I'm sure the folks in Portland are friendly, but...
Check out LiveOps, run by Ebay's Maynard Webb. They have U.S. based work at home agents and a system that routes to the best available,
and most friendly agent. "Most friendly" sounds like a joke, but it's easy. With 16,000 agents across the country they can match callers based on ANI to like agents. So Boston callers talk to Boston agents, Texas callers talk to Texas agents, etc, etc. Local accent matters.
Here's a quote from this week's Business Week:
Its highly automated system routes calls to some 16,000 home agents--independent contractors, not employees--based on how well they've answered similar calls earlier. Lisa Hammond, a Wichita mother of three, says she's pocketing more money, after factoring in gas and child-care costs, working at home for LiveOps on her own time 15 to 18 hours a week than she did working more than full-time as a Wal-Mart (WMT ) store supervisor. Compared with a conventional call center, says LiveOps CEO Maynard Webb, "this is a more virtual, self-managed ecosystem."
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_34 /b4047426.htm?chan=se
