Tamara Betterson, 30, and Brian Brazill, 42, both praised the working environment at the StarTek call center in Lynchburg, which employs about 350 people.

"StarTek is the antithesis of a sweatshop," said Brazill, referencing call centers' long-standing reputation as grueling places to work.

With employees handling call after call and dealing frequently with customers irate about bills or service, it makes sense to treat employees well, he said.

"Contented bees produce sweeter honey and more of it," Brazill said. "A call center, by definition, includes an element of monotony, but we never feel chained to the desk here."

But for Abbey Bailey-Parrish, 26, her 19-month employment at the Verizon call center in Roanoke left a bitter taste.

"There was constant pressure," she said. "If we didn't have the union, I honestly don't know how people could make it there."

The Communications Workers of America Local 2204 represents many Verizon employees at the center. Nationally, about 15 percent of call centers have union representation, according to call center expert Bruce Belfiore

Bailey-Parrish described an atmosphere of fear, in which the prospect of firing loomed daily, and a daunting emphasis on upselling new products and services to callers -- even to customers clearly struggling to make ends meet.

"If you can check your values at the door, this is a great job for you because the pay is great," she said.

Harry Mitchell, a spokesman for Verizon, responded in an e-mail.

He said employees at the Roanoke call center and other Verizon centers are trained to understand customers' needs and then to recommend products and services "that best meet those needs."

For example, he said, many customers save money by bundling phone, Internet and satellite TV services.

"The former employee's allegations regarding upselling to customers who could not afford new services is plainly a personal judgment and should not be extrapolated to a larger group," Mitchell added. "This does not reflect our policy or our culture of trust and respect for customers."

He said Verizon has many employees "who have worked -- and thrived -- in the call-center environment for decades."

Bailey-Parrish once worked as a trainer for StarTek in Lynchburg and hopes to return. She agreed that the center values employees.

Site manager Robert O'Leary said the Lynchburg site has the company's lowest turnover rate.

Michele Riner, 38, occupies a "pod" at the Dish Network call center in Christiansburg, where she has worked for nearly seven years. She said the company works hard to keep employees happy.

The center boasts an exercise room, an auditorium that screens pay-per-view movies free for employees and their families, two break rooms and a host of incentives and programs for employee recognition. Dish Network home service is free.

Riner said the people on her team feel like family.

Belfiore and other experts say many companies recognize now that retaining trained, experienced workers increases customer satisfaction and cuts costs.

"The happiest agents see their work environment and co-workers in near-family terms," Belfiore said. "Having homelike amenities -- good lunch rooms, break lounge, exercise room -- builds on this."

Billie Janney, 28, worked for nearly six years at the Atlantic Credit & Finance call center, now housed on Franklin Road. The Roanoke-based company purchases blocks of debt at discount prices and then works to recover whatever it can from debtors.

She said she started out feeling positive about the job but grew to loathe it.

"When I first started the job, my whole interest was to try to help people out of a bad situation," Janney said. "In the beginning, it was one of my least stressful jobs, better than restaurant work."

But the stress amped up, she said, as collection targets increased, related pressures mounted and the debtors she called began to sound increasingly angry and desperate. Janney said she was fired in June for failing to reach a collections goal.

The company could not be reached for comment.

In years past, Atlantic Credit & Finance has been sued in federal and state courts for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The federal law spells out what collectors can and cannot do when attempting to recover consumer debt. Janney said she witnessed no violations.

Meanwhile, Colorado-based Dish Network was sued in May in federal court in Oklahoma by employees over alleged failures to pay overtime for pre-shift meetings and computer tasks. The original plaintiffs worked at a call center in Oklahoma.

Francie Bauer, a spokeswoman for Dish Network, said the company would not comment.