Work-at-Home Call Center Jobs

Call center jobs can be either work at home (a.k.a. virtual call center) or in an office outside the home. Companies may hire call center agents for their own business needs, or they may contract with BPOs who provide call center services for a fee.

While we all have an idea of what call center work entails, i.e., talking on the phone, the specifics of each job can vary considerably. So as you start your call center job search, think about these types of call center work:

Inbound vs. outbound calls - Call center agents may take in-bound calls or outbound calls or both. Typically, outbound calls are sales calls, while in-bound may or may not be sales.

Home call centers vs. office jobs - While many people may prefer to work at home, (or virtual) call center jobs are not nearly as plentiful as office jobs. Plus, not everyone has the office equipment required for home call centers or wants to invest in it. Some office-based call centers allow employees to transition to working at home after training.

Independent contractor vs. employee positions - Companies hire call center agents as both independent contractors and as employees. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Office based call centers are more likely to be employment positions, but a virtual call center might go either way.

Full- and part-time positions - Because call centers need a wide range of hours worked and have so many employees, many offer both full- and part-time schedules. These are some part-time home call center jobs.

Outsourcing vs. in-house operations - Some companies (such as Home Shopping Network or GE Retail Finance) run their own call centers to support their core businesses. Other companies outsource call center operations to a BPO (such as Alpine Access or Convergys) that hires work at home agents. Agents at these “homeshoring” operations may work on a variety of clients and need a wide range of skills.

Specialized call center work - Some call center need workers with specialized skills. The most common skill required is being bilingual. Bilingual call center jobs often pay a little more. Other specialized skills that call centers might need are telehealth for nursing jobs or licensed agents for insurance jobs. High-level technical support can also be a specialized call center job, but much of the basic support jobs are done by agents who are trained in the technical skills by their companies. Also, call center agents may move into call center management positions.

Below are examples of companies who offer at home call center jobs:

Alpine Access.com
Amazon.com
American Airlines.com
Cloud 10.com
Convergys Home Agent Program.com