Virtual call center jobs are a great opportunity for those looking for a way to make money from home because they require little to no skills or experience to get started. Companies may hire call center agents for their own business needs, or they may contract with business process outsourcing firms also known as BPO who provide call center services (BPOs) who provide call center services to other businesses for a fee. There are many different companies that offer virtual call center jobs from home and today we will look at those jobs in this list plus some of the equipment needed to get started.
What is a virtual call center?
A virtual call center is a customer service call center where agents answer support calls from different locations. These locations may include either an office set up in their own home or different offices, but they are connected via virtual call center software.
Virtual call centers are for companies to provide support to their customers in various time zones and are who are looking to reduce the overhead costs of a central office.
Some well-known companies such as 1800Flowers, Uhaul, Nordstrom, and Disney offer virtual call center jobs from home as well as offices where they house their workers. This allows companies to save money in many different ways.
Other companies such as Sitel, West at Home, and Working Solutions are actual virtual call center companies. These types of companies contract with other companies to run their virtual call center on their behalf.
Some companies may have their agents involved with multiple clients while others will not know who they are assigned to until after they have been hired.
Would it be a good fit for me?
If you have no experience with virtual call center jobs than your best options would be to search for a work from home job through a virtual call center company. Most only require a high school diploma and some form of customer service experience.
Most virtual call center companies do require you to have a quiet work environment free from any background noises as you work. This is due to the fact that they do not want their customers to know that you are working from home.
So moms with small babies or toddlers would not be a good fit for this position unless you have a way to work during the hours your child is sleeping or have someone to watch your child in another part of the home during work shifts.
What do I do as a virtual assistant?
This can vary from company to company, but most companies hire agents to take incoming calls from customers to help with customer service type calls or to check on their orders. Some companies provide only outgoing calls but some do both.
Most of the outgoing calls are often sales-based and not business to business. It is best to decide which tasks you are most comfortable with before applying with these types of companies and which ones fit your current situation.
How much do I get paid?
The answer to this question varies from company to company but most virtual call center jobs seem to pay between $10-$12 an hour.
Most of the companies hire their agents as what is called an “independent contractor” while others will hire you as an employee. As an independent contractor, you are responsible for paying your own taxes according to your state or country.
However, this also means you have the freedom to work for more than one company because you are not considered an employee but you do not get the benefits of a job. That means you could work for more than one company to ensure you get full-time hours.
These will be some other things to take into consideration will looking for virtual call center jobs.
What education and skills do I need?
One of the great things about becoming a virtual assistant is that it doesn’t require any training or degree on your part, however, a four your degree may put you at an advantage when applying for jobs.
Training:
You can enroll in online courses to help get started as a virtual assistant. These courses will help teach you the skills to help serve clients from home as well as how to use the different technologies required by virtual call center companies.
Certification:
There are a few companies that offer certifications for virtual assistants. You can become a Certified Virtual Assistant or obtain a specialized certificate, such as a Certified Real Estate Support Specialist through a community college or company.
These courses and certifications can help you to better compete in the field of virtual assistants.
Superior organizational skills:
Since virtual assistants need to keep track of assignments for different clients, organizational skills are a must.
Communication skills:
Virtual assistants are proficient at communicating through email and phone since their job is performed remotely therefore communication skills are a necessary trait.
Tech savvy:
IN order to excel at this type of work, virtual assistants must be tech-savvy and able to perform well on their own.
Multitasking:
Virtual assistants need to be comfortable with jumping from one task to another.
What equipment do I need to get started?
To become a virtual call center assistant there are just a few pieces of equipment that you need to get started but there are also a few pieces of equipment that will help make you more productive.
- Computer (with Internet Access)
- Telephone
- Good Headset
Optional Equipment
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a great tool to have because it has word processing software, calendars, and spreadsheet to help you stay organized. Plus, some companies still use Office today.
Reliable broadband and Virus protection
Since this line of work requires the use of your computer it is important for you to have a computer with reliable broadband. Plus, make sure your virus software is installed and up to date because some companies will require this.
Other things you may need:
- Great office chair – never underestimate how important this is!
- Printer – think about the volumes and colors you’ll be printing
- Diary – either paper or online, but make sure all your appointments are in one place
- Pens, post-its, calculators, pads, stapler, general office stuff
Virtual Call Center Jobs Companies from Home
- 1800flowers
- Accolade Support PC customer support agents-
- ACD Direct
- Advanis
- Alorica
- Amazon-customer service, inbound
- American Airlines-reservations
- Work from Home with American Express
- American Support -customer service & sales, inbound & outbound
- Apple-customer service & tech support, inbound
- Arise -depends on client, fees involved but company is legit
- Aspect(click on US- N/A under physical work location)
- Aspire-travel consultants, inbound & outbound
- Asurion -customer service
- Best Western Hotels– reservations
- BSG Clearing (This company does the verification for sales calls-some positions are live operators who speak to someone and verify the sale and some are verifiers who listen to recordings of sales)
- Call Center International International virtual call center company who needs agents who speak a second language
- Call Center QA – telephone mystery shoppers
- Carnival Cruise
- Century Link– customer service, tech support
- Concentrix– customer service, inbound
- Contract World Jobs- customer service, inbound & outbound
- Cruise.com– customer service, inbound
- Convergys
- Cox Communications– customer service
- Cruise.com– customer service & sales, inbound
- Direct Interactionscustomer service & tech support, inbound & outbound
- Disney Work at Home Call Center Jobs
- Expert Planet- customer service
- Frontline Call Center – customer service
- GE Call Centers– customer service, inbound
- Grindstone– sales calls
- Higher One– customer service
- Hilton
- HSN(Home Shopping Network) (taking calls for items being sold on HSN)
- Infocision hiring call center agents in Ohio or West Virginia
- Intrep(some of their positions are business to business telemarketing appointment setting and lead generation, others are outgoing renewal calls to current customers)
- Intuit– customer service
- Intouch24/7– customer service
- Ipsos NA– interviewers
- JLodge prefer to hire people with disabilities • http://www.specialdata.com/jobs.asp?category=5 (Florida residents only, answering incoming sales calls)
- Live Ops
- Maritz Research– market research
- Micahtek OK residents only
- NTI Central(they hire people with disabilities to telecommute from home)
- NexRep– customer service & sales, inbound and outbound
- NextLevel Solutions– telemarketing
- Nordstrom
- OnPoint
- Quest Diagnostics– interviewer
- Service 800
- Sitel– customer service, inbound
- Smart Office Solutions– customer service
- Startek– customer service, inbound
- Starwood Hotels– reservations
- Sykes
- Telcare Corp telephone survey agent, on site training in Boca Raton, FL
- Teletech
- Transcom– customer service, sales & tech support, inbound
- Uhaul -customer service, inbound
- Verafast (work primarily with newspaper industry)
- VIPDesk– customer service and sales, inbound
- Westat(hire data collectors to work in their virtual call center doing research-based calls)
- West At Home- customer service
- Williams Sonoma Work From Home
- Working Solutions- customer service
- Xact Solutions– customer service, inbound
Last Thing You Need to Know About Virtual Call Center Jobs
Virtual call center jobs are a great way to earn an income from home because they require almost no experience to get started. All you need is your computer, phone and headset, and a quiet environment, to make a great income.
If you want to start your own business as a Virtual assistant you may choose to do so, however, there are plenty of companies waiting to either place you with a company as an independent contractor or hire you as an employee.
So if you feel like a VA job is something for you then why not try it out and tell me what you think.
Did you know about these Virtual call center jobs before today? Have you tried VA work before?
