- Virtual call centers serve as an alternative to a traditional brick and mortar office space. The overhead cost of renting or purchasing commercial property large enough to house hundreds to thousands of customer service representatives is eliminated by technology.
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Technologically advanced call center platform applications allow the nearly limitless distribution of calls routed to various states across the nation or countries across the world . Whether workers are from overseas or homegrown in the United States, companies staff their virtual call centers with remote or "home-based agents."
Technology extends to the residences of virtual call center representatives. Remote workers must have a broadband Internet connection, a dedicated telephone landline and a quiet environment to successfully perform her job. Calls are routed to the home agent's telephone line where they answer a variety of queries and handle customer-related issues. -
Alpine Access calls home-based agents "Customer Care Professionals," Working Solutions refers to them as "Service Agents OnDemand™," and LiveOps calls its more than 20,000 workers "Independent Home Agents." No matter the title, these experienced professionals are the driving force behind these virtual call centers.
Companies such as AT&T, 1-800-Flowers and AAA can attribute their customer service satisfaction to virtual call center agents. Virtual call center jobs require agents to answer technical support calls, hotel and airline reservations, roadside assistance, sales and other customer service calls from home. - For virtual call center jobs, workers need prior work experience in the call center or customer service industry. Many companies hire workers with some college education. Professionalism, proper telephone etiquette and an empathetic and understanding nature are needed to effectively handle customers with care.
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Some companies offer health benefits while others hire independent contractors responsible for their own work-related expenses and tax withholdings. Virtual call centers save money by offering less per hour to at-home workers. Pay ranges between approximately $8 to $14 an hour with workers spending between 20 to 40 hours a week answering calls.
When companies hire independent contractors, they eliminate vacation and medical coverage costs. Despite this, droves of applications inundate online inboxes for employment openings. Flexibility of the work-from-home opportunity allows agents to balance work with family life. The freedom of making their own schedules permits disabled persons, stay-at-home parents and retirees opportunities to supplement their household incomes as quality remote workers. - As more companies implement cutbacks and the economic climate experiences instability, individuals look toward work-from-home opportunities such as virtual call centers to combat their financial woes. Having both flexibility and steady income by working from the comfort of one's home is a trend that will likely continue.
Comments
Chrislyn said
on 11/21/2008 Thanks - I learned something new today!