Where (In The Home) Are Remote Call Center Agents Most Productive?

by Admin Joe

published – May 3rd 2021

Ever wondered how to remote work successfully from home? There are an array of issues at play when it comes to working from home (particularly while doing call center work).

At the same time, there are a lot of wonderful facets to working remotely and making money online. One such issue that stands out for a lot of virtual workers is finding an ideal place to work. within the home itself. I’ve had this dilemma myself.

It doesn’t matter if you work part time or full time. Neither does it matter if you are a stay at home mom or dad. People from different circumstances can always find ways to be better at their jobs

Clearly, you want it to be a space in your house or apartment where you will be just as efficient or maybe even more so than you would be from a conventional workplace outside of the house.

Should I work in the guest bedroom? The living room? Kitchen? Or maybe even in the closet under the stairs? It can be tricky trying to determine which room you will be most productive in. In a lot of ways, it can vary from person to person.

Some home-based workers are lucky and live in a large house with many rooms that they can put to use. Others are less fortunate and might live in a cramped one-bedroom studio apartment sandwiched between noisy neighbors. You might have too many choices or not nearly enough.

Many folks don’t associate the home as a place of work just based on the sheer amount of distractions you might find lurking around you.

Why work when you could be playing video games all day? Your PlayStation 5 is just a stone’s throw away. It’s so tempting, I know. There are many factors to think about when choosing a suitable workspace to do a call center job from home.

I will now go into more detail regarding what you should be considering if you want to be successful as a home-based call center agent.

A lot of this information may be useful if you are running your own business from home as well. Let’s take a closer look at where you can set up a nice workspace for yourself and how you might go about it.

Is it better for remote call center agents to work alone from home?

It should ideally be a place in your home where a remote worker can be alone so put a line through rooms that are popular with other members of your household. You don’t really want someone tapping you on the shoulder to talk about the weather when you are trying to talk to a customer.

Make sure your space is a place where there are no distractions. You don’t want to be interrupted constantly whether this is caused by people or just ambient sounds.

Is working from home easier if you live alone? In my opinion, living alone eliminates a lot of potential distractions and interruptions caused by other people.

How important is silence in a call center job when working from home?

Virtual workers need to find a quiet area of their house to work in or (if that isn’t a possibility) a place with minimal noise. You could try utilizing a spare room, maybe a guest bedroom.

I personally love silence. For me, I’m able to concentrate so much easier if there aren’t any abrasive noises going off around me. These sounds could be anything from:

• loud conversations
• your neighbor mowing their lawn
• car traffic whizzing by (if you live next to a particularly busy road)

As a call center agent, having quiet surroundings is also vital for the sake of hearing exactly what the caller is saying to you on the other end of the phone. The old saying “silence is golden” rings especially true here.

Should home-based workers use earplugs?

Sometimes preventing the noise around you at home will be completely out of your control. If finding quiet isn’t possible then you could always create some quiet of your own. “What do you mean?” I mean blocking out the sound.

Do yourself a favor and buy a pair of earplugs. These are dirt cheap and are great for both work or study. Earplugs aren’t just useful for long flights.

I own some earplugs and I’m always kicking myself for not purchasing them sooner. I look back in regret at all those lost hours due to very avoidable distractions.

Are there times when call center agents shouldn’t wear earplugs?

Earplugs are useful in some areas of a call center job (such as solitary work in between calls), but not others. So much of the job relies on you listening carefully to the customer and solving their problem.

Clearly, you will need to take them out when talking over the phone but they are helpful for working from home in general.

Do remote call center agents need a home office?

From my perspective, it’s good to have a room in your house or apartment specifically for working and only that. If you already have a home office, use it. If you don’t, consider converting an unused room into a study. You will then have your own private space.

Although, a home-based workers having a dedicated office isn’t compulsory if they lack the space in their home to make that happen. This is completely understandable.

What do I need in my home office for call center work?

It shouldn’t be too difficult for a remote worker to prepare a study for themselves. Simply, empty out a room of your home that you don’t use and then fill it up with the stuff that you will need as a call center agent on a typical working day.

