Companies that Provide Virtual Call Center Work

There are many companies out there that will hire you to take inbound or outbound customer service calls from your home. You are not an actual employee but, an independent contractor. Although, I have seen a few pop up recently that do hire you on as an actual employee they are few and far between. You are usually required to submit to a background check, and sometimes a credit check is also required before you can begin processing calls.

You do need to provide your own equipment, most companies will list their requirements on their website. Also, some of these companies only hire in certain states so you will want to look for that information as well. Training is provide, but usually not paid for. You do seem to do best either working for a company that has a few different clients to take calls for, or to actually work for more than one of these companies. You are paid per talk minute, and sometimes hourly rates are offered. Pay varies depending on call volume and rate of pay, but I have averaged anywhere from $7-$12 per hour.

You will also need to invest in a good headset. One with a noise canceling feature is your best bet, because these companies have zero tolerance for background noise. It's also a good idea to get a separate phone line, it may also be required to contract out with some of these companies. You also need a fairly up-to-date computer system, and high speed internet. Many of these companies do not support the use of wireless systems.

After applying you may have to wait awhile before you are contacted, some companies have a fairly quick turn around time, and some do require a wait. It all depends on the need of the call center at the time. Don't get discouraged if you don't hear anything right away.

The flexibility of working for one of these call centers is wonderful. You can make your own schedule to work, and a lot of the calls are available to take 24 hrs/7 days a week.

I think it's exciting to see how this industry is growing. When I first started working in the virtual call center world there were only a handful of places that provided work at home opportunities. Now you are seeing more and more of these opportunities becoming available.

If you enjoy customer service type work, and are looking for an opportunity to work from home you might want to consider this type of work. Below are a list of companies that you can check out:

LiveOps:

http://www.liveops.com/

Work At Home Agent:

http://www.workathomeagent.com/

Working Solutions:

http://www.workingsolutions.com/

ACD Direct:

http://www.acddirect.com/jobs/

Ecollogy:

http://www.ecallogy.com/careers.html