OT - network based answering service?

[David]

X-Posted here because of the cognoscenti!

I am involved with a local charity support group who are not the most IT literate, and those supported are even less so.

We are having problems communicating with our target audience because although we have a web site it looks as though some/most of our target audience don't visit it (although I can't get any metrics from the site).

Facebook/Twitter? Mentioning this generates shudders from all.

Probably the most effective way to communicate would be via phone.

The committee could buy a cheap phone and cheap SIM and pass the phone around, but as we are widely geographically distributed this could cause logistical problems.

So - based on an archaic knowledge of how 0800 services worked in the '90s I had the following idea.

Have a central contact number, on a network based virtual phone (possibly some SIP based service).

The service has the following features:

(1) Number key options and voice prompt with "For date and time of the next meeting please press 1; to speak to a committee member please press

2, to leave a message please press 3.".

Obviously this can be expanded. Calls at anti-social hours could be directed to an answering machine - we are not providing a 24/7 emergency support service.

(2) The option to speak to a committee member redirects to the phone of whoever is "on duty" with the backup of an answering machine (the answering machine may be difficult because if you transfer a call to a "real" number you are likely to lose control of it).

(3) Re-programming the divert probably via a web site - although a PIN option to change it and the messages using a hand set could be an option, although tricky for the non techies.

Hmmm....beginning to sound a lot like an answering service tied to a mobile phone apart from the front end menu.

Anyway, thought I would ask here to see if anyone had already solved this, before I lose a day of my life in the wasteland that is Google (or Bing, or...)

Thanks

Dave R

[newshound]

The phone idea sounds awful!

You can set up a completely closed group on FB which potentially insulates the users from all the other downsides (apart from advertising).

Not quite clear what you are trying to communicate, though.

If you want bi-directional then the FB interface isn't too bad.

If you are basically sending stuff one way perhaps your current web site is not sufficiently friendly?

[Adrian]

Except the users don't seem to use t'internet, let alone FB.

[Adrian]

The easiest way would be an Asterisk-or-similar based phone system. You can set up call forwarding regimes - times, real PSTN numbers or VoIP handsets or softphones ("Just like Skype, Doris")* - or set up an automated press-two-to-be-ignored type system, all fairly easily.

It just needs to sit somewhere with a fairly fast and stable internet connection.

*TBH, I'd go with cheap VoIP handsets. You really need to provide them with handsets for softphones anyway, and softphones tend to be a PITA.

[Mike Barnes]

BTDTGTTS

Not even Google Analytics?

IMO if there's no volunteer that's familiar with the culture of those environments, best steer clear. A novice would just make the organisation look bad.

It would help if you outlined who's communicating with who, and why.

[F Murtz]

Hear hear, If there was one thing that would turn me off it would be that,every time I get that from government bodies I feel like smashing the phone (I usually keep blowing raspberries at the phone till someone answers)better by far to bring the target audience in to this century and train them on the benefits of the computer and the internet with email.

[David]

One reason for "Network Based" is because it should be independent of a physical location, and unaffected if a committee member should resign, go on a long holiday, or be in any other way disrupted.

Whilst posting I did realise that what I was asking for could be achieved by local kit on my 150 Mb/sec Virgin Broadband but I see this as too restrictive.

I assume also that the kit would be independent of a real phone line and phone number and just require Broadband. I don't think anyone wants their home phone number as first contact.

A network based Astersik server?

Providing new handsets might be an unacceptable cost. A quick Google suggests that a handset will be over £20 and this also means messing with the phone line/Internet connection of each committee member and also supporting the handsets in the future including relocating as the committee changes.

I am trying for a solution which can use POTS and mobile handsets (which they will all have at least one of) with if possible no disruption to any home configuration.

Thus network based so existing features of the phone network such as transferring and forwarding calls can be used.

We are already seeing committee churn and we haven't been going for six months so the solution has to be as generic as possible.

Cheers

Dave R

[Mike Scott]

Which raises the obvious question - here's BT's phone line, here's my LAN router: what hardware do I use to connect them to provide VOIP and any necessary menus etc? You can assume I have running a freebsd or linux box to host necessary services. Oddly, I really would like to know! The only box I've seen (that I could almost afford) was on the discontinued product list.

[David]

Well, it looks as though I have a volunteer!

Please accept my thanks for your generous offer to go house to house and train non computer literate senior citizens in using modern facilities. Including supplying the hardware and software if they don't have it. Oh, and Broadband as well.

The 24/7 extended support load you are so willingly taking on will be a great relief to the committee.

You may have a small problem locating all those who do not use the Internet and so have not been able to contact us and leave their details, but I'm sure you will work round that in an innovative way.

Perhaps by publishing a phone number?

[newshound]

With respect, what you said is that most of your members don't visit

*your* site. Not that none of your members use the internet.

FWIW of the 180-odd members of a voluntary group which I support, some of whom are elderly, only a couple don't have email. And we have another

350 or so who are not formal members, but who follow our OPEN group on FB.

[newshound]

+1

[David]

Can you run Google Analytics if you don't own the web site? We are given editorial access to a standard template web site so we can add text, links, photos. No access under the covers.

Examples given in the OP as call prompts.

Provide an answering machine with details of next meeting(s).

Provide a facility to leave a message for the committee to pick up.

Provide a phone line for someone to call if they just want to talk, or ask a question about the group. Also to refer on to the correct services people who are in crisis, should they call.

Other things are likely to spring to mind as time goes on.

All these things can be covered by web/email/Social Media - but only IF the person trying to contact us already uses these.

