Using Voice Over IP for Homeshoring is Mixed due to voice quality concerns

It seems kind of dated and backwards.  You sign up to be a work at home, homeshoring agent and then required to use a regular phone line.

In this day of Unified Communications and Voice Over IP (VOIP) what gives?

The reasons is quality. 

You’re Breaking Up

VOIP converts your Voice to digital packets and sends it out over the internet in the same manner as data.  When you’re using VOIP, your voice is treated the same way your emails are treated.  And that’s the concern.

Voice needs a fast consistent network.  The Internet providers offer a mixed bag of quality, especially to homes.  Voice packets may not be consistent and that would lead to pauses and breaks that reduce the quality of the conversation.  The term used by network techs is QoS or quality of service.

Low QoS won’t work in the HomeShoring world.  Many Contact Centers are reluctant to let their agents use VOIP. An article from tmcnet.com spelled it out:

There are, however, still enough lingering QoS issues with VoIP to make many but not all contact centers leery about linking home workers with it. While firms like Convergys permits it several teleservices firms such as Arise and Working Solutions prohibit the method; West discourages it.

Can You Hear Me Now?

They are not sexy but copper phone lines are reliable and consistent, the key reasons most HomeShoring opportunities require you to have one. 

And ideally – it should be a dedicated line.  Call Waiting interrupts are not acceptable.  So what do you do if you only have a single phone line?

1. Turn off Call Waiting. 

Find out from your phone company what the Disable Call Waiting code is for your service. Depending on where you live, it will be one of the following three codes: *70, 70# or 1170.

2. Switch Your Personal Calls to Your Cell Phone

You are probably doing this already, but start telling friends and family to reach out to you by cell.  Since your schedule will vary, make your cell phone your primary contact number all the time.

Voice Over IP will eventually be the standard for remote workers and homeshoring agents.  But it needs a strong reliable network that runs into your home before it can be used universally.

If you’re aleady homeshoring or running a home based business or are thinking about starting a small business, everyone in the country is impacted by America’s small business economy. Small businesses continue to be the heartbeat of America, representing 99.7 percent of all employer firms and generating 60 to 80 percent of new jobs over the past decade, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

While many think that small businesses have been hit harder than the average consumer in the current economic environment, small businesses are often credited as the sector that will likely lead us out of the current “Great Recession.” To remain successful in today’s economy, it’s critical for small business owners to reduce expenses and better manage their day-to-day work.

Rieva Lesonsky, a small business expert on Bank of America’s Small Business Online Community has some great tips:

Be smart about your cash flow

“Everyone has heard the phrase ‘cash is king,’ but for today’s small business owners, I recommend adopting the mantra, ’smart cash flow is king,’” says Lesonsky.
Maximizing your earnings potential on idle cash balances is a smart way to get the most out of your cash flow. Small business owners can do this by placing funds in money market savings or short-term CD accounts. Interest earned on money sitting idle will always benefit your business in the long run.

Reach out to ask for advice and support

For many small business owners, this is the first time they are navigating their business through this type of economy. It’s important to remember that it’s okay to ask for help. Asking for advice and information from peers who may have experienced a similar situation is a great way to strengthen your business.

There are also forums out there for small business owners to obtain expert advice and gain access to additional information they might need for their business. For example, Bank of America’s Small Business Online Community is a free and open forum available to all small business owners. Users can network, share, learn and exchange business ideas with peers and experts across the country at any time of the day.

Every little bit helps

The current economic environment has brought with it many discount opportunities. Many vendors are offering deals right now, making it a good time to invest in new technologies and equipment for your business. Investing in your business now will ensure that when the economy turns around, you are prepared to take advantage of any and all growth opportunities. 

Delegate jobs to optimize efficiency

“As a small business owner, you need to focus your time on innovation and business growth. This means remembering to delegate other office work like staying on top of invoices and collecting on receivables to a trusted employee or service,” says Lesonsky. There are many tools available to help small business owners be more efficient and make managing your company’s money easier and less time consuming.

For example, Bank of America’s Online Business Suite gives business owners the ability to invoice customers, receive payments and pay vendors and employees electronically. Electronic payroll for employees instantly calculates federal, state, local and voluntary withholdings, with 100 percent accuracy guaranteed so you don’t have to worry about making these deductions manually. In addition, the Online Business Suite synchronizes with leading financial software and is scalable to meet the needs of your business at every stage of growth. 

