Some firms will insist you do certain shifts - obviously they prefer evenings, especially very late, and weekends. If you make it clear you refuse to work then they may well refuse to take you on. Others will let you clock on and off to suit you but they are usually the ones that pay less. You must not make or take any other calls while you are on duty. Once you have logged on you must be available. Either tell friends you will ring them or if they ring you to ring at certain times only or that you cannot chat if they ring at the wrong time. Be well organised. Likewise if someone rings the doorbell while you are on duty you must ignore it, you must be available to take that call. But you could wait hours and hours for that call.
Some of you seem to assume that if you are on duty you get a few calls each hour. Dream on. You can be on for four hours before you get just one two minute call. And then no more calls for another four hours or till the next time. Most calls last five minutes if you are good at keeping them talking. Many of them live in a fantasy world where they want you to say your details and where you live so that they can rush over, get undressed, jump on you and f* k you and then go back to the girlfriend or wife. In other words treating you like a prostitute - but a dozy one who does it all for free! Many of the callers have a fetish. You do not give your own number to any of the callers and you cannot use a mobile. The company you work for puts calls through to your landline. If you do not put an adventurous and broadminded intro tape on their message service you will get no calls or a lot less calls. If you are easily shocked or hate to hear or say filth do not do it. Most of the men will spout rubbish about how they have just been in an orgy or been raped by Miss World or been invited to go and meet Halle Berry for a night of passion, you must talk to them as if you believe them. Others are plain coarse and common and will go on about how they lust after their mother in law.
Ignore the so called sex chat workeres who go on about how they get £1.50 a minute. They are leaving out that most of that goes on vat, marketing, admin, the website, maybe a receptionist and an agency, as well as the big gaps when nobody calls. And most men will never bother to ring such expensive lines when there are so many that are much cheaper.
As for the internet having taken it's place. You will find that if you go into a chat room for private chats you will be swamped with guys asking you for free dirty chat because they do not want to pay to ring these lines. But of course all they end up with is gay men or old married men, because women either charge on chat lines or are not interested at all.
Most of the callers are men who are totally out of synch with women. They truly believe that YOU - even if you are beautiful sexy and young - have trouble getting sex and you are desperate for it same as him. That he is doing you a favour. That no other man wants you. They also forget that they are just one of your many callers.
If you cannot keep people on the line for long not only do you earn very little but you get the sack. These companies are not going to invest thousands of pounds a week in advertising and marketing just to waste the calls on staff who cannot make a profit for them.