PowerPhone is pleased to announce the launch of a new feature to its Total Response Emergency Call Handling software. Coined PAD (Pre-Arrival Documents), the enhancement allows telecommunicators to provide callers with instant follow-up information in response to their 911 call, which can be sent via email or SMS to their mobile device. The potential scenarios for this information could include advising the caller of an alternate non-emergency hotline they could contact, informing them of what to do while responders are enroute or even providing weather related safety tips such as shelters or evacuation information.
As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, many call centers have reported that a significant proportion of call demand has been from worried callers with questions relating to the coronavirus. In situations that are not immediately life-threatening, and with local resources already under pressure, callers may be better served directed to a non-urgent hotline. With PAD, emergency call centers can ensure that that information is provided consistently and accurately.
”Jerry Turk, President at PowerPhone, said, “Listening to the feedback from our customers who have been handling calls for help from callers isolated in their homes, we felt more could be done to offer reassurance to them beyond saying that the call isn’t an emergency and to please call back on another line. PAD is a simple yet effective solution to a long-standing problem that isn’t exclusive to the COVID-19 outbreak, but which has been amplified because of it.”
Existing users of PowerPhone’s Total Response system will be able to easily acquire PAD via a subscription service with minimal overhead to their current infrastructure. The agencies will have complete control over the type, style, and content of the information that can be sent to callers.
PowerPhone’s Total Response system can be used to deliver structured call handling in support of all emergency calls. Able to be configured to support any size agency, PowerPhone has worked with more than 700 organizations and has been providing public safety telecommunicator training for more than 35 years and has trained more than 300,000 students across the U.S.A. and overseas.