phone operator

specialist

entry level technician

bilingual call center representative

bilingual customer service associate

ASD - Answering Service for Directors

Being a call specialist at ASD requires one to complete inbound and outbound calls in relation to death. Some of the call scenarios are strictly professional and straight forward, but there are many that are very complex and emotional. Callers are often at the scene of a death and processing heavy feelings while you are required to coach them through the call and gather detailed information. Empathy and compassion is a critical component to your role and the job can be very humbling at times. On many days you get the opportunity to speak with polite and grateful people, but there are equally hard days filled with rude and disrespectful callers. You must learn to not take things personally in order to manage your own mental health and discover a way to love your job continuously. The business operates 24/7-365 days a year and it is important to create a good work life balance in order to survive your position long term. The processes and policies for employees to follow are designed in the best interest of the business first, the clients and then take the role of a call specialist into consideration last. You can earn really good money, it is convenient to work from home, you can work extra hours weekly or trade shifts when you need extra time off and the majority of the staff is very understanding and supportive. I look forward to the evolution of the company as it holds so much potential to expand into a much better experience for employees and clients combined. This is nothing like your average call center job.....you will take 4xs the amount of calls, you will be held to very high expectations and you will be challenged daily. The diversity infused in the daily tasks definitely eliminates boredom and this is a good role for a thrill seeker that enjoys riding roller coasters alooooot! The ups and downs are constant and the company structure has presented much opportunity for personal and financial growth. I am so glad I have had the opportunity to work for this company because it came at the perfect time, I have designed a schedule that works well for my life and I have created ways to manage the emotional challenges........but I have witnessed so many others who have struggled finding their way. It is the death industry and there are aspects of it that the company can not change, however , I will honestly say that It definitely takes a special type of person to do well in this role and it is not for everyone. Give it a try if you want the flexibility to work from home, face challenges daily, help people in a very difficult time and make a lot of money in comparison to the average work from home ''entry level'' job.  

I was excited to start with ASD, but unfortunately my experience with training was extremely disappointing.

The training consisted primarily of listening to an instructor speak for hours at a time with very little hands-on practice or interactive learning. There were few opportunities to apply the material in real-world scenarios, ask questions through exercises, or reinforce concepts through repetition. The sessions felt more like long lectures than effective job training.

What surprised me most was the company’s testing policy. New hires are expected to pass a comprehensive assessment with an 80% score after only a short period of training, and failure results in immediate termination. Considering the volume of information presented and the limited hands-on practice provided, this felt unreasonable and set many trainees up for unnecessary stress.

The work itself may be a good fit for some people, but prospective employees should be aware that the training environment is heavily lecture-based, fast-paced, and tied to a high-stakes testing process. I would have benefited from more practical exercises, mock scenarios, quizzes throughout training, and opportunities to reinforce the material before being evaluated on it.

My frustration is not with being evaluated. It is with the lack of engagement, limited practical application, and the expectation that trainees master a large amount of information with little room for mistakes.

This position was intended to be a temporary opportunity for me while I continued my search for a long-term career fit. Even with that expectation, I wanted to succeed and took the training seriously. Unfortunately, the onboarding process felt more focused on weeding people out through a high-stakes test than on preparing new hires for success. I believe many capable candidates could be successful in the role if they were given more hands-on training, opportunities to practice, and a chance to remediate knowledge gaps before termination.


Call Specialist Trainer duties involved acclimating new hires through the use of various company specific protocols and leadership qualities.  The Trainer position entails onboarding, tracking and training new hires using internal software combined with Microsoft Office applications to create employee reviews and suggestions for improvement.

Call Specialist duties and responsibilities consisted of receiving, placing & transferring telephone calls and interacting with customers via online web chat following ASD standards & protocols, following ASD standards & protocols.  Specifically, call specialist duties entailed inbound calls routing funeral directors, sensitive data entry & verification into software template, client & customer engagement, and package sales.  Recording & delivering all messages in an accurate and timely manner, forwarding client questions, concerns, and complaints to appropriate staff members, maintaining a friendly and compassionate attitude while assisting emotional callers, understanding and respecting client & caller confidentiality. 

