My Top Five Favorite Work from Home Phone Jobs

Updated on: by Amy Kennedy

Written By Erica Martin:

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I’ve held many different jobs over the eight years I’ve worked from  home, but the  work from home jobs  that have provided most of my income during that time have been different types of phone jobs.  In this post, I’ll discuss my top five favorite work from home phone jobs;  most of these companies have been reviewed on this site or other work from home blogs, unfortunately there is one that no longer hires people to work from home- but there is a good alternative to people in certain areas.

 West Corporation – This is the first company I worked for when I started working from home.  I’m sure many of you are familiar with this company, but for those w ho aren’t, West Corporation takes inbound order entry calls for people ordering different products or information.  When I worked for them, I took calls for companies such as Home Shopping Network, Pizza Hut and Direct Response (a company that takes calls for different infomercials that are shown on TV), however their client base has changed since then.  In addition, when I worked for them I worked as an independent contractor; now they hire employees.

Westat – This company hires people to make outbound calls to people who have been selected to participate in different surveys. A lot of the surveys are done by different government agencies, but there are other types of surveys as well.  I liked working for Westat because there was no selling involved; you just had to convince the person to stay on the line long enough to find out if they qualify for the survey, and then actually take the survey if they did qualify.

Sterling Testing Systems – This is the company I referred to earlier that no longer hires people to work from home.  This was by far one of my favorite companies to work for because there was no selling involved.  As an interviewer for Sterling, I called the human resources departments of different companies to verify employment, as well as schools to verify education, and personal references for people who had applied with different companies. Sterling’s goal was to get every file closed as quickly as possible, however this wasn’t always possible depending on the procedure of each company or school;  some required releases to be faxed, others didn’t.  Some would provide information over the phone, others would only provide it in writing.  I had to keep my different files updated every day regarding the status of the verification.   I got so good at the work that I did for Sterling, that they put me on a special team called the Rapid Response Team.  From there I was actually able to start training new interviewers as well. As I mentioned previously though, after a few years, they stopped using people who worked from home.  There is another company that hires independent contractors to work from home called USIS; however they only hire in certain areas of the country.  You can check out the job listings on their web page if you’re interested in doing work like this.

Onpoint Advocacy – This company hires people to work on various grassroots political campaigns.  When I worked for this company, I was calling senior citizens about a certain issue, finding out their stand on the issue, and then offering to write a letter to their Congressman if their views matched our client’s view.  I would write the letter, and then copies were sent to the constituent, along with envelopes addressed to their senator and/or representative. I enjoyed working for this company because there was no selling involved, and the people that we called were in targeted groups that were usually already familiar with the issue we were calling about.  One downside of working for Onpoint however is that the work is sporadic.

Apptical – This is the company I work for now.  As an interviewer for Apptical, I primarily take inbound calls from insurance agents who want us to do interviews with their prospective clients and find out if they qualify for different life or health insurance products.  However, there is also some outbound calling that needs to be done, because not all insurance agents can be with their clients when the interview is done.  I enjoy the work I do for this company because most of the people that I talk to want to talk to me.   However, because most of the people I talk to are senior citizens, some of them don’t remember applying for life insurance. So occasionally I’ll have to ask them questions to jog their memory, or if need be, contact the agent so they can contact the client and refresh their memory.  I’m not sure if they’re hiring at this point, however if you’re interested in applying , you can put in your application on the Apptical Website.

Bonus Options

You can also check out these options:

  1. LiveOps: LiveOps is a well-known virtual call center company that offers work-at-home opportunities for customer service representatives. Agents handle a range of customer inquiries, including sales, support, and technical assistance. Working as an independent contractor, you have the flexibility to choose your own hours and can often work on a variety of projects.
  2. Concentrix: Concentrix is a global customer service outsourcing company that hires remote customer service representatives. As a Concentrix agent, you may handle inbound or outbound calls, providing support, answering questions, and resolving customer issues for various clients. The company offers training and ongoing support to help you succeed in your role.
  3. American Express: American Express frequently hires remote customer service professionals for their virtual call center positions. They provide customer support for their cardholders, assisting with inquiries, resolving issues, and providing account information. American Express offers competitive pay and benefits, making it an attractive option for those seeking remote customer service work.
  4. Alorica: Alorica is a leading global customer experience solutions provider that offers work-from-home opportunities. They hire remote customer service representatives to handle inbound calls, providing customer support, answering questions, and resolving issues. Alorica provides training and support to help you deliver exceptional customer service from the comfort of your home.

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Jess

October 18, 2011 at 9:43 am

I worked for onpoint too. It was hard to work with them because they were sporadic.

TraceyJoy

October 18, 2011 at 8:10 pm

west was my first non scam work at home job back in 2008. i was let go from them in Feb of this year which wasn’t a bad thing for me. They had major changes (not for the good IMO) and it became so hard to even schedule hrs. It used to be my FT job (30-40 hrs each week) then it went to less than part time (6 hrs a month or less). They were going down the tubes fast and it’s really too bad, they used to be good not so much. I tell folks who are just starting out on their work from home journey to seek them out last. If they get a call back from them first, take it. It’s a great way to test the waters of working from home. Many think they can do it and find out that they can’t. There no investment (at least there wasn’t when I started)and they get a good feel of how things work. Good post Erica

Miranda Grimm

October 19, 2011 at 8:58 am

Thanks for sharing your experience Tracey! I wish they would let you work with other call centers. I don’t like their non-compete agreement, unless they want to guarantee hours!

Lisa

October 18, 2011 at 10:06 pm

I had heard some good things about West in the past. Sad to read TraceyJoy’s comments above about them going downhill. Hope they turn it around.

Raven

November 17, 2013 at 5:38 am

Hello, I would like to add, arise.com is one of the top work from home company’s. I have been with them for about 5 yrs now. You take inbound calls for diff fortune 500 company’s. There is some investment, but well worth it. You do have to incorporate , or be under another incorporation(such as myself) I had sub-contractors under my company, but then sold out. I now Teach and train others how to be a successful IBO(Independent business owner under arise) I love it. It has been a great life change.

Chely

November 6, 2014 at 1:53 pm

Good afternoon everyone, Can any one tell me of a company i would be able to work for having basic computer skills I just closed down my pinata store and looking for a home base job..

Corey

February 17, 2018 at 4:38 am

Check it out