Home Agent Model a Win-Win Solution for Telesolutions International

By Tracey Schelmetic

The home agent model for telesolutions call centers has been attracting a great deal of attention as of late. Often, new trends such as these are more hype than reality: Once the mainstream news media picks up such stories (and they have been picking up the home agent story), it often means the concept is more flash than reality.

This is not the case with the home agent model, however. Increasingly, companies are expanding their hiring of home telesolutions agents. As success stories spread throughout the call center industry and the business Over 800,000 High Quality telesolutions Domains Available For Your Business. Click Here. world at large, combined with the negative press being garnered by offshore outsourcing Latest News about Outsourcing, more companies are beginning to perk up at the mention of home agents, recognizing it as a viable option to shipping jobs offshore and taking a crapshoot with quality.

Win-Win Solution

Perhaps one of the reasons the work-at-home model is succeeding so well is that it offers benefits to both employer and employee and, done properly, presents no downside. In an era of increasing traffic and awareness of the contributions of auto emissions to bad air quality, the home agent model is quite "green."

It also contributes to better productivity, as workers are not wasting up to an hour (or more) per day on a commute. The time saved can be saved for family, or extra work hours. Because it requires no expansion of physical facilities, it keeps capital expenditures down. It also tends to attract a more mature, more stable and better educated caliber of agent.

The newest player to the home agent model is Akron, Ohio-based InfoCision Telesolutions Management, which has been around for two decades and has been named among the top 10 best places to work in Ohio by the state chamber of commerce. The company has about 150 people currently on staff at home, and it's looking to expand that number.

InfoCision is having no problems recruiting highly qualified home agents. The company works closely with state and local agencies to identify qualified candidates for the work-at-home program.

Its recruitment literature informs potential workers that, "If you have mobility issues that make it difficult for you to work outside the home or are a stay-at-home parent, or if you simply want to work from home, InfoCision's work-at-home program is what you've been looking for. No telemarketing experience is necessary -- we provide extensive training and coaching via the Internet."
Fringe Benefits

As for how InfoCision's Telesolutions home agent program stands out against others, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs Steve Brubaker said it's in the way the company treats its home employees.

"The difference in our model is that our work-at-home employees have the same pay, benefits and status as those employees who work for us in our bricks-and-mortar locations," said Brubaker. "We do not use the approach of independent contractors as many others in the industry."

Indeed, InfoCision's telesolutions home agents receive full company benefits. Requirements to be a home agent include only high-speed Internet access, a decent computer, up-to-date Windows and Internet Explorer and antivirus and antispyware software.

The home agent model for call centers has been attracting a great deal of attention as of late. Often, new trends such as these are more hype than reality: once the mainstream news media picks up such stories (and they have been picking up the home agent story), it often means the concept is more flash than reality. This is not the case with the home agent model, however. Increasingly, companies are expanding their hiring of home agents.

Given the positive testimonials from both clients of outsourced home agent programs and the home agents themselves, it's hard not be positive about the trend. As home agent programs expand further, perhaps a few commuters still stuck on the Telesolutions highway will begin to notice a little more breathing room.