Tens of thousands of people are homeless in Scotland, according to the latest Scottish Government statistics–and it can happen to anyone. A relatively slight change in circumstances can create a domino effect until an individual or family runs out of options and finds themselves without anywhere to live. Homelessness can have a devastating effect on anyone caught up in it, often impacting mental and physical health, breaking up families, and creating a sense of hopelessness.

When faced with homelessness, or the risk of homelessness, it helps to know that there is support available. Homeless Project Scotland is one support organization that, with 8x8’s help, is doing its part to help Scotland’s unhoused population. Help, which is welcome, because the homelessness case numbers continue to rise.

“Having intermittent phone lines meant people in need of support could be failing to get through to us, and it’s no exaggeration to say that could have life or death consequences.” - Colin McInnes, Founder of Homeless Project Scotland Founder

Helping homeless people find hope 24/7

Homeless Project Scotland is a volunteer-run charity whose dedicated team works hard to end the cycle of homelessness and rough sleeping while also tackling food poverty. It provides several essential and often life-saving services including a night shelter, a soup kitchen, on-foot and cycle street teams, and a food bank. The charity now operates Scotland’s first 24/7, volunteer-led homeless and shelter helpline covering the whole country, which provides support and advice to people at risk of and experiencing homelessness by helping them access accommodation and navigate other often complex local services.

Naturally, being able to communicate effectively with the homeless community and put people in touch with legal and support services is critical for the charity. When Colin McInnes, the charity’s founder and director realized that the existing calling system wasn’t up to the job, he got in touch with Martin Collier, CEO of 8x8 partner NovaBytes, to find a solution.

"NovaBytes and 8x8 are the mechanism that connects homeless people in Scotland to the charity and to a hot meal and a warm bed.” - Martin Collier, CEO of 8x8 partner NovaBytes.

Supporting Scotland’s homeless with business communications tech

The charity’s emergency calls vary as broadly as the needs of the people calling, but in many cases the calls require Homeless Project Scotland to dispatch street teams to provide immediate help to people in dire need. Colin told us that “having intermittent phone lines meant people in need of support could be failing to get through to us, and it’s no exaggeration to say that could have life or death consequences.”

Every day new problems arise, and the volunteers must deal with the immediate high-priority issues in front of them. The need for support, the outdated calling system, and the limited resources meant old calls couldn’t be addressed. If callers left voicemails, these were often placed to the back of the queue.

“Thanks to our new, easy-to-use calling system with call queues and an auto-attendant, we don’t risk missing critical calls and service users can get the support they need,” commented Colin. Adding, “NovaBytes also showed us what was possible with the 8x8 system, and because of that we used it to launch Scotland’s first 24/7, volunteer-led homeless and shelter helpline.”

For Martin at NovaBytes, the decision to help Homeless Project Scotland was a no brainer. He said: “My motivation behind helping Homeless Project Scotland has always been around the people that the charity helps. We do the majority of work for free, and my goal has always been to help homeless people in Scotland to get the help they need and deserve. NovaBytes and 8x8 are the mechanism that connects homeless people in Scotland to the charity and to a hot meal and a warm bed.”

Homeless Project Scotland also lobbies local government and supports individuals through case work. 8x8’s call recording and data have helped it with both of these crucial services. It has data and reporting that can be used to support its campaigning, and call recordings can be used as evidence in legal cases or for training.

For the volunteers at Homeless Project Scotland, smaller changes add up to greater value too. For example, the new calling system provides caller information, including geographical location. Having that information at a glance before a call begins helps volunteers to give better support in many holistic ways, because in many cases having local knowledge makes a huge difference in outcomes. In every town, people’s needs vary. So do the names and locations of the food banks, shelters, or other services people may need to access. As Homeless Project Scotland operates country-wide, having geographical locations helps it to offer localized support.

“Thanks to our new, easy-to-use calling system with call queues and an auto-attendant, we don’t risk missing critical calls and service users can get the support they need. It let us set up Scotland’s first 24/7, volunteer-led homeless and shelter helpline," - Colin McInnes, Founder of Homeless Project Scotland

8x8 focus on boosting social value

The 8x8 platform is recognized for boosting the employee and customer experience by enhancing the functionality essential for remote working. As an organization, we apply the same focus on delivering social value. We boost social value for our employees’ and customers’ communities by promoting meaningful volunteering opportunities and charitable giving.

This year so far, 8x8 employees have dedicated their time to a wide range of causes that are important to them, including:

Moving forward, 8x8 will continue to help organizations working to improve lives and communities, promote volunteering for our employees, and offer social value within the communities of our customers. Learn more about 8x8’s ESG initiatives.