One of the most infuriating things about modern (especially Government) services is to have all questions about something just referred to a web site. This assumes that everyone has access to the web and is comfortable with its use. This disenfranchises a large number of the elderly and also those in poverty who do not own their own home and cannot afford the monthly payments for Broadband. Nearly everyone has a phone and the phone has been around for so long that nearly everyone is comfortable with its use. However providing phone support (or answering letters) costs time and money so service providers try to avoid this.

For those still suggesting Facebook and the web, please note that I am only going down this route because t'Internet has not proved effective. Not all the committee have email!

Cheers

Dave R

[David]

I could do it with a Raspberry Pi and a USB modem - already have the kit for a call screening system which is still waiting implementation.

With something like Asterisk you can pick up POTS calls; haven't bothered with SIP calls but I assume they just come into a listening port on the Asterisk box.

All you need then (I think) is a soft phone - but I may well be over simplifying.

[Adrian]

Yep, some cheap linux hosting on t'internet.

So how many do you need, and what's the budget?

Not really - just plug it in to their router or connect to their wireless.

[Adrian]

None. You buy an incoming number from Gradwell or similar, which the server connects to, then the handset (or softphone) connects to the server.

All the hardware you need is the physical bit of plastic you hold to your ear and mouth.

[Adrian]

You can, but the hardware is expensive, difficult to get hold of and - we found in practice - flaky.

Nope, you're bang on the money. We had our office running like that for a few years.

[Mike Barnes]

Possibly not. There's plenty of help on Google's site. Or contact your provider.

My first thought would be an ordinary answering machine with facilities to change the outgoing message and pick up incoming messages, PIN- protected.

The OGM would state the date of the next meeting and a number to ring for immediate attention, and allow recording of less-urgent messages.

When coming on duty, the volunteer would change the OGM to include their own number.

Not perfect, but a reasonable starting-point I'd have thought.

[David]

Again with respect I did start out by saying that most of our target audience were effectively IT-illiterate.

I am (reasonably) IT literate and if the problem seemed to be people visiting but not "sticking" I would probably address the issue differently.

As I have ranted elsewhere in this thread there seems to be the convenient assumption that everyone has web access so all support can be automated. Experience of my local demographic does not tend to support this.

The committee (bless them) are probably some of the more clued in of the community we are trying to support.

Of half a dozen (roughly) one is comfortable with IT and uses web, social media and email, one hates computers but struggles doggedly on with emails, one doesn't even use email, and the rest have email but use it very rarely and don't seem to like using it as a communications medium, preferring to chat about stuff at the monthly meetings.

Of those "signed up" at our launch meeting AFAIKR less than half provided an email address - which may be an indication of shyness or the lack of an email address. I am assuming that if you are web savvy you probably also have email.

It may be indicative of the condition we are supporting - Diabetes - that the vast majority of diabetics are type 2 and the vast majority of those are diagnosed in the 50s onwards and so had their formative years before personal computers were available. Our demographic is mainly 60+.

I recently went to a conference and one of the speakers runs a very effective and successful support group. One of the points he made was that they circulated their newsletter and other important information BY POST! He was by no means IT illiterate but had found that this was the most effective way to communicate to the target demographic. The response justified the extra cost. He regularly checked if the postal distribution was still required and got back very strong affirmation.

We are trying to build awareness and membership but have indications that we are struggling to communicate despite handing out flyers with web, email, and Facebook contact details. Certainly the email address has a very low hit rate.

As far as we can tell the most successful method of communication is via the free "Flyer" monthly magazines but there is a delay of at least a month between information becoming available and information being published. For example cut off for the July issue is 10th June. So anything which happens after 10th May will go in the July issue.

We are still learning how best to communicate but the latency on "Flyer" messages is unacceptably high.

With an "old style" demographic I feel we must try "old style" communications. Local newspapers seem effective. I have heard that postal information is effective. This suggests that the phone may also be effective - and I am trying to design a system which will be more effective than playing "pass the parcel" with a group owned mobile handset.

I am (obviously) finding the whole thing very frustrating.

Cheers

Dave R

[David]

It is the location of the answering machine that is causing me the problem. The service you describe could be (I think) implemented on a mobile phone with PIN protected access to the answering machine facilities (although I don't use my mobile phone answering machine much, I seem to remember such features).

I guess I am looking for something which is independent of a physical location (which rules out a land line) and can be easily managed via a web interface (despite all the things I have said about web illiteracy) as well as from a handset.

To use my own land line as an example - I mainly get cold callers but I have had the phone number for decades so I may receive a call from an aged rellie or infrequent contact, or even the doctor's surgery or the bank/ credit card company.

It would not be helpful if the fraud line, ringing up to tell me that there was unusual activity on my credit card, hit a message saying "This is your local help line - please press...." so some extra fancy footwork might be required in the programming - which in turn might be fine for me, but what about the other committee members if I pass the machine on to them? Also, do I turn over the programming of my home answering machine to

3rd parties if I take a month off to travel? Phone number should also be long term stable if possible.

Cheers

Dave R

[Gordon Henderson]

The issue you have here is "solved". A hosted PBX solution is (at least) one way to go. Incoming calls can be diverted out to a mobile on pushing an option button or sent to a mailbox when it can be emailled onto some recipients. "Owners" of the system can dial into it to collect voicemails and change the messages, etc. You can have an 0300 charity number too. (Not free, but should come from inclusive minutes)

Drop me an email if you want more information - I run such services.

Gordon