Friendly workplace culture and very supportive group.  I felt valued as an employee and person during my time with ASD.  The company was very flexible with scheduling which was crucial as I was attending university.  I was able to change my shift days and time to correlate with my course schedule.  The company offers fair wages and reimbursed my tuition fees.  Upon hire I was led through the most comprehensive training class and I felt well prepared for my duties.  My trainers were very informative and patient.  Management was readily available to answer questions during and after calls which improved the experience significantly.  The HR team is top class, and always available to provide additional support.  The family environment created a sense of belonging I had never felt and I am grateful that I was welcomed in the organization.

I would recommend ASD to any and all.

I really enjoyed working here. The job is simple and at times fast paced. 

Unfortunately, unless you work 8hrs exact you will only have a 20min lunch.

The pay listed is seriously misrepresented. The base pay is $15, $16 if you're bilingual. The extra pay comes from what's called COTS. But the discrepancy between shifts is major. If you work first shift, you'll see 1 bonus per paycheck. If you work third, you'll see 3-4. This makes up the bulk of your pay, unfortunately. 

You're required to work at least one weekend every week. There is no requesting unpaid time off. Vacation is awarded once a year so if you start after January you're not getting time off until the next year.

Management can be rude and curt. Some are extremely kind and respectful though. You'll learn their personalities quickly, and this goes for funeral directors you interact with too. 

There is plenty of room to move up, but the process is rigid and long.

Overall, I never found the emotional calls to really affect me. I have worked every shift and you get maybe 1-2 emotional calls per week (out of hundreds). You get more rude caller than anything. The holiday season is the hardest, of course. 

Make sure you have a really good office chair and I found working where there is plenty of natural light kept my spirits high.

All in all, I loved this job. It's extremely easy and you become a pro fast. I would stay here forever if it weren't so easy to lose your job and bonuses. Job security is really important these days and no one likes to feel like that constant anxiety.

It was an ok position when I initially started. It was just a check for me. But I knew from the gate I did not want to make a career out of it. The timeline is too rigid, if you're a second late you lose your COTS(privilege points),if you can't find coverage in the event of an emergency you lose your COTS and your home computer if you've "earned" it. There is no guarantee or stability for any assistance. And exchanging shifts with coworkers is sketchy because there are people who will hold that over your head or not make a fair trade. The culture as a whole is a toxic one.
Too many people there walk around with God/Hero complexes and it just makes for a gross environment to work in. A notable moment for me was a coworker giving me information on a loved ones passing from an account that EXPLICITLY stated to not do this. This also happened on shift and I was unable to leave my station to deal with the grief. They were reported and predictably not handled by management. This would happen on two more occasions by the same person. They were later promoted, so favoritism is also something that runs rampant. 
Also, if you're bi-lingual, don't expect coverage or leniency of any kind. You will live there and it will be gross. Speaking of gross...
Also they NEVER clean the vents then wonder why everyone gets sick all the time. 

I'd like to think it's gotten better since then, but I sincerely doubt it.

I would rate the training a 6 out of 10.

The side-by-side part of training was probably the most helpful because that’s when you really start putting everything you’ve learned into practice. That part gave me a better understanding of what the job actually looks and feels like.

What I don’t agree with is having weekly tests determine whether someone gets to keep their job. I understand having to take tests before getting hired—we had to take several just to get the position. But once training starts, I don’t think it’s fair for a weekly test to carry that much weight.

In the second week of training, we were placed into groups where we typed the messages while the trainer did the talking. In the third week, it switched and we were expected to talk while the trainer typed for us. Usually there were about 3–4 people in a group, so we were also listening to each other take calls from directors, facilities, and families.

