Are you looking for a home business that requires next-to-no overhead, no marketing of your skills, and no printing of business cards and stocking of merchandise? You might want to consider working as a Virtual Call Agent. What is a call agent you ask? Chances are you’ve talked to one on the phone before. In fact, I’d be willing to bet on it.
Companies that once ran their customer service or sales division in a large building with cubicles and phones are now saving money by outsourcing their work to stay-at-home-parents, students, retirees, and yes, even workers abroad. Virtual agents work for many of the places you call when help is needed – when calling your credit card company to straighten out a bill, when calling your favorite shop-at-home-network, or when calling your utility company. Retail outlets such as Office Depot have openly admitted to using virtual agents to save costs.
What is involved in being an agent? All is takes (usually) is a computer, a landline phone (no cellular, cordless, or cable phone service allowed), a good headset and a comfy chair. It helps to have a metabolism of a teenager, as I can tell you from experience that sitting on your butt all day taking calls is hard on the waistline. After a brief training period, virtual call agents are routed phone calls to their home, through the client’s phone number. An agent’s phone number is never accessible by the caller.
Depending on the client or company you work for (the client would be Office Depot, the company you work for as an independent contractor would be the one Office Depot has contracted their work to), you will take customer orders, provide billing or other customer service, or even take surveys. Each project varies. Companies that hire independent contractors as agent include Working Solutions, LiveOps, and Alpine Access, three of the most recognized names in call center business solutions.
For more information on these companies, visit their websites and review their guidelines. Many work-at-home-forums also have information on becoming a virtual call agent, and the message boards at WAHM.com is a good place to start. One word of caution: working as a call agent does not work well with those who have small children, noisy neighbors, or barking dogs, as complete silence in the background is not only necessary, but an absolute requirement.