This might be as basic as setting up and desk and chair, at first. You can then start adding extras such as:

• shelves
• indoor plants
• waste basket
• storage cupboards and drawers
• standing desk
• various office supplies
• anything else you might want or need

If you need additional help in organizing your very own home office then you should check out officedepot for tips and helpful products.

Are there any rooms in my house that I shouldn’t work in?

Which room should a remote call center agent work in? I would not work in the living room area as this is a space that is strongly connected with rest and relaxation.

It will surely be a place full of distractions, too many to properly do call center work. You could argue that it was designed to specifically be this way.

It will be challenging for a virtual worker to work productively if they are tempted to slack off and watch TV or listen to music. In addition, working in the kitchen is a bad idea too. How can you possibly concentrate with the sound of:

• a boiling kettle
• the clattering of cutlery
• the hum of the oven when another member of your household is preparing a meal

A bathroom might seem like a quiet little oasis to work in right up until someone you live with knocks on the door because they desperately need to … well … you know.

Why shouldn’t home-based workers work from the bedroom?

It’s not always a great idea for remote workers to work and sleep in the same room of their home unless it’s not possible for an individual to otherwise avoid it (I know the feeling). Working from a bedroom might seem like a smart idea at first, but there is more to it than you might think.

Sleeping and working in the same room will mean that you are spending the vast majority of your time cramped up in one room of your house or apartment. This can be unhealthy for home-based workers both physically and mentally for a number of different reasons.

Does it matter which room of the home call center agents work in?

Where in the home should remote workers work? Looking at it another way, any room in your house can be a good room for a call center agent to work in.

This is true as long as you are disciplined enough to avoid distractions. Additionally, you need to be able to stop interruptions from household members and adequately block out ambient noises.

Is there anywhere else in my house I could potentially work?

If you have the resources, you could have your attic converted into a livable room of its own. You can apply the same rule if you have a basement or cellar in your home that you want to turn into a workspace.

Then again, a virtual worker could work up in the attic (as is). However, they will need to take their chances with the dust, the spiders and (not forgetting) the victorian ghost child who resides up there.

If you are fancy and have a dining room then this might be a decent nest for work purposes (particularly for a call center job). The big benefit here is that you will have a table and chair ready and waiting for you.

Can remote call center agents work outside?

Who doesn’t dream of working outside in the fresh air with the sun on your face? If it’s possible for you to do a call center job competently outside then, by all means, you can do so.

If you have some outside space on your property such as a yard or a garden then you might as well make use of that. Remote call center agents can even work on a balcony or an open patio area if they have access to that at home.

When should virtual call center agents ideally work outdoors?

If it’s possible for you to work outside then you should establish an outdoor workspace that you can use in the summer months when the weather is good.

Being stuck inside working can be a grind in the sweltering heat especially if you don’t have air conditioning in your house or apartment. I don’t know about you, but I have worked in far too many office buildings like that in the past.

Clearly, the weather conditions need to be right. I advise home-based call center agents to work outside on a nice hot, sunny day and then moving inside when it is windy or rainy.

What will I need when doing call center work outside?

Of course, remote call center agents will need to have:

• the right equipment with you
• a quiet working environment
• good weather conditions
• no interruptions
• a strong signal from your home broadband

If you can tick all of these boxes then you will be good to go. Obviously, working outside might be a problem for virtual workers if they rely on a steady internet connection. It can be a bit of a hassle lugging all of your work equipment out with you too.

How do home-based workers separate work from their spare time?

Ensure that you set up a workspace from home in a way that meaningfully separates your personal life from your professional work routine. A home-based worker will likely lead a happier and more balanced life this way.

Examples of doing this the wrong way would be having the desk you work from inside your bedroom or even setting up your laptop in between your couch and television set. Remote call center agents need to draw definitive lines in the sand between work, rest and play.

Is having internet access important in a call center job from home?