My biggest issue is that the testing doesn’t always reflect how someone will actually perform on the phone. There were people who may have passed the tests but still didn’t sound confident or prepared when speaking with callers. To me, real performance during side-by-sides and live calls should matter just as much, if not more, than weekly test scores.

I have been with ASD for nearly 18 months and have already found my place within the company. The environment is comfortable and cultured and has become my second family. I have received such generous pay raises as well as promotions since I've started with ASD and it has given me the job security that I've lacked with previous companies. I also have the ability to work remotely from home; which is such a relief when you have a growing family. Because of the flexibility in my schedule, I am able to spend my free time with my family as well as keep my priorities in order. The bonuses are a definite positive factor and as long as you keep a good standing attendance record, you should not have a problem accumulating bonuses week after week. Along with the weekly bonuses, the company offers a 401K Plan for the future. They also offer dental, vision and medical insurance to those qualified. In addition to all of these incentives while working for ASD, it feels good to know that you are comforting a lot of these callers who are mourning the loss of a loved one. Hard work definitely pays off here and I hope to advance in the future to prolong a career with the company.

Not what I expected!!! The software is from 1992. It’s in bad need of an update times 1000. I really thought this was a company that cared about its employees but I don’t feel that way anymore. The pay is nice no complaints there but you can’t have a life with your family with this company. Hence my title all that glitters isn’t gold. As others have said you either have to be dead or dying to miss work. If your power goes out or you lose internet connection it is your fault. It could be storming and a whole transformer can be brought down it’s your fault no excuses. I really had high hopes for this company but it let me down. All money ain’t good money. They make taking messages more complicated than it should be and definitely don’t practice what they preach. Compassion is what they preach but it is definitely not practiced. It is a stressful job not because of the calls but because the way the company is ran subpar to say the least but definitely A1 with their out of date software. I definitely would not refer a funeral to them. I met some nice people but not a great company as they portray! VERY STRESSFUL AND AWFUL TRAINING! Again the software is like coding it’s just old. UPGRADE UPDATE DO BETTER

I will be very honest, I love my job at ASD. I mesh well there, and it's the ideal stop gap for me to work while corona is leaving so many employed. I have absolute job security, and can work from home as much as I want.

ASD is a call center for Funeral Directors, and really serves as their "BS" filter. Nothing can properly prepare you for the sometimes bizarre, sometimes heart wrenching, sometimes downright rude calls that you'll receive. If you are personable, and have a strong heart, ASD sets up pay initiatives for you to flourish. The bar is high, because they are used by funeral homes all over the country. Just know that this job really isn't for those that are meek, or get easily intimidated/burnt out from stressful situations. If you understand the subject matter, you will do fantastic and flourish within a company of caring people. This is ideal for people that are looking to lock their time 100% into a company, and not ideal for someone looking for a flexible schedule changing every week.

I recommended ASD to anyone. I found this job difficult at the beginning because everything was new and I didn’t know what to do. I know more now and feel more confident in responding to callers. Benefits are great, working schedules are amazing, getting to work from home after 9 months on the job is an amazing benefit and having many extra shifts to pick up is great. I greatly appreciate how my weekly schedule does not change unless I give my hours to someone else. To anyone applying, the job seems complicated and overwhelming at first, but what job isn’t. After a few weeks everyone gets the hang of things. That negative comment made was not describing ASD. That person clearly did not like the weekly bonuses, 2 or more days off weekly, nice clean working environment, getting to exercise which leads to more weekly bonuses and everyone’s hospitality. ASD is patient with absolutely everyone no matter how long you have been there and it shows.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Phone operator 25 salaries reported	$20.50 per hour
Specialist 8 salaries reported	$18.06 per hour
Entry level technician 6 salaries reported	$20.50 per hour
Bilingual call center representative 3 salaries reported	$25.50 per hour
Bilingual customer service associate 4 salaries reported	$20.50 per hour

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