Emergency call management: The secret life of the call centre
Most people think they know what life is like in a call centre. They think it’s mainly taking messages, asking people if they took a loan out in the 90’s, and listening to people make orders from a catalogue.
While it’s true that there are a lot of call centres that focus on work like this – there is another side to call centres that is far less well known.
Uncovering fraud, reporting break ins, and even raising the alarm in life and death situations can all be everyday tasks in an emergency call centre.
Prepare to relearn everything you thought you knew about call centres.
DSCC calls
In the UK someone who has been arrested or charged with a crime is entitled to legal representation. If they don’t have their own solicitor already, they are entitled to have a duty solicitor represent them.
Duty solicitors are found through a organisation called the Defence Solicitor Call Centre.
The police station holding the accused will contact the Defence Solicitor Call Centre, who will then dial out to duty solicitors to find someone to take the case.
In the world of duty solicitors and defence solicitors this is a vital source of work, so it’s important not to miss these calls. That’s where emergency call management comes in.
The emergency call management service will provide 24/7 calls for law firms to make sure there is always someone ready to answer DSCC calls when they come in.
The emergency call management company will then dial out to duty solicitors until they find someone who can take the case.
In this way the emergency call centre helps law firms win more business and provides a vital function in our legal process.
If you want to know more read our blog on legal telephone answering services.
Lone worker protection
Lone workers in the UK are entitled to support from their employers to help keep them safe in their working environment. These rules apply if they’re working alone in an office or if they travel alone to meet clients and suppliers.
An emergency call handling service can be a useful tool when it comes to providing lone worker protection.
Not only can emergency call management be used to give lone workers a line they can contact 24/7 to report incidents, but it can be used to dial out to lone workers on a regular basis to make sure they are still safe in the workplace.
Emergency call management plays an important role in lone worker protection.
Emergency call out
In the property sector, emergency call management is a vital tool when it comes to keeping tenants safe and happy in their homes.
Whether it’s reporting break-ins, power outages or any other problems at the property, an emergency call management service can help to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible even if it’s the middle of the night.
The emergency call hander will take the call, triage the issue and then dial out to on call engineers to find someone who can fix the problem as quickly as possible.
It’s an important service that helps people to feel safe and happy in their own homes.
Whistleblowing lines
Whistleblowing lines are an important service that help large businesses support their staff in satellite offices.
If a company has a lot of offices or stores up and down the country, it can be difficult for staff in those stores to report problems to head office without going through a line manager. If the problem they want to report involves that line manager, it can leave them in an invidious position.
A whistleblowing line prevents this from happening.
With a whistleblowing line, staff can call a completely impartial, third party emergency call management company who can direct the issue to the right person in head office.
This allows people to anonymously report issues without fear of reprisal from line managers or other people in their particular branch.
Outsource your emergency call answering service
One of the key features of all these emergency call management situations is that they require phone lines to be covered 24/7. That’s why for many companies it makes sense to outsource emergency call management.
When you outsource you get 24/7 cover all the calls are recorded by a completely impartial company which is highly beneficial if any legal issues arise surrounding the reported incident.
If you want to know more about emergency call management, visit our outsourced call centre page.