Work At Home In A Virtual Call Center

Legitimate Jobs For The Work At Home Mom or Dad

Virtual Call Centers are the future of customer service for major corporations. Learn how you can telecommute and make money from your home office.

How To Get A Work At Home Job In A Call Center
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Work At Home Call Centers

How To Get A Work At Home Job In A Call Center

Are you a stay at home mom or dad? Are you retired, but want to do something part time? Want to find a way to work with out the commute? The answer may be a job at a virtual call center.

Many companies are now turning to working at home to save money. Jobs that were once shipped off and outsourced to other countries have now come back to the United States and are being coined as "home-shoring". Most work at home call centers are run by companies that contract with corporations to do customer service for anything from cellphone activations to booking hotel rooms. Working for these companies allow you to be either an employee or an independent contractor. A few companies may even offer some benefits such as insurance.

Working as a customer service agent in your home requires that you have an office space with no distractions. Background noise is not tolerated and can be grounds for being dismissed. You must provide your own computer. You will also need to have a cable or DSL high speed Internet connection. Most companies require that you have a land line phone that is dedicated to your business and does not have any frills like caller id or call waiting. A corded phone with a noise canceling headset is also required. There are a few companies that use a phone system that runs on your computer and you would need a good usb headset. All of the office equipment is at your expense and I do not know of any company that reimburses you for them. If you work as an independent contractor you will be able to use your office expenses as a tax deduction.

There are some work at home companies that have requirements about background checks, credit checks or even drug test. Normally you should not have to pay any fees for employment and if asked for money you should be wary of the legitimacy of the company. One of the exceptions to this would be Alpine Access and LiveOps. They are legit companies, but they do ask for you to pay for your background check.

Applying for a virtual call center job is as easy as going to your computer and filling out an application or sending a resume. Most companies want people with customer service skills, but that does not mean you need previous experience in a call center. If the company is hiring you will probably hear back from them within a few weeks. Don't get discouraged if you do not hear back. Just apply to as many sites as you can and soon you will be getting a call for an interview.

The interview process may begin with a test of your computer to make sure it meets their minimum requirements. Sometimes there is a screening for typing or computer skills. Many times you will be given a script to read over the phone. The final interview is usually done over the phone with a recruiter. If you are hired, they usually will send you an email stating that you can begin training. Most companies will pay you for your training which is usually conducted on the Internet and through webinars. Once training is completed you are now on your way to taking your first call.

Some companies will give you a set schedule that you work every week. There are some companies that are more flexible and will let you pick when you want to work. The best example of this would be West Corporation and LiveOps. They let you pick from day to day in half hour increments what you would like to work. This makes it very convenient for those who have to work around family schedules.

A virtual call center operates much like any other business. The only difference is that everything is done either online or through the phone. Just like any brick and mortar company, there are supervisors, human resource people and payroll departments. They have many avenues of support to help you do your job and usually that help is only a click away.