For many, the benefits of home shoring are obvious. By providing call-center agents the ability to work from home, a company receives better performance, experiences less turnover, and is able to better manage seasonal fluctuations in demand.

Call center agents typically must go to the office — moreso than workers in many other tech jobs — in order to plug into the telecom infrastructure and access networks and databases.
But in a new report, “An Alternative to Offshore Outsourcing: The Emergence of the Home-Based Agent,” IDC has identified an emerging sourcing model — dubbed “home-shoring” or “home-sourcing” — in which the agent works from home. The research firm estimates that there are currently upwards of 100,000 home-based phone reps in the United States.

IDC plans to do a more formal study in which it will quantify the growth trajectory for home-shoring, IDC analyst Stephen Loynd tells CRM Daily. “Right now, we are basing our observations on anecdotal evidence and reports of growth from companies that provide home-sourcing services,” he says.

For example, Loynd points to Alpine Access, based in Golden, Colorado. “In 2003, their revenues were US$10 million. They expect that to increase in 2004 to nearly $17 million,” he notes. Other providers of home-shoring services and technology include Aspect, IntelliCare, West Corp., Willow and Working Solutions. “All of these firms are growing aggressively,” says Loynd.

Better Performance, Skill Sets

For many, the benefits of home shoring are obvious. By providing agents the ability to work from home, a company receives better performance, experiences less turnover, and is able to better manage seasonal fluctuations in demand.

Also, companies can tap agents with specific skill sets — such as the ability to sell financial services — who may not live in the immediate area.

The expansion of IP-based telephony has much to do with this growing trend. IP networks are less costly to maintain and allow far greater flexibility, making it much easier to deploy remote agents. Other technologies, such as workforce management software, which helps manage the deployment of agents around certain times, products or skill sets, also has been a driver.

Reversing Offshoring

Then there is the recent backlash against offshoring — both in the political discourse and by some customers — that has driven some companies to decide to have a US-based call center operation.

Loynd does not expect to see home-shoring replace offshoring — or even the use of U.S.-based call centers. “But I think we will see a more diverse mix of these strategies by companies,” he says.

from:
http://crm-daily.newsfactor.com/csrm/story.xhtml?story_title=Is-Home-Shoring-the-Next-Call-Center-Trend-&story_id=29554&category=csrm