Any call center agent (at home or elsewhere) will likely need access to the internet in order to:

• input data
• view online records
• find other information for customers

Time is of the essence as callers will expect you to conduct these tasks quickly. If you are doing a call center job remotely then your employer will probably require you to have a reliable broadband set up in your house.

Having internet access isn’t just relevant to call center work alone. It’s also vital for other remote work such as usability testing and taking paid surveys.

If you are interested in making money on the side by taking online surveys then I would highly recommend doing so.

I know that it is a very simple and easy way of earning money because I have personally participated in this before. Swagbucks, branded surveys and panelplace are a few of good survey websites to get you started.

Do remote workers need to be in range of their home broadband?

Seeing as you are working from home, you will need to work in close proximity to your internet router/modem in order to prevent any connection issues. The stronger the signal, the better.

If a virtual call center agent is working in a room of their house or apartment where the internet connection is non-existent or weak then this will of course severely hinder their ability to make money online from home. There are rooms in my home where the internet won’t stretch to, so I know about this all too well.

Your internet can become spotty at best in certain places. You will be wasting time trying to remedy every occasion that your broadband decides to disconnect itself. I find it best to play it safe and do your call center work in the same room as your router or maybe the next room along at least.

Will my internet be stronger in certain rooms of my house?

You could be in a situation where your internet may only be strong within a room that is regularly frequented by other housemates.

Home-based workers might have to politely ask other members of their household to be quiet. They might even need to move somewhere else in the home if you need access to a certain room for work purposes.

You could always think about buying an adaptor, booster or extender for your router so that the signal and range are improved.

Does poor internet affect how customers see virtual call center agents?

Why take the chance of losing connection during an important call? This is especially relevant and also critical if you work in a sales-based call center position from home. In this instance, losing internet connection could easily mean losing money.

This may also cause customers to become more frustrated with remote call center agents. Furthermore, it will negatively affect their ability to deliver good customer service and make money online from home.

Will home-based call center agents be blamed if their internet is poor?

Your employer may ask questions about why you haven’t been as productive as they would like. They might compare your work performance with another home-based call center representative who has strong and reliable internet access.

You will likely be held responsible by your superiors if online connection issues do occur at home so you need to get on top of it. Bad internet is bad news for everyone.

You may feel like you’ve just been given a brief tour of a typical family home. I do this for good reason and I hope I’ve passed on some useful information from one remote worker who might be struggling to another.

Working from home certainly comes with a collection of advantages as well as a few obstacles. In my view, it can be a logistical nightmare to say the least.

I think the main point we can all take away from all this is the importance of having silence in your house or apartment. Outside forces such as people have a part to play too. It really helps for virtual call center agents to have a distraction-free workspace among other things.

Are call center employers currently hiring? Are there any call center jobs near me? There is plenty of work out there regardless of whether you want to do this job from home or anywhere else.

Many call center jobs are entry-level and require no experience or qualifications, so getting hired shouldn’t be too hard. If you search for long enough you will find an abundance of remote job opportunities.

Lots of companies are offering customer service openings and vacancies over the phone. If you need assistance in your job hunt then you should definitely check out jobscan. This company provides useful tools for optimizing your resume and tips for nailing the job interview.

We can learn how vital it is to have a strong and reliable home internet connection. Any cuts to the service will hamper your progress as a remote call center agent.

We also know that there are certain rooms of a typical home that are good or bad when it comes to working efficiently on a remote basis. You might have to do a bit of experimenting to see which ones work for you.

From here on out, I would advise remote workers to designate a special area of their home that they can work in. If you can’t spare a whole room then try to set up a desk in a quiet corner of an existing room.

You can repeat these steps for the warmer times during the year as well when you would prefer to do call center work outside instead.

Some parents wrangle the responsibility of caring for children at home during the day while also working. Thinking about this, ask yourself Can I Work A Remote Call Center Job Whilst Juggling Childcare?

Does your home have lots of distractions whether this is via people or other loud noises? Which room of your house or apartment are you the most productive working in?

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