To begin with, a quiz: If you pick up the phone and call Virgin America's customer service number to ask about changing your seat assignment on an upcoming flight, the odds are highest that you'll be speaking to:

(a) An Indian gentleman in Bangalore.
(b) A Philippine woman in Manila.
(c) A semi-retired airline rep sitting in a home office outside Tucson.

The answer, believe it or not, is (c).

And that Virgin America rep is not alone. While it runs counter to most of what's been said about outsourcing, not all customer service jobs are being shipped across the ocean.

Indeed, more and more are being sent to the house at the end of your street. And the odds are growing that the person taking those calls works for a little company called Arise.

Founded in 1997 as a joint venture between Bell South, the State of Florida, and private investors in an effort to give the disabled an opportunity to work from home, Arise has evolved over the past decade into a leader in so-called virtual contact center solutions.

With 7,500 home-based agents in 49 states (all but Hawaii), the company services 45 companies with what C.E.O. Angie Selden refers to as the high end of the service spectrum-those calls that offer the best opportunity to cement the customer relationship.

"We're not saying that there are no calls you might want to send offshore," she says. "But companies need to take a portfolio strategy to their customer interactions. For those calls that present the chance to drive more profitable revenue growth, you need to be connecting your customers with someone who understands their culture and has the specific skills and experiences required."

It's no small opportunity. Indeed, the niche that Arise is focused on is growing fast enough that it's even got its own name: Homeshoring. Coined by IDC analyst Stephen Loynd, the term encapsulates a number of trends all playing into the hands of the likes of Arise.

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