Many find relief from daily grind by making living at home

Otis Orchards resident Debra Goodwin figured nearly all those online “work from home” ads came from firms looking for folks to sell knockoff watches or time-share condos in Honduras.

But early last year, needing to find a job that allowed her freedom to work from home, Goodwin contacted a Texas company, Working Solutions, that was looking for people to do phone work.

A year later, Goodwin says the job has become both a good source of income and an interesting way to develop new friendships.

Some weeks the customer-service projects she’s assigned to involve working 20 to 30 hours. Other times she puts in 50 or more hours a week, she said.

Goodwin is one of tens of thousands of Americans – most of them women – who’ve become a virtual call center work force. Using home computers and networking software that connects them to their employer’s head office, they make or answer phone calls to handle customer questions, book travel or resolve billing issues for companies.

Working Solutions is one of several major U.S. firms that have embraced the home-agent virtual center model. Dozens of other call center companies are offering similar virtual services, including major players like Alpine Access, Convergys, West Corp. and ACD Direct.

Those firms – some of them, like West, also operate traditional call center buildings – say the virtual system cuts operating costs and gives them access to talented workers by virtue of recruiting for talent across the nation instead of in just one city.

Bringing jobs home

It’s become a growing business trend because many companies that hire firms like Working Solutions or Alpine Access have reconsidered the offshore call center model and found it lacking, said Tim Houlne, CEO of Working Solutions.

Many companies now have a higher focus on stronger customer service. They now don’t mind paying more for U.S.-based home agents, knowing they typically can solve problems or deal with issues faster and more effectively than offshore agents, Houlne said.

That matters to the customer who’s calling with a question or billing problem, he said.

“For many companies, the interaction between customer and agent is the main communication the customer has with the company,” Houlne said. When the agent can answer the questions and solve a problem, that usually builds customer loyalty, he said.

Another upside with virtual call centers is lower worker turnover. Call center workers traditionally are one of the most turnover-prone groups, industry surveys have found.

Houlne said Working Solutions typically hires additional workers for a given contract, knowing that some of them will ask to change their schedule, requiring a backup worker to cover a shift. By providing home agents more flexibility, the company develops higher agent loyalty and less turnover, he added.

Goodwin said she enjoys two key benefits of working from home. First, she doesn’t drive or commute. “I don’t have to shovel my driveway if it snows,” said Goodwin, 52.

Plus she enjoys the flexible schedule. The job involves signing up for a set of shifts, and she earns between $12 and $14 an hour.

As a contractor Goodwin receives no benefits, but Working Solutions allows her to also handle calls for ACD Direct, another home agent company.

When the mood strikes, she can also book work at odd hours. “If I want to, I can log back on at midnight and work a few extra hours,” she said.

Work with benefits

Other companies consider their agents full- or part-time employees.

Alpine Access, based in Denver, says it prefers hiring its workers, offering them solid benefits including 401(k) pension plans. The company has between 3,000 and 3,500 workers nationwide, with fewer than 100 in Eastern Washington and Idaho. It expects to add 1,000 more across the country this year.

Those workers start with a salary of $8 to $12 per hour and increase their pay as they progress. Alpine Access spends between four and six weeks training its home agents, said Jim Ball, a co-founder and now managing partner of the company.

Most work a minimum of 28 hours a week; about 75 percent work full-time. The advantage in having paid staff workers, as opposed to using contractors, comes down to needing fewer people per specific service job, Ball said.

In the contractor model used by Working Solutions, managers need to slightly overstaff any one job – such as for a bank or credit card company – because some assigned home agents will decide to cancel a shift. Having the extras available covers the work to be done, Houlne said.

Alpine Access relies on workers committing to a set schedule over the life of a contract. But Ball said the company has a wide range of choices to accommodate people who prefer a morning, evening or late-night schedule.

Working Solutions typically sees one of every 16 agents needing to make a last-minute work change, said company spokesman Aaron Kannowski.

Ball said Alpine Access gets about 1,000 applications per day from interested home agents. “We’re selective. We only select about one of every 100,” he said.

Among other considerations, home agents need a relatively recent computer, a decent broadband Internet connection and a regular land-line phone.

Fitting a niche

The range of people interested in working as home agents is vast, Ball said, noting not all of the interest is due to the economy. Many folks prefer home-based work and will continue even if the economy offers them other job choices, he said.

Industry surveys find that the majority of home-agent call workers are not the primary wage-earner in their households.

The ability to find workers with specific backgrounds or experience is another factor companies like Working Solutions or Alpine Access can use to gain contracts with companies wanting call-agent services.

“If a company wants to find tech support workers who are familiar with online gaming, we can find those people,” Ball said.

Working Solutions’ Houlne said his company is able to leverage home agents who are familiar with a location such as Maui or Florida, and have them work on travel contracts to help callers who want to book travel or recreation trips.

The growth in networked systems also allows company managers to work with or supervise home agents effectively, Ball said.

Every call one of its agents makes is recorded, but not all are reviewed. At Alpine Access, the job of supervisor has been renamed “support agent.” Ball said supervision, when necessary, is easily provided. The only difference is that supervisors can’t walk up to a worker and discuss an issue.

As with a traditional call center, home agents have quick access to help desks and to an online chat area where he or she can discuss a problem or concern.

Goodwin, with Working Solutions, says every project she works has a designated chat area.

“I’ve met some really nice people on these projects. Some will be friends for a long time. But I wouldn’t know them if I passed them in the street,” she said.