The New York Times – November 5, 2006   

Keeping Customer Service Jobs at Home in the U.S.A., Literally 

"In late summer, with her 4-year-old son starting preschool in September and a 9-year-old daughter already in school, Serena Lewis began searching for a part-time job near her home in Greenwich, Conn. It wasn't easy, because she needed to work around her children's school schedules.

"Her interest was in the travel industry, where she had spent several years as a customer service agent for American Airlines before her children were born. While researching job options, she learned of Willow, a virtual call center based in Miramar, Fla., whose 3,200 agents work from home. One of Willow's clients is Virgin America.

"When Ms. Lewis saw that she could once again work for the airlines - and limit her commute to the time it takes to walk into the spare bedroom - she was sold. In October she began working with a retail client of Willow's and in January will start handling calls for Virgin.

"'It was perfect,' she said. 'I wanted to be home when my kids were home, I wanted to work in travel and I wanted to be my own boss.'

"Ms. Lewis has been swept into a rapidly growing trend known as homeshoring, a term coined last year by Stephen Loynd, an analyst with the technology research firm IDC. Homeshoring is a sibling of offshoring, he said, but while offshoring uses agents in call centers based overseas, homeshoring literally keeps agents at home, where technology has enabled them to work from the kitchen table."