Recently divorced and in need of a flexible job that would leave her free to care for her kids, Colleen discovered her new job on a website devoted to work-at-home moms. Earlier in her career, she worked as an agent and supervisor in several contact centers but was surprised to discover that agents were no longer expected to punch into a “brick and mortar” facility and work shoulder to shoulder with a boiler room full of other agents, supervisors and team leaders.

She applied for the job, underwent a thorough interview process and was then hired, trained and coached, all entirely online. Every agent and supervisor at Colleen’s company works from home – managers have never even met most of their employees in person.

That night, right after taking her first few calls, the chat window on her screen popped open, it was Barbara her supervisor.

“Hi Colleen, Good evening I just saw that you signed in – would you mind working the ‘Juicer’ campaign – we’re being swamped with calls after the TV promo ran tonight, and we need to get callers off hold tout de suite!”

“Sure Barb, I’ll switch right now”, she replied quickly, typing into the chat window.

Colleen is part of several agent groups that have the skills to sell and support various kitchen appliances. She now works on both inbound and outbound marketing campaigns switching back and forth between taking the outbound calls placed by the systems automated dialer and answering calls and taking orders from callers dialing the company’s 800 number.

She is well paid and can boost her salary by earning a commission for the sales she makes. She’s also happy not to have to spend money on gas, wear and tear on her car, clothes and other expenses she’d normally incur with an office job.

When she first started, she was apprehensive about getting back on the phone, especially without having someone standing next to her to give her a hand if she needed it. But she was relieved to find out that the tools and support structure, normally found in an office were all available to her “virtually”.

Colleen was able to sign in from home using her laptop. There was no software and hardware to install – an intuitive agent interface was delivered right through her web browser. Everything she needed was available. She could answer, transfer, and conference calls. Agent scripts popped up when a call came in along with the caller’s records and she could wrap up and “disposition” calls easily. She didn’t need to use her home phone line or have a new one installed, calls were routed through her laptop Internet connection. It was all there in one simple application.

During her first week on the phone, her supervisor was there, listening into her calls, coaching her either by online chat, or by whispering into her ear virtually, unheard by the caller. On one occasion when she panicked and got flustered, Barbara, was able to step in and take over the call.