New jobs at InfoCision

PARKERSBURG - A telemarketing company next week will begin interviewing applicants with the aim of hiring 100 people from the area who will work from home, officials said.

InfoCision Management Corp. has experienced a significant increase in demand from clients and therefore is expanding its virtual call center in Southern Ohio at Gallipolis where its work at home program is headquartered, company spokesman Matthew Feltrup said.

"We have the work right now ready for people," he said.

InfoCision was founded in 1982 and is the second largest privately held teleservice company providing customer services, commercial sales and marketing for a variety of Fortune 100 and smaller companies and is a leading provider of marketing calls for nonprofit, religious and political organizations.

The company, www.infocision.com, is headquartered in Akron and operates 30 call centers in 12 locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. InfoCision employs 4,000 employees, of which 300 work at home, Feltrup said.

InfoCision began its work at home program about five years ago and the number of home-based employees has increased, Feltrup said.

"It's getting a lot more popular," he said.

The company hopes to hire the 100 workers from the Parkersburg and Marietta areas as soon as possible, he said.

Interviews will be held from 9-3 p.m. Wednesday at the Workforce Employment Service office at 300 Lakeview Center, Parkersburg. Walk-ins are welcome, but must have a computer with Windows version XP or newer, a cable or DSL Internet connection, a monitor with at least 1024x768 resolution and a valid e-mail address, the least minimum technology required.

In a virtual call center, employees from home log into the InfoCision system using their Internet connection. They earn the same pay, bonuses and work a set schedule like employees in call, however, there are flexible schedules available depending upon need, the company said.

Working at home has benefits, particularly for those with disabilities, Feltrup said. Employees and the company don't have to worry about transportation or wardrobes, he said.

Some of its work-at-home employees are blind, he said.

Working at home is another trend in the workplace, said Keith Burdette, president of the Wood County Development Authority. Advances in technology are making working at home more feasible, Burdette said.

"A lot of jobs are trending that way now," he said.