Today, American employees and job seekers alike have many options about how they do their work. Many work in a traditional office space, and there are good reasons for that, but some job positions are in fact better performed remotely. Many Americans are now relocating their jobs to the home, where they set up a home office complete with a PC and an Internet connection, a phone, and any paperwork that they need. And for some Americans, such as single parents, those with no transportation, or those who would suffer from social anxiety or sensory issues at the office, work from home telemarketing jobs or dispatcher positions are quite attractive. Work with flexible hours is also convenient for employees or job seekers who have another job or who have odd hours of availability. Thus, dispatcher positions, customer service jobs, or part time insurance agent jobs are best done away from a traditional office. When job seekers land dispatcher positions or sales rep positions, what might they expect from a home office vs a traditional office?

All About the Telephone

A telephone is central to many jobs, and jobs such as dispatcher positions or customer service rep positions are centralized around having phone conversations with people. Even though the telephone dates back to the 1870s, it is more relevant than ever, and it easily competes with the far-reaching Internet for communicating with customers and clients alike. Many people naturally crave hearing another human voice, complete with emotional content and other nuances. In fact, surveys have shown that phone calls are the top preferred method of communication for consumers, with 61% of survey respondents naming it as a preferred channel. Meanwhile, email is a close second at 60% and live chat is third at 57%. An invention from the 19th century still has this kind of power, and managers and employees alike know it.

The techniques for good sales calls and customer support are a whole topic on their own, but to put it simply, excellent conversational skills and professional skills alike will be used. A sales call rep or a customer service rep will use natural conversation to listen carefully and build a rapport with the customer, so they can more easily determine how to sell something to that customer (and of course, use good sales techniques to finish the deal). Surveys and trends show that these phone-based employees must be careful, as customers expect excellent service every time and will quickly take offense if they get poor service instead. It may take just one case of bad customer service for a loyal customer to take offense and switch to another company. Fortunately, sales reps will receive training so that they can keep current customers happy, as loyal customers provide a lot of profits (since they are repeat buyers).

Working at Home

There are multiple reasons why an employee or a job seeker will get a position working from home, but a major one is using the telephone. Using a phone at the work place may be difficult, as the room may have many other people doing the exact same thing, and they won’t be quiet about it. That, combined with face-to-face conversations and other sounds, makes for a noisy work environment that may frazzle an employee and ruin their focus and stress levels. Stressed, distracted employees tend to make more work errors and may have trouble hearing customers over the phone (and vice versa), making for poor customer service.

Employees may instead work at home offices, where they may enjoy a quiet and controlled environment that makes for good phone service quality. What is more, these remote employees aren’t commuting anywhere, so they can use that time for more work, and they can use email, live video chat, and Cloud data accounts to stay connected with their co-workers.

Meanwhile, some job seekers may take these positions because going to a traditional office would be a serious challenge. Single parents, for example, wouldn’t want to leave their children alone for hours on end, and some Americans have practically no access to transport. And some already have other jobs or an odd schedule, so they need a job with flexible hours. A home phone-based position may be just the job for them.