Hyderabad-based HyperSoft Technologies is one of the first few companies to have evinced keen interest in starting home-based call-centers in India. While HyperSoft is actually a publicly traded software development firm, it started call-center activities to make use of the unused office infrastructure during night times. Now, Dadi Bhote, Director of HyperSoft wants to explore the concept of virtual call-center perhaps in another six months of time when India will be ready with a robust broadband infrastructure.

According to Dadi, there are few challenges in setting up a virtual call-center business. Recruiting freshers as agents for virtual call-centers can spell disaster in terms of quality requirement. "Freshers won't understand the quality requirement and may not take the job seriously. And hence, our plans are to recruit agents with experience in the BPO segment initially."

Dadi says the concept of virtual call-centers can work out to the company's advantage only if certain type of customers and specific segment is serviced. Companies should take care that these are not regular customers where continuity of service is a must and where high level of commitment is involved.

A typical type of telecommuting activity would be telemarketing, data entry or transcription, where performance can be measured in quantifiable terms. If critical jobs have to be put on telecommuting network, then the cost involved in monitoring would be very high, making it less viable.

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