservices@iaop.org for information on how your organization can receive this benefit.

COS-TP Recertification

The COS-TP certification expires two years from the issue date and the COS-TP test must be retaken every two years to demonstrate continued or improved skill levels.

To purchase the COS-TP tests visit www.iaop-cos.com or for more information about free tests for IAOP corporate members contact memberservices@iaop.org.