We have discussed several things to help you set up your home office. However, there are some additional resources you need that we haven’t discussed yet.
Most work at home jobs or even home based businesses involve the use of a phone. If you will be on the phone constantly, be sure you have a very reliable phone with all the necessary options such as: speaker, mute, conference, voice mail, etc. If you are a customer service representative working from home, most companies will require a basic phone line with no options.
Phone. If you take a customer service or other phone-related job, you’ll need an actual landline phone. Nope, no cell phones allowed. In some cases, not even a cordless phone. If you’re taking inbound calls (receiving calls instead of making them), you might also need a phone without any options like voicemail, three-way calling, call waiting, etc. That’s because calls are filtered to your line by the company, and they don’t want customer calls going to voicemail. It’s considered unprofessional, and can be confusing to the customer to hear someone’s private voicemail.
So that’s the list of what you absolutely HAVE to have for most jobs. But there are a few more considerations.
Office Furniture
Since you’ll be working from home, you won’t be required to have any particular office setup. But you might as well have a pleasant, efficient workspace. It’s your office – why not make it as comfortable as possible?
At the very least, you need a comfortable chair, a desk, and a keyboard. Since you’ll be spending a large portion of your time at your computer, get an ergonomic chair, desk, and mouse if you can afford it. Consider it an investment in your long-term health and your ability to continue to make a living from home.
Work Environment
Customer service jobs require a quiet space, but even if your company doesn’t have this requirement, a quiet office is ideal for working, period. Noise interrupts your concentration and you can easily lose focus, preventing you from working effectively.
Many of the companies listed in this book hire for customer service-oriented telephone work. You’ll take orders, answer questions, and solve problems – and will often be the first person the customer speaks to. Their impression of the company will be based on their interaction with you. to.
The last thing you (or the company) want is for them to hear children, dogs, TVs, loud talking, or laughing in the background. Put yourself in their shoes: would you appreciate that kind of distraction when you’re trying to get your issues resolved? Is that good customer service? No, it is not.
Customers expect and deserve your undivided attention. Each encounter should be as professional as if you were in an office with your boss standing over your shoulder. And remember, most companies that hire customer-service agents to work from home will monitor your calls, and if they hear background noise, you’ll be reprimanded, or possibly even terminated. So don’t tell a company you have a quiet space if you really don’t.
Note: Some companies will even require you to let them know about uncontrollable outside noises like construction work. I had a personal experience with background noise with a certain company. I had already been hired, but the employer called me to discuss training materials. Not five minutes into the conversation, she asked me whether I had my TV on. I had known she would be calling so I had turned down my TV, but evidently it wasn’t turned down low enough, because she still heard it through the phone. I didn’t think it was that loud, but it loud enough for her to hear. It was a very embarrassing situation and unprofessional and definitely a lesson learned. When I do phone work, the TV is on MUTE!!
The ideal quiet space is a separate room with a door, where you can work without interruption. But if you don’t have access to a completely quiet environment, don’t give up. There are plenty of jobs with more flexible requirements. For example, with a writing or editing job, all the company will care about is whether you can get the job done.