Forget "offshoring," "nearshoring" and "onshoring" your call centers. More call centers are gradually realizing that the best place to handle customer contacts may be at agents' homes.

Call centers are increasingly developing and investing in home working, either with their own employees or by hiring outsourcers that employ home workers or that recruit self-employed home agents.

For example, West (Omaha, NE) recently launched its West at Home program featuring self-employed home agents connected by West's virtual ACD platform.

Tim Houlne, president of self-employed home agent outsourcer Working Solutions (Plano, TX), has noticed more interest in home working in the past three months than in the past five years.

He converted some of these inquiries into sales, much of which come from clients who have considered going or have been offshore for some of their programs.

"More companies are realizing the value of home working compared with traditional outsourcing and offshore," says Houlne. "We offer agents who generally have better skills than what brick-and-mortar call centers can typically attract within commuting distance. These are agents who are available when clients need them."

In some instances, the lower costs and greater flexibility have allowed companies to provide better customer service. Willow CSN (Miramar, FL), another self-employed home-agent outsourcer, picked up an airline client that it provides with after-hours customer service.

Willow also expanded its CyberAgent network into Orlando, FL, and Phoenix, AZ.

"Our client's customers now receive immediate attention; they are not waiting for service or leaving voice messages," says Basil Bennett, Willow's CEO. "Customer satisfaction levels are improved by providing a seamless customer experience while increasing the client's revenue in serving more customers."