Starting a Home-Based Call Center or Answering Service

The call center or answering service business caters to businesses that need to have incoming phone calls answered by a person. Most commonly this service is utilized during hours when the business is closed, but some businesses may contract out their call handling 24/7. Businesses that may use answering services after business hours medical offices, legal offices, and businesses that offer 24/7 on-call services. These businesses simply forward all incoming calls to your answering service while their office is closed. Depending on their needs, you may simply take messages which can be e-mailed or faxed to the business, or they may have you page or call them with certain messages.

The United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not have a dedicated employment category for call centers and answering services. Instead, these services are included with switchboard operators. The combined industries accounted for more than 155,000 jobs in 2008. BLS projections are that this combined industry will shrink by 10.9 percent between 2008 - 2018. However, despite the decline in overall jobs, BLS still estimates more than 32,000 new jobs will be open in this industry due to the need for replacement workers.

Many of the jobs that were once available in this industry have been outsourced to foreign call centers or been replaced by computerized phone systems that limit the need for live operators. Nonetheless, there will always be some demand for local call services. For instance, a local medical or legal office is unlikely to outsource their answering service to a foreign call center. The liability would be far too great for several reasons.

Getting Started

Advances in technology have made it easier than ever to get started with a call center or answering service business. Modern technology has replaced the need for expensive and complicated phone systems. Internet calling (VoIP) has greatly reduced calling costs. Unlimited calling plans are also available from most mobile phone carriers as well. Technology has lowered the barriers to entry in this business in every way.

The exact technological configuration you will need for this business will depend on how you plan to run your business. You may need to be able to handle several calls at once if you are operating a call center. Conversely, you may rarely have multiple calls if you are primarily covering after-hours calls for several local businesses. Determining your business niche in advance will help you plan your technology needs and avoid unpleasant, and possibly expensive, surprises down the road.

Setting up a functional home office will be essential with this type of business. Depending on your client's needs, you may need to be near a computer whenever you take a phone call, or you may just need a pen and paper to jot a note. You will also want to set up your office where distractions will be minimized. For people who live alone an office in the middle of the dining room may work just fine. For those who do not live alone though a dedicated office with a door may be essential to minimize background noise while handling calls. You may also need to guarantee privacy while handling calls if you are working for medical or legal clients as you will be discussing confidential information.

Marketing

The first step in successfully marketing a home-based call center or answering service is to determine your target market and niche. There is no point in marketing your services to a medical office if you do not want to work on nights and weekends, for instance. Determining what you want your business to be, and what niche will fit that business model, will help to identify possible markets.

Once you have identified your niche and target market it is time to start trying to sell your service to prospective customers. Some people may prefer to send a mailing to potential customers and then follow up with a phone call. Others may prefer to pre-qualify potential customers with a phone call before mailing information. Purchasing a mailing list from a list service or watching area newspapers for announcements about new businesses are also great ways to get leads on new businesses who may need your services but are unlikely to have already established a relationship with another service.

Every business needs a website and a call center or answering service is no exception to this rule. A website allows you provide additional information to prospective customers, and to be found by anyone searching for your service online.

Business cards are also essential for any business. Professionally printed cards are inexpensive, but they allow you to make an impression and to easily provide your contact information to a potential customer.

Cautions

Some type of redundant phone system would be essential in this business. For instance, in you are using an Internet calling system and your Internet service goes down you would be unable to receive calls. You would need an alternate way of receiving calls like on a mobile phone. The same situation would apply with a traditional, landline phone.

The work hours with this type of business could become a burden, depending on the type of clients and services you were offering. For example, a call center might need to answer calls only during certain hours. On the other hand, an answering service may require you to answer calls every weekend and every evening. This may work fine for some people, but be sure to only offer service that fit with your lifestyle. This business may also require you to have a trustworthy assistant who can fill in should you be sick or wish to take a vacation or holiday.

Conclusion

Despite the projection for overall declines in this business over the next decade, there are still opportunities for those looking to launch a home-based business. Many of the job losses in this industry are certainly due to large corporations moving their call services overseas. These corporations would not be your target customers anyway.

There is a growing consumer frustration with outsourced, foreign call centers. You can tactfully use this to your advantage when talking to prospective customers.

This business will not be attractive to everyone. Some people like to talk on the phone and some do not. Those people who do enjoy using the phone, who enjoy working from home, and who enjoy some variety in their work may find this business to be a good option.

SOURCES

United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed on 6 October 2010.

Betsy Brottlund. Startup Nation Small Business Expert Blogs. How a Professional Answering Service Raises the Bar. Accessed 6 October 2010.