For more tips on navigating your small business through the current economy, visit Bank of America’s Small Business Online Community at http://www.smallbusinessonlinecommunity.com/. You can also visit BankofAmerica.com/yourbusiness to learn more about tools designed to help small business owners manage their business’s finances.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Sorry for the provocative title, but it got your attention – that’s the point of this post. 

In the blog world, you convey your message in WRITING.  The better you write, the better your message is conveyed.  In a Call Center, your message is SPOKEN.  The better you speak, the more successful you are.

What You Say and How You Say It

This is the core of successful Call Centers and it’s equals part process and personality.  Call Center Training focuses on two things: a clear, compelling MESSAGE and an effective DELIVERY. 

Typically, Call Center Management creates the message.  With a good script and an easy to follow screen flow, the message can almost sound like a conversation.

The second part, the delivery,  is owned by the Call Center Agent, and it is more important than the message.   An Agent’s personality and professionalism determines the success or failure of a project or campaign.

Fake It Till You Make It

When I worked as a Call Center Agent I was in High School.  The job was selling newspapers, in a very stripped down office.  There was a  typed out script,  marked up call list, rotary phone (dating myself again) and a stack of order forms.

Training wasn’t much more than managers walking up and down the aisles listening, and encouraging.

The successful agents kept their head down, and had a pleasant conversational style.  Even then, aggressive agents didn’t last long.  Their message was tuned out.

The delivery take time, practice and patience to master.  It doesn’t matter if you are an inbound or outbound agent – knowing your pitch and the facts to back it up is the key.

And if you arent sure – that’s where you reply on your tone.  Sounding comfortable in any dialogue is key.  Learning to convey that comfort – even when you’re not is a trait of successful agents.

I’m fortunate that my career lets me understand and appreciate what Homeshoring offers.  My experiences taught me Homeshoring isn’t always easy, but ultimately rewarding on many levels. 

Through high school and college, I worked in the newspaper industry, first in Southern California then in Seattle.  I did everything from subscription sales to customer service calls.  Dealing with irate customers in Seattle was always interesting – especially about wet papers.

I got a technical degree , eventually working for a late 80’s technology startup.  They developed a product that revolutionized Call Centers.  It was one of the first autodialers, that detected whether a human or answering machine answered.

The product and company took off and I ended up holding several roles.  Customers were in banking, retail, and telecommunications.  The constant travel took me to some of the best run – and some less than successful Call Centers. 

The third experience was a few years later.  My wife and I took a hobby and ended up with a very successful online company – all from our house.  The company grew rapidly and we were forced to learn how to be an effective home based team. 

HomeShoring is the mix of the experiences I’ve been luck to have. HomeShoring is a movement  that will continue to grow an evolve.  All sides win – when Homeshoring is done right.

Since they’re closely related, we’ll also explore Telecommuting and also Home based small businesses.  There are many common elements to these three areas – and the line will continue to blur.

As I mentioned earlier, HomeShoring done right is rewarding and fun.  We’ll talk about how to keep it that way – and what you need to do to be successful.

Social networking has more buzz than a swarm of bees these days. More and More individuals and small businesses are  Twittering, friending on Facebook or connecting on LinkedIn. It’s no surprise that small companies have joined this team of worker bees to sweeten their business.

 But if you want to change from a bee to a butterfly you have to network smart to avoid ending up in a sticky mess.

Even if you know how to use social networking in a way that will get you results, it takes time and patience to manage. It’s something which most people can see the value of, but it often falls to the bottom of their to-do list.

Catalyst-3 Founder Sarah Bruns believes firms must provide value and stay current to succeed.  She has some common sense ideas on how to succeed in this new world.  The ideas are especially to small businesses or individual consultants.

It’s Not About You

She explained: “I know an author who has hundreds of people following her on Facebook, and more on Twitter. She just has lots of people reading what she’s writing, but her book has only sold a few copies and it really isn’t helping her promote herself.

She may not be getting the business results she’s looking for. She has a bunch of “friends” but she may not be providing real value to people. She’s done a good job of connecting lots of people with common interests, but other than facilitating a shared hobby, social networking is not really helping to grow your business.”

