Work-at-Home Company Profile: SYKES Home Powered by Alpine Access

By Laureen Miles Brunelli, About.com Guide

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Industry:

Call Center

Company Description:

Based in Denver, CO, this company, Alpine Access provides call center outsourcing to clients using only home call center agents in the U.S. and Canada. It employs 5,000 work-at-home agents in 39 states and Canada. (Scroll down for a list of states.) Founded in 1998, Alpine Access hires its call center agents as employees and offers benefits like a health care plan and 401K. In August 2012, Tampa, FL-based BPO firm Sykes, Inc. acquired Alpine Access. The work from home division now brands itself as "SYKES Home powered by Alpine Access."

Types of Work at Home Opportunities:

Most of the work-at-home jobs available at SYKES Home/Alpine Access are for call center agents. However, there are a few corporate jobs, often training related, that are available.

Most of the positions available are full-time, but there are some part-time opportunities. All calls are inbound, and the type of positions range from customer service, video gaming specialist, healthcare support, financial services, and order support. No high-pressure sales or outbound telemarketing is required but there is some upselling of services to inbound callers. Though there are English-only call center jobs, Alpine Access hires for bilingual customer care jobs:

Spanish/English
Cantonese/English
Mandarin/English
English/French (in Canada)

Agents are employees, not independent contractors. Most opportunities are for full-time employment.

Pay and Benefits:

All employees are offered medical, dental and vision plans, and for those who have completed one year of service and worked 1,000 hours, a matching a 401K retirement plan is offered. Pay varies but starts around $9/hour. Agents are paid an hourly rate for both time on and off the phone. (Not all call centers pay hourly, read more about call center pay structures.) Training is paid. For more information about what it's like to work here read these reviews of Alpine Access.

Applying to Become a Alpine Access Agent:

The application process is entirely online. It takes 7 to 10 days.

Check that your computer and office meets Alpine's technical requirements. Check out the typical call center technical requirements for most call centers.
Create an application account. Choose jobs that you are qualified for. You will then get step-by-step instructions on what to do next.
You will be asked to select your availability, complete a profile, take the "Capability and Commitment Course," which explores what it's like to work as a call center agent for Alpine access, compose an application essay and complete a skills exam. Then you will complete a phone interview.
At this point you will or will not receive job offer. If you are offered a position, Alpine access will conduct a background, drug, and credit check for which you must pay $45.

Alpine Access Website

Geographic Restrictions

Alpine Access hires in the U.S. and Canada. (See Alpine Access Canada website.) You do not have to be a citizen to work at Alpine Access in the U.S. or Canada, but you must be legally able to work in these countries. If you live in the U.S., you must live in one of these states:

Your state not listed? Find a Call Center Job in Your State or a Call Center Job in Canada. For more profiles like this, see these work-at-home call center company profiles.

_{Disclaimer: Advertisements for work at home jobs or business opportunities placed on this page in the section labeled "Sponsored Links" or elsewhere are not necessarily legitimate. These ads are not screened by me but appear on the page due to having similar keywords to the text on the page. More on sponsored links to work-at-home jobs}