by Amy Nutt
You will need to be prepared to invest quite a bit of money on getting the right equipment for establishing yourself as a work-at-home open source call centre assistant. It is also important to be wary about buying the right sort of equipment and high quality gear at that. The equipment needs to be built to a high standard and expected to last a decent amount of time, so automatically going with the cheapest options can often turn out to be a false economy.
The most expensive and also most important requirement is to have a computer. If you want to be on the move and have a little more flexibility with regards to where you work, then a laptop can be a great option. However, price-wise, desktops are still cheaper and are generally capable of more as well as being more upgradable. With computers as cheap as they are nowadays, this is not likely to be a particularly daunting investment considering all of the other things that you can use a computer for too. Since most people will already have an adequate computer system, this is unlikely to even be an issue.
The Internet connection required can be a slightly demanding requirement in some cases. For a call centre, you will need to have an adequate amount of bandwidth so you can use the Internet telephony / VoIP programs that you will need. This basically rules out any older 56k modem connections. Cable modem and DSL are generally adequate but bear in mind, any employers you might have might not permit certain types of connections.
You will also need to be able to use the Internet as well as the telephone line at the same time. This is typically not an issue if you have a broadband connection which is already a requirement anyway. There will likely be various requirements for the type of telephony hardware that you need for the job, depending on your employer.
All of the above are probably things you have already. Since so many people these days have at least one computer in their household and broadband Internet access, these are unlikely to become extra expenditures. However, you may well find it preferable to have a dedicated computer which only you have access to. Using the primary family computer as your primary work station is generally not a good idea for security and reliability reasons.
You will also need to spend a bit of money on a decent headset. Something that has a high quality noise cancelling microphone is a must. However, these are not too hard to find and do not cost a great deal of money. In fact, there is unlikely to be any reason why you would need to spend more than about $25 on this.
Your working environment should also be taken into account. Your employer will most likely require that you have a separate room to work in and no interruptions such as noisy air conditioning units etc. Simply put, there must be minimal background noises in your work place.
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