Frequently Asked Questions about BlueCallCenter's National Virtual Phone Bank
A virtual phone bank is very similar to a traditional phone bank, except the operators are working from their home offices instead of a central location. Large financial institutions and service providers have been creating virtual phone centers for the past twenty years as more and more workers began telecommuting in response to gas shortages and efforts to reduce driving.
Broadly available, high speed internet access has made working on a virtual phone bank much easier in the past. Our software, for example, is run completely through a browser and requires no special downloading or installation.
Using voice recording interfacing, we can conduct reading tests, language tests, and thoroughly screen potential interviewers in a very efficient manor.
Why use a "virtual phone bank" instead of the traditional facilities?
We first began experimenting with the concept of a virtual phone bank at Public Opinion Research almost three years ago as a way to allow several people with disabilities in the community to work for us using their home computers and the internet. Two of the people were past employees who became disabled and another was interested in trying the work out. As we developed the system for this group, it became clear that this mechanism could serve a broad range of people, whether they were disabled or not. Today, a number of the over 2,000 interviewers who work with us are disabled. However, the majority simply find it a very convenient way to work in an interesting, professional job with good pay and very flexible hours.If you can't see them or hear them, how do make sure your interviewers are doing the calls?
That's a good question, and it's the one that has occupied a good deal of our energy since we began testing this concept several years ago.
Over the last 30 years in the phone bank business, we have learned that there will always be people who try to beat the system. Perhaps that is just human nature, but it is a reality we have always dealt with. Thirty years ago, when we opened our first hard line facility, we found people who would skip questions, or just pretend they were doing the work, when they actually we're just marking the questionnaire themselves. The supervisors could never listen to everyone all the time.
So, as I thought about the fact that the virtual phone bank would seem to be even more inviting to this kind of activity, the first thing I realized is that we have always had to deal with this problem and that, for the most part, we could use the same methods we've always used, plus some new technology to deal with this issue in the virtual world.
The first thing we've done is to create a system where the interviewers are well paid. Most of our interviewers earn the equivalent of $16 to $25 an hour. A virtual phone bank does not have the same level of overhead as a hard line facility. Early on, we made the decision to put most of this differential into paying interviewers more money. We have found that this attracts the best people available. Applicants are carefully screened and everyone takes a recorded reading tests to make sure they can handle the questions. They are very professional and very productive. So, number 1, we know we're getting the best people.
However, good money also attracts those who are ethically challenged. So, beyond attracting the best people available, we employ the same two methods that we've always used: monitoring and verification.
Where are BlueCallCenter's interviewers located?
Our virtual phone bank is literly nationwide and expanding in size every day. The graphic below shows our current location of our interviewers on a state by state basis
How can we monitor people we can't see?
First, our system does allow us to "see" people when they sign into the system and it tells us it is feeding numbers to individuals across the country. And, without revealing too much of the way of how its done, the software itself is monitoring every keystroke and mouse click being made. Almost all of the ethically challenged are "discovered" by the system itself, which politely locks them out automatically and removes all their "collected data" from the system. At the same time, our supervisors are physically watching the monitoring device. With one click, they can shut down anyone, anytime.
At the end of each survey interview, respondents are read a statement which informs them they may get a verification call from our facility. Thus, the ethically challenged are put on notice that there will be a follow-up process. Finally, our supervisors make the verification calls.
Although we are dealing with well over 2000 interviewers now, the number of ethically challenged individuals is really quite small. And, over the past two years, the new system has demonstrated its ability to deal with the problem at least as efficiently, if not more so, than our traditional methods.
The good news is that in attracting the best people available, clients regularly complement us on the professionalism of our interviewers. While that also happened in the past, it is happening much more often now.
What about confidentiality? Can't your interviewers just email our questionnaires to our opposition?
The short answer to this is: yes, they could. However, the fact is, we are reading the questions to hundreds of people already. Anyone who has been in this business any length of time knows we will inevitably call the opposition's mother in law, sibling, or campaign treasurer. That's just reality. And, beyond this, anything we read to people is - by definition - public. We always tell clients that they can't put anything on the phones that they wouldn't feel comfortable defending. There are no "secret" surveys or ID calls, so confidentiality on this level is not an issue.
Of course, no one can get to your data. Our system holds a security certificate, just like the banks.
How can you recruit, train, and maintain almost 2,000 interviewers?
Most of our interviewers come to us through referrals. Early in the implementation of the new system, our existence became known to a highly motivated, nationally organized, group of women who are looking for opportunities to work from home. Their network initially supplied the core of our interviewers. Over time, good, well paid people recommend us to their friends. Today, we get well over 100 applications a week.
As noted above, prospective interviewers must take a reading test, which is automatically recorded and forwarded to us with their application. The tests are screened and individual hiring decisions are made by our staff.
Once a person has been accepted, they go through an online training program to fully acquaint them with the interface and the general flow of what they will be doing. Beyond this, we've established a live forum in which our "veterans" pass on their personal tips on how to engage respondents and be as productive as possible. Our interviewers have created their own, online community, providing more support for themselves than we could ever do in the past.