Good times for virtual call centers

After a slow start, the emerging virtual call center (or contact center) industry is showing signs of real growth. Willow CSN, a south Florida company that uses 1,200 home-based agents to answer clients' customer calls, ended the second quarter with nine new accounts, and expects to sign up nine more by year-end. "I should have another one by the time I get back to the office this afternoon," says Basil Bennett, Willow's new president and CEO.

The quality of Willow's clients is improving, too: While many are small local firms, several new ones are national and global companies spanning a variety of segments, including Aegis Innovations, a health care company that provides real-time monitoring of patients' vital signs; the Automobile Club of Michigan; and 00Voice, which provides data collection and transcription services for mobile execs. Bennett says many existing customers are signing multi-year contracts, including a Fortune 50 firm that uses Willow to handle its insurance business. As such, Willow expects to increase its number of home-based agents to 1,700 by year-end, and plans to expand to new markets.

The company's success is a bit of a surprise. Launched in 1997, Willow is an industry pioneer. Yet its business model seemed to straddle the fence between legitimate and illegitimate home-based employment. Willow "cyber agents" are independent contract workers who are required to spend several thousand dollars up front on training and equipment. They are paid by performance, not by the hour, and sometimes receive incentive bonuses from clients, Bennett says. Other virtual call center companies have eschewed this model, in part because it appears to take advantage of workers. But after six years, Willow is gaining respect and becoming a market leader.

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After a slow start, the emerging virtual call center (or contact center) industry is showing signs of real growth. Willow CSN, a south Florida company that uses 1,200 home-based agents to answer clients' customer calls, ended the second quarter with nine new accounts, and expects to sign up nine more by year-end. "I should have another one by the time I get back to the office this afternoon," says Basil Bennett, Willow's new president and CEO.

The quality of Willow's clients is improving, too: While many are small local firms, several new ones are national and global companies spanning a variety of segments, including Aegis Innovations, a health care company that provides real-time monitoring of patients' vital signs; the Automobile Club of Michigan; and 00Voice, which provides data collection and transcription services for mobile execs. Bennett says many existing customers are signing multi-year contracts, including a Fortune 50 firm that uses Willow to handle its insurance business. As such, Willow expects to increase its number of home-based agents to 1,700 by year-end, and plans to expand to new markets.

The company's success is a bit of a surprise. Launched in 1997, Willow is an industry pioneer. Yet its business model seemed to straddle the fence between legitimate and illegitimate home-based employment. Willow "cyber agents" are independent contract workers who are required to spend several thousand dollars up front on training and equipment. They are paid by performance, not by the hour, and sometimes receive incentive bonuses from clients, Bennett says. Other virtual call center companies have eschewed this model, in part because it appears to take advantage of workers. But after six years, Willow is gaining respect and becoming a market leader.

Working Solutions and Alpine Access have each reported similar growth, but much of Willow's recent success can be attributed to a company "redesign." Willow hired Bennett, who comes from CRM company Convergys, and previously ran NEC's call center. Bennett brought in a former senior sales exec from Avaya. They then switched technology providers and expanded Willow's client offerings. For instance, previously agents were contracted directly to the client, who had to handle all administration, management and payroll. Now, agents can be contracted directly to Willow, which will handle such tasks for the client.

Willow's network is a mix of on-site and outsourced components. Previously, it contracted with BellSouth to run its automatic call distributor. But the provider's off premise extension service limited Willow's call center agents to a 300-mile radius, impeding expansion. Bennett brought in a new provider that can "drop a switch" in whatever city Willow chooses, Bennett says. And the provider's ACD application includes features Willow needed to stay competitive, such as call recording and live call monitoring.

"The industry is at a turning point," Bennett says, predicting that by year-end 50% of contact centers will put some sort of virtual agent program in place. Bennett cites these trends to back up his claim: