SEATTLE, WA — (MARKET WIRE) — 09/01/2005 — Technology companies InstantService and Direct Interactions are using the Workforce Recruitment Program provided by the Office of Disability Employment of the U.S. Department of Labor (http://www.dol.gov/odep/) to provide opportunities for people with disabilities to work from home. A growing segment of the outsourced call center industry is moving to a home-based worker model that is becoming known as "homesourcing."

The homesourcing model allows customer service providers to hire higher quality workers than are available to a traditional call center. The typical work-at-home agent has a college degree and is often an additional source of income for the household.

"Working from home helps our team to better balance work with the needs of their families," said Matt Storey, founder of Direct Interactions. "High satisfaction among our agents leads to satisfied customers and better results for our clients."

Using software provided by InstantService, Direct Interactions agents help online customers apply for loans using live chat. Web site visitors may have questions about the lending process, the status of their application, or the costs involved. A recent Direct Interactions client study measured customer’s live chat satisfaction at more than 92%.

"InstantService is excited to be a part of this unique partnership with Direct Interactions," says Scott Carlin, InstantService vice president of sales. "Our goal is to improve both the top and the bottom line of companies utilizing our communication technology. We offer an easy-to-use, efficient and accessible application that enhances the customer service experience. We are very pleased with the positive impact our technology has on our clients, their customers and their agents."

With InstantService and Direct Interactions, financial services are able to significantly increase the profitability of their web sites without large investments in technology, staff, or office space. After a two to four week implementation and training period, Direct Interactions agents are able to deliver a high level of service that has consistently exceeded the expectations of clients’ web site visitors.

Direct Interactions provides inbound customer contact services for sales and support in the financial services industry. Using the InstantService chat and email management suite, Direct Interactions agents have tools to provide online sales and customer support.

The key to the success of Direct Interactions is the staff. Through the Workforce Recruitment Program provided by the Office of Disability Employment of the United States Department of Labor, Direct Interactions agents have college degrees, families, and enjoy the opportunity to work from home according to their own schedule. By providing a worker-friendly environment, the staff feels it is able to provide a higher level of customer service than is typically available from traditional office-based workers. 

InstantService provides multi-channel customer communications for online sales and support. Their integrated live chat, email management, knowledge base, website analytics and lead capture solutions are designed to increase sales and improve customer support while reducing contact center costs. InstantService is a hosted application that integrates with existing ecommerce and CRM systems, facilitating relationships between companies and their customers.

Clients include America West Airlines, REI, H&R Block, Intuit, 3Com, McAfee, Xerox, Sento, Ditech, Sony Online Entertainment, Cendant, Ernst & Young, NEC Mitsubishi, and Venus Swimwear. For more about InstantService, visit http://www.instantservice.com  

Work at Home in U.S. Grew 7.5 percent last year while broadband use for work at home grew by 84 percent

Results Presented by ITAC from The Dieringer Research Group’s 2003 – 2004 American Interactive Consumer Survey

SILVER SPRING, MD– September 2, 2004 – Today ITAC, the association for advancing work from anywhere, revealed continued increases in home-based work in the United States, as uncovered by the 2004 American Interactive Consumer Survey conducted by The Dieringer Research Group. According to the survey, the number of employed Americans who performed any kind of work from home, with a frequency range from as little as 1 day a year to full time, grew from 41.3 million in 2003 to 44.4 million in 2004, a 7.5% growth rate.

Further, teleworkers who worked at home during business hours at least one day per month increased in the past year from 23.5 million to 24.1 million, a 2.6% increase. Of that 24.1 million, 16.5 million are self employed, a 4.4% increase over 2003. This 24.1 million represents 18.3 percent of employed adult Americans, nearly one-fifth of the workforce. More

SAN DIEGO, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — 03/15/2005 — BofI Holding, Inc. (NASDAQ: BOFI) announced today that it has priced its initial public offering of 3,052,174 shares of its common stock at $11.50 per share. BofI Holding, Inc. is the holding company for Bank of Internet USA, a consumer-focused, nationwide savings bank operating primarily through the Internet.

(PRLEAP.COM) According to recent estimates, forty-four million American workers telecommuted to their jobs in 2004. "Better software technology and the increased availability of broadband has made telecommuting more viable then ever," says Keith Haig, founder of Haig Consulting."

Haig believes that the recent telecommuting boom is the result of benefits to both companies and tele-workers. "I know it’s a cliché," he says, "but telecommuting really is a win-win situation." "Current statistics show employers can save about $5,000 per year per tele-worker," notes Haig. "Telecommuters have more continuous work time and can maximize their personal ‘peak’ work hours.

Haig Consulting is a global consulting firm that helps small to medium-sized businesses. Founded in 1998 by Keith Haig, the company currently serves over 500 clients worldwide. "Our network of over two-dozen consultants are some of the best experts in their field," says Haig. "Each is a seasoned veteran, highly educated and market-proven to bring success."

"We teach our clients how to setup and manage their telecommuting workforce," says Haig, " but that’s really just the beginning." Haig Consulting’s philosophy of "going the distance…and beyond" is tangibly demonstrated in the company’s commitment to providing ongoing support and maintenance services. He says the company is particularly proud of its "Technology Needs Analysis" service that "helps our clients identify their company’s current capabilities and the new technology that will be required to work off-site."

Haig Consulting team members are primed to provide critical guidance expertise in creating telecommuting goals and objectives, as well developing policy, procedures, and agreements for telecommuting staff. "We measure our achievements by our clients’ results." says Haig. "We only prosper if our clients prosper, and we accept nothing less than their success."