Call-center outsourcing firms will employ agents with disabilities

[Guest guest]

From the 3/2/2006 Wall Street Journal Print edition

Call-center outsourcing firms will employ agents with disabilities. (Please see

CareerJournal.com for past coverage.) At least two other concerns, however,

specifically target the disabled. National Telecommuting Institute, a Boston

nonprofit, has about 250 agents working from home at any given time, and a total

pool of about 1,000 agents, says M.J. Willard, executive director. Applicants

are asked to be certified by their state vocational-rehabilitation system. Most

states pay for a computer if needed. Skills required: " Basic computer literacy,

a pleasant telephone manner -- and the rest we can train, " Ms. Willard says.

Apply through the institute's Web site, www.nticentral.org.

Another firm founded last year, Overflow Inc., Plainview, N.Y.,

(www.overflowusa.com) retains people with disabilities, veterans and caregivers,

among others, for home-based telephone work. Overflow has 88 trained agents and

expects to add several hundred more this year, says Rich Florman, executive vice

president. Applicants need a computer, broadband Internet access, the ability to

speak, hear and think clearly, and good interpersonal skills.