I spent several years working from home as an answering service agent. It was a legitimate work at home, paid every 2 weeks, actual employee (not independent contractor) job. It was great, until it wasn’t, and I no longer work from home but I still recommend it to my friends and think that for many people it would work out great. Here is my work at home story and tips on how you can find your own work at home answering service job!
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MY WORK AT HOME STORY
A few years back I was in desperate need of a job. My son was only 3 so any job outside the home would still require daycare. It didn’t make sense to give most of my paycheck to someone else for hanging out with my kid. I needed a work at home job. A legitimate work at home job.
If you’ve ever googled that, there is no shortage of dead ends, scams, pyramid schemes etc. on the internet promising to make you a small fortune at home. I didn’t trust a “get rich quick at home” I wanted stability and to work at home.
I had been looking for some way to do this for years. YEARS. Occasionally I’d find something that looked like it could work out. I did a few tasks at Amazons Mechanical Turk (MTurk) that paid pennies for more work than it was worth. Not hard work, just time consuming. To me, time is the most valuable thing you can take from me. If I’m going to do something, it had better be worth it.
One day I was getting desperate and was browsing the Craigslist job section and I saw an ad for a “Work at Home Answering Service Agent”. I almost scrolled past thinking it was the typical scam but something about it made me click. Instead of the generic global pitch it looked local and legit. It had two ways to apply. By calling an 800 number and leaving a message (which makes sense I guess if they are hiring you to answer phones it is nice to hear your telephone voice before the interview) or by emailing a resume. I had both done in about 2 minutes.
The boss lady called me the same day and we had a quick chat which led to an in-person interview. A couple days later she emailed me letting me know I was hired. I purchased a USB headset, an upgrade key for Windows professional, and a small backup power supply, for about $100 total and let her know I was ready to go. She set me up for training with the supervisor. I would be logging into the teamviewer program for 3 hours a day and observe her take calls. I was terrified! But I had to do this. My first day was amazing. I sat in my pajamas with my coffee and my cat in my lap and listened and observed. When I was done I hung my headset up and was already home, no traffic, no road-rage, I was in love.
After a week of observing I had to log into the system and take calls. I felt like I was going to vomit but I did it. When a call comes in it beeps in your headset and you hit a button on the keyboard to connect in. There were several accounts that this Answering Service answered for and whoever the call was for would pop up on your screen with the necessary information and the message form. Plumbers to Doctors and Property Management and everything in between. We also did scheduling for a few physicians and companies, in a sense we were virtual receptionists.
It was great. I took calls from the comfort of home. It is a 24/7 business and the hours varied but I never had to work overnights. The only major bummer about the schedule was the holidays. 24/7 includes Christmas and Thanksgiving etc. The boss was good about giving hours to those who wanted them for the extra money and filled the gaps in with those who didn’t. To her credit, she tried very hard to help find what worked best for us. I still had to work on Christmas, but it was when it was most convenient for me in between doing things at home and going to the grandparents.
WHO WOULD BE GOOD AT WORKING FROM HOME AS AN ANSWERING SERVICE AGENT?
- Are you good at customer service? I mean REALLY good? Most answering services require their agents to be able to remain poised, polite and professional with even the most outrageous and irate caller. It doesn’t happen often, but you will encounter callers who are just plain mean. You have to be able to keep your emotions out of it and stay focused on your objective.
- Can you multitask? This is huge. You need to be able to switch back and forth between lines (at my service each agent had 6) to place callers on hold while taking and sending messages in fast paced scenarios so that no caller has to hear ringing for very long and that no call goes unanswered.
- Do you have a place in your home that is distraction free? I love my kids but clients don’t want their customers to hear them and I get that. Many callers think they are calling the business directly and your job is to uphold that illusion. If little Timmy is crying in the background about wanting his sippy cup or the fact that Paw Patrol is over, the customer will hear that. I’m not saying it wont work with kids, I MADE it work with my kids, but you have to be realistic about it. It wouldn’t have worked with my son if he was any younger than he was.
- Do you enjoy not leaving your house and working in soft pants and slippers? An important prerequisite 😉
WHAT EQUIPMENT WOULD I NEED?
Every service will likely have its own set of requirements. These are items typically used by remote Answering Service agents:
- USB Headset – All of my calls we’re taken over my laptop via the internet.
You will likely be sitting for long periods of time. Do your body a favor and get a good chair.
- Windows 10 or Windows Professional (Again, check with each service for their specific requirements)
HOW TO FIND REMOTE ANSWERING SERVICE JOBS
I found mine on Craigslist but not every service posts their positions that way. But honestly, I think everyone looking for a REAL work at home job needs to think outside the box. Not all positions are going to be with a major known company or are going to be easy to find.
When searching larger job search sites such as indeed.com, monster.com, craigslist.com etc – not all positions will be listed as “Work From Home”. You may need to be creative in how you search. Use terms such as “virtual” and “remote” to help narrow it down.
I also recommend doing a general google search and looking into companies directly. A simple “answering service home agent” not only displays actual positions – it displays the general websites of services who may not advertise positions anywhere other than directly on their company site.
Here are a few Answering Service’s who hire remote agents:
*Note – The service I worked for is not listed here. My former employer does things on a smaller scale and is not currently hiring. The companies below have public opportunities posted online. I cannot and do not personally recommend these companies as I have no experience with them. They are listed for informational purposes only and you should apply at your own risk*
And here are a few reputable sites that post work-at-home jobs – including answering service positions:
WHY I PERSONALLY NO LONGER WORK FROM HOME
I know, if its so great y’all want to know what went wrong right? I still firmly believe for the right person, working at home for an answering service would be perfect.
For me, the honeymoon period started to wear off. I am an introvert. An introvert with raging social anxiety. Talking on the phone is not my cup of tea to begin with but its amazing the things you can push yourself to do when your back is against the wall. I put my fake customer service voice on and played the part for as long as I could. Eventually, it started to get me and there was nothing I could do about it. I found a position that is more suited to my personality. But I still give my former bosses email address to friends I know who are looking for work and I still would go back and take calls again if I needed a place to work.
-Angela