The Challenge: Important calls being missed
Homeless Project Scotland’s volunteers provide critical support for people who are at risk of or experiencing homelessness across Scotland, as well as helping people with shelter and food in Glasgow.
Unfortunately, the organization’s calling system could not keep up with service demand, and it lacked the functionality to properly triage and manage inbound call volumes.
Required outbound calls from shelter users to local solicitors also caused a problem, with only two lines that would quickly become congested.
In addition, the previous system operated an outdated application, according to NovaBytes CEO and Founder Martin Collier, who helped Homeless Project Scotland transition to a new 8x8 system. The app caused downtime and dropped calls, so people seeking support couldn’t get through to the service in times of severe need.
“You can’t have dropped calls when operating a critical service,” said Colin McInnes, Founder and Director at Homeless Project Scotland. “Our phone system wasn’t up to scratch, and the company operating it was unhelpful in fixing the issues. We provide shelter to around 12,000 people annually, and missing calls can have serious consequences.”
The Solution: Effective, easy-to-use functionality provides valuable support
Following a consultation with NovaBytes, McInnes and team determined that 8x8’s solution would be capable of keeping up with Homeless Project Scotland’s increase in demand. According to Martin Collier, they selected 8x8 Work because it offers a simple and effective solution that is also cost-efficient, a crucial factor for a charity like Homeless Project Scotland.
Several key features made a huge difference to daily operations. 8x8 auto-attendant lets the charity triage inbound calls to the right service without manual input from a volunteer, leading to more efficient use of volunteers’ time and reducing missed calls.
With 8x8 call queues, service users’ calls and voicemails aren’t dropped or missed. Instead, they are placed in a queue and automatically transferred to a volunteer.
NovaBytes installed additional phones and 8x8 lines, removing congestion on outbound calls and helping more service users to readily talk with solicitors after using the shelter.
In addition to improving the reliability of their lines, other essential features have benefitted the Homeless Project Scotland. Caller information, including geographical location, provides important context to volunteers when they take calls. Call recording allows them to record calls for future use, for example, for training, for evidence, or for lobbying Glasgow City Council. Volunteers find the training and 8x8 University very valuable because they allow them to get the most out of the system.
Colin McInnes commented: “Using the solution has been plain sailing. It’s enhanced our capabilities, and importantly, it just works. This lets our volunteers and I focus on our priority of helping people experiencing or at risk of homelessness across Scotland.”
The Results: Scotland’s first national homelessness helpline
Thanks to its new 8x8 calling system, Homeless Project Scotland can better serve people in Scotland who are at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
The charity’s inbound lines are more reliable and calls to the shelter are no longer missed. This helps ensure that critical calls are always answered.
The solution is also cost-effective, making it a better return on investment for the charity. This means that their resources and donations can be used for other crucial materials, such as food for the soup kitchen or street teams.
The new solution also led to the creation of Scotland’s first national homeless helpline. “NovaBytes showed us how stable the 8x8 solution was and the volumes it could potentially handle,” commented Colin McInnes. Adding, “After that, I decided we needed to launch the 24/7 national helpline. Now we get up to 1,000 calls a week across Scotland, and our volunteers can log in to manage the phone line from any location at any time.”