Bruns says the old school ‘look at me’  advertising no longer works. “There are so many choices it’s like going into a restaurant with a 12 page menu. You’re inundated with ‘look at me’ and it doesn’t work.

But if you add some value, like sharing a useful article or providing some advice, it’s giving out something for free to show you care. It may be a free advert in a way, but it’s also providing value for people.”

To sum up she adds: “If you can shift your goal from ‘It’s all about me’ to ‘What can I do for you?’ it can do wonders for your social networking campaign.”

For more information visit http://www.catalyst-3.com/.

Cisco released its Teleworker Survey, an in-depth study of almost 2,000 company employees.

The study evaluated the social, economic and environmental impacts associated with telecommuting at Cisco.  It was no surprise that a majority of telecommuting employees found a significant increase in work-life flexibility, productivity and overall satisfaction because they worked remotely.

And the satisfaction goes both ways.  Cisco has achieved estimated annual savings of $277 million in productivity by allowing employees to telecommute and telework.

Cisco anticipates that employees and employers will continue to see a rise in the benefits associated with telecommuting.  Cisco is vested in telecommuting and virtual offices with products like Cisco Virtual Office,  Cisco OfficeExtend and Cisco WebEx.

Highlights from the Survey

Cisco’s Next-Generation Workforce

• Cisco employees spend about 63 percent of their time communicating and collaborating.
• 40 percent of Cisco employees say they are not located in the same city as their manager.
• The average Cisco employee now telecommutes 2.0 days per week.
• 60 percent of the time saved is spent working, 40 percent on personal time.

Productivity and Collaboration

• Approximately 69 percent of the employees surveyed cited higher productivity when working remote, and 75 percent said the timeliness of their work improved.
• 83 percent of employees said their ability to communicate and collaborate was the same as, if not better than,  when working on-site.
• 67 percent said their overall work quality improved when telecommuting.
• An improved quality of life through telecommuting was cited by 80 percent of survey respondents.
• Telecommuting can also lead to a higher employee retention rate, as more than 91 percent of respondents say telecommuting is somewhat or very important to their overall satisfaction.

Going Green

• In 2008, Cisco teleworkers prevented approximately 47,320 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the environment due to avoided travel.
• Cisco employees report a fuel cost savings of $10.3 million per year due to telecommuting.

“As a working mother of three children, I know firsthand the benefits of Cisco Virtual Office. Through high-quality voice and video, I remain engaged and able to lead global teams and programs with ease and avoid back and forth trips to the office.

The seamless transition from work to the home has given me the flexibility to choose the schedule that best fits my work and my home. ” 

Carina Reyes, Operations Manager - Cisco

In the Video, Cisco Vice President Rami Hazid discusses the Telecommuting Survey

USA Today had a great article recently about how Social Networking is changing customer service and helping the homeshoring movement.

As more companies effectively use social-media tools for customer care, it also is becoming easier to shift customer-relations resources to the U.S. and feed into the fledgling “homeshoring” trend.

Home-based workers have become de rigueur among employers to take advantage of better technology, gain productivity from employees no longer tied to long commutes and leverage the expertise of local workers.

 The article focused on the immediacy of Twitter and Facebook to deliver information.  The use a Comcast example where a Stanley Cup Game was knocked off the air by a lightening storm.  Many people found out what happened on Twitter versus reaching a busy Call Center.  Comcast has a team of 10 that communicate through Twitter.

Here’s what’s unsaid – but important.  Call Centers require verbal  and reading skills.  Social Networking require a more challenging skill – writing. 

Call Centers can script dialogues.  Some Social Networking can also be scripted.  But most Social Networking requires an ability to communicate in writing. 

We expect to see language specific, social networking homeshore jobs in the coming years.  These won’t be verbal call center agents – they will be social network agents.

And agents who are bilingual writers will be in demand.  It will also be easier technically for home based worked since less bandwidth and hardware is needed.

The article cites a report by IDC Research that there are about 200,000 so-called homeshored jobs — most of them in the U.S. — and more than 300,000 are expected by 2012.

I think this number is low – which is a good thing. 

Article from USA Today on Homeshoring http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-06-25-twitter-businesses-consumers_N.htm