Hosted Call Center Featured Article

Look Who's Working from Home

By Rob Duncan
Chief Operating Officer, Alpine Access

This year, the virtual contact center industry turns 12. Like a child, it has grown and matured at an amazing rate. In fact, the model has been adopted by so many types of businesses over the past decade that home shoring companies have had to adapt and reinvent themselves just to keep up with the demand. One example of this change is the expanded types of calls now managed by virtual centers. In the beginning, at-home call center businesses primarily handled simple call transactions, like taking retail orders. Using scripts, at-home workers could be trained quickly and only needed to have good people skills. This made them ideal for companies looking for additional resources to handle overflow calls, staff after-hours shifts or provide extra coverage for seasonal volumes.

Today, a majority of Fortune 500 companies from a wide range of industries are pursuing at-home solutions. These large companies realize home-based agents possess the skills and knowledge to effectively handle all types of customer interactions, even the most complex, off-script calls. From initial sales and support, to retention and collections, they are turning to virtual contact centers to support the needs of their entire customer lifecycle. As a result, virtual call centers are no longer supplementary support, but rather an integral part of a company's core customer interaction solution.

To keep up with the changing types of jobs, virtual contact centers have had to modify their hiring criteria. They now need dedicated employees who are willing to work 35-40 hours a week with more than just strong "people" skills. At-home workers must meet a stringent set of qualifications including specific certifications, levels of education, years of end market experience and multiple languages. One might think these tougher requirements mean less qualified candidates for hire, but this is not the case. Alpine Access, for example, received over 200,000 applications last year, and the number continues to grow each month.

Improved Trust in At-Home Positions

For a long time people were suspicious of work-at-home jobs. Now, the wealth of information on the Internet and coverage in the mainstream media has made it easier for people to identify legitimate opportunities versus scams. Favorable word-of-mouth has also driven acceptance. Employees greatly value the rewards of working from home and are eager to share their experiences with friends, relatives and neighbors. At Alpine Access in particular, nearly three-fourths of the applications come from word-of-mouth referrals.

The economy has given people an opportunity to reevaluate what is important in their lives. A growing number of highly-qualified job seekers are looking for positions that offer a better work-life balance. For them, working from home is the ideal solution, providing challenging careers without the commutes and hassles of brick-and-mortar environments. The increased interest in work-from-home positions has created an enormous pool of applicants with backgrounds that are more varied than in the past. Fortunately, the diversity of candidates correlates well with the wide range of at-home positions now available through the rapid growth of virtual call centers.

Top Five Ways Today's At-Home Workers Have Changed

The combination of increased competition for at-home positions and tougher qualification requirements has caused a shift in the type of Customer Care Professionals (CCPs) now working for virtual call centers. These highly experienced and dedicated employees represent the best of the best, or the top 1-3% of qualified applicants. Here is a look at the top five ways we've seen the at-home workforce change over the years:

An Older, More Educated Workforce
In the past, CCPs were predominantly female between 20 and 30 years of age. Now, CCPs working from home are split more evenly between males and females with the average age shifting to around 40 years old. The vast majority of these CCPs are college educated with many holding advanced degrees. Additionally, many are fluent in multiple languages and dialects such as Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese.
Extensive and Diverse Experience
As the model has been applied to different industries, the qualifications have gotten more rigid. Many CCPs now have an average of 15-20 years of work experience, and a high proportion of them also hold industry-specific certifications in addition to proven customer interaction skills. Some CCPs at Alpine Access, for example, are certified public accountants and technology systems experts. 
A Career Mentality
Another major shift in today's CCPs is a desire to make work-from-home positions careers rather than just jobs.  First of all, more applicants are looking for full-time employment. (Two years ago, Alpine Access' CCP population was nearly 100% part-time, while today, the majority are full-time.) Secondly, these CCPs are more dedicated to their profession and want the same type of career advancement and professional development provided by other fields of work. Fortunately, as part of a high growth industry, virtual call centers provide many opportunities for advancement. At Alpine Access, we have a strong "hire from within" preference as evidenced by the many employees who joined the company as CCPs nearly ten years ago and who are now in management and leadership positions.
Thousands of Locations
While geography has never been a limiting factor for the virtual model, the lack of connectivity into certain locations did restrict access to some at-home workers.  Four years ago, Alpine Access operated in just a handful of states. Today, we have CCPs located in more than 1,300 cities across the country thanks to improvements and expansions to the nation's broadband and telecommunications networks.
New Definition of Flexibility
When virtual contact centers first began hiring CCPs, flexibility meant they created their own schedule using 15 minute increments. They had to commit to an overall number of hours, but it was up to them to do the job when they could. As customer interactions became more complex, longer shifts were needed for CCPs to gain the proficiency needed to excel at their jobs. While the virtual model still offers the ability for CCPs to more closely fit work around their personal commitments, employees now define a flexible job as working from the comfort of their home with no commute and few work-related expenses.

The simple fact is that virtual contact center employees have to be more dedicated and experienced than in the past. When there are roughly 100 candidates for every one at-home position, those that are hired know they need to give it their all. From a business perspective, more is demanded of these employees than ever before. Not only must they provide high quality service day in and day out, but they also must have in-depth knowledge of various vertical markets. If you think working from home is easy, think again. Providing clients with high quality service while simultaneously saving them money is serious business. It's no time for bunny slippers and pajamas.