The View From My Office

What do you need to get started working from home? Part 3

Let's talk phones and headsets. There are a lot of choices these days when it comes to your phone carrier. Digital, analog, VOIP, cable, etc. Your choice in phone service can impact which companies you can perform services for. Choose wisely.

Many work at home call center positions will require a dedicated landline free of any additional services such as call-waiting. Now before you start thinking you need to install a whole new phone line, think about your options. If you currently have a landline, you might be able to have that number assigned to your cell phone or an IP phone service such as Vonage and just establish a new phone number on your currently installed line. This will most likely be the economical solution. Also, when obtaining a new phone line, think hard about what you say to the phone company. Using the words 'business line' will cost more. Trust me on this.

You will need a good headset. There are a number of different headsets available. I prefer a cordless headset which allows me to walk throughout my home without missing a call. Think carefully about your phone usage when making your selection. Be sure to choose a noise-canceling headset. I am partial to Plantronics.

What do you need to get started working from home? Part 2

You've made the decision to work from home. You might be working as an employee, and independent contractor, or you might be self-employed. In any event there are certain things you should have in place to ensure success.

In an ideal world, you will have a home office. We all know we don't exist in an ideal world. If we did, I would have won the lottery last weekend and be on my way to Key West. So let's be realistic. You need a space to work. Hopefully this can be some sort of permanent space so you aren't setting up and cleaning up each day. I know some people who work in a walk-in closet. Do what you can to make this happen. If you can stay out of your kitchen, your waist line and family will thank you.

Background noise can literally be a career killer. Barking dogs, meowing cats, and crying children scream un-professionalism. Along the same vein, police sirens and school buses aren't much help. Think about the location of your work space and the ambient noise. Also have a contingency plan. The company I work for allows dogs in the office (pretty awesome company). As such, I am always ready to explain we have a dog-friendly workplace if either of my pups should happen to bark while I am working form home.

Your choice in phone is extremely important. Even if you are doing transcription or bookkeeping, there is a good chance you will have to speak with people via phone. Think this through. You are on the phone, speaking with a customer, typing information into the computer. How many hands do you have free? Um, none. You need a headset and a phone which is compatible. Not only that, you need to make sure that headset is comfortable because you might be wearing it for 8 hours a day.

Ok - that's a few things to think about. Tomorrow I will give you some headset recommendations.

What do you need to get started working from home? Part 1

In one form or another I have been working form home and/or self-employed for 15 years. Holy cow. This does not mean I have been successful at it. All it mean is I have, for the past 15 years, attempted to earn some portion of my income working from home.

The most frequent question I am asked is how do I keep from being isolated? For me, I leave my house every single day. Maybe I go for a quick bike ride to the store, or maybe I walk around the Walmart realizing that no matter how poorly I am dressed, there is always someone at Walmart wearing pajamas and curlers. The woman who monitors the self-checkout stands at my local grocery store knows me by name and knows I work from home. Come to think of it, almost all the people at the 4 local grocery stores I frequent  know me. So my secret is doing my grocery shopping throughout the week, not all at once.

The second question is what equipment is needed? I think the biggest consideration for working from home is high-speed internet and a dedicated phone line. You probably cannot use your current phone line because an incoming call (even if you turn off call waiting) can disrupt a work call. High-speed internet is an absolute necessity. Even if you did not do phone work but other types of contracting, most require an integration with their software which will be impossible without high-speed. Also the age and operating system of your computer will impact which companies will contract you. The good news here is you can get a perfectly adequate laptop for $300 which will do everything you need and let you work while in bed. There is more, but this is the basics to get you started.

Part 2 will discuss additional equipment and work environment.