Teleworkers: Overcoming the Technology Hurdles

You're sold on teleworking because it saves you from providing your reps with costly and quickly marked-up coffee bars , otherwise known as workstations. Besides, if they're home they can't blame traffic for coming in late. Sorry, rushing out for that $100 bag of Bohemian blend coffee at the Seattle Drip, to recover from three hours' sleep because they watched the John Waters film festival on cable last night or tripping over the family furball stretched across the bathroom entrance doesn't count.

While the PC and Internet have made teleworking a viable option for support center reps, according to recent articles in Call Center magazine (which closely follows teleworking) there are still technology hurdles to surmount. Chief among these is the connection linking the teleworker with the support center. If we're talking PSTN, it can mean upwards of three lines, one for personal use and two for dedicated voice and data links to the support center. For reps working at, say, $12 per hour and having to foot the bill for equipment and business lines (not uncommon), the extra phone bills can be taxing.

What's more, PSTN lines may not be enough for high-volume applications support reps often need access to. High-speed connections to the home principally digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable modems satisfy the broadband requirement. But these can come at a hefty price tag, depending on the locale.

Adding to costs is the ancillary hardware and software that agents...