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New Technology inspires virtual call centers -- and new work at home jobs for Data Entry workers  Innovations in digital voice technology make any skilled computer and Internet user a potential work at home Customer Service agent. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) takes analog audio signals, like what you hear on the phone, and turns them into digital data allowing it to be received and transmitted through the computer and over the Internet.This technology makes it possible to tie hundreds of widely-dispersed workers at home computers together to create a virtual call center company.  What's driving Customer Service jobs home? Historically, hundreds of customer service agents drove to large call center buildings with a mass of workstations set up in large open spaces to answer customer questions about U.S. company products and services. Or hundreds of customer service agents drove to large call center buildings in foreign countries to answer customer questions about U.S. company products and services. Until the technology caught up with industry's growing awareness that improvements could be made on the way U.S. and overseas outsourced customer service was being served -- and TeleCommuting organizations jumped in to press a home-spun solution. The Telework Coalition (TelCoa) has been a major force in getting the call center industry to see the profits in employing home workers. In their words, the rapidly accelerating trend to adopt the domestic Work@Home customer support model has been driven by the desire to keep costs down, by the backlash caused by an overall dissatisfaction with the services provided by offshore agents as well as personal information being sent offshore where there are few, if any, laws to protect it. Telcoa keeps lining up call center converts. In 2005 Telcoa dramatically demonstrated to industry how steering from outsourcing to homesourcing can benefit U.S. companies at the Call Center Demo & Conference Dallas. In 2007 they put on the First Work@Home Call Center Agent Conference at Call Center 2.0. Held at the San Diego Convention Center, it presented 8 in-depth sessions over 2 days, with the objective of demonstrating why the Work@Home Agent model is the undeniable alternative to the traditional bricks & mortar model. Benefits for industry, workers and all of us. By utilizing a virtual workforce, companies can attract a more highly-educated agent workforce. The ability to work from home makes college-educated applicants look more favorably on customer service work. These agents are generally more mature with professional experiences that can offer a quality of customer service that results in better rates of problem resolution during the first call. Besides improved client satisfaction, access to a wide range of specialized skills, education and experience can help to effectively deal with even the most complex customer service calls. Another benefit is being able to pick customer service agents from the same locale as the customer. Managing a particularly delicate client relationship may be best handled by local agents who offer a greater cultural understanding. Staff can still receive regular, consistent training employing today's remote-learning technologies. And not having to commute or spend money on gasoline presents a whole new benefit package to attract and retain customer service agents. For all of us, getting thousands of cars off the road offers some assistance in our attempts to curb greenhouse gases, pollution and rush hour gridlock. On the energy front, additional jobs for TeleCommuters can certainly help drive the hoped-for transition to a truly energy-efficient society. Where's it going? According to a study conducted by the International Telework Association and Council (ITAC), companies can save approximately $25,000 for every home-based agent compared to the traditional brick-and-mortar alternative.Approximately 100,000 contact-center agents work from their homes in the United States, a number that represents a growing trend that is expected to exceed 300,000 by 2010. That's a lot of new jobs for Data Entry workers. The growing number of home customer service agent jobs in our job listings represent the growing number of call center companies moving to home agents in a big way. Quite a few of these jobs indicate hiring requirements would allow many typical TeleCommuter job seekers with computer/internet skills to apply. |
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