Red Cross makes savings on communication.
 For The Red Cross, like any charity, saving money on administration is as important as the money raised for good causes. District offices in Manchester, Liverpool and Preston handle a huge number of calls every day destined for a wide range of departments. Inbound donation offers, medical equipment loans, volunteers offering help, the public looking to trace missing relatives or refugees in need of assistance. All these and more need to be helped efficiently by the appropriate department.
When Avandda were invited to consider new telephone systems for the offices, it was soon clear that a number of inefficiencies could be immediately addressed. Inbound phone calls were tying up full time receptionists and other members of staff, distracting them from the important work of the charity.
Avandda recommended OfficeServ systems from Samsung for each of the three offices. These new digital systems allowed all members of staff to have access to voice mail so that no call would get missed and specific requests could be directed to the appropriate person irrespective of whether they were at their desk.
As important was the ability to offer an auto attendant facility on the inbound number, giving callers pre-recorded options to speed a call to the appropriate department. This immediately allowed receptionists to be re-deployed to more productive work within the charity.
Improved functionality has been welcomed by staff who now benefit from caller identification on inbound calls, easy transfer between extensions and group set ups so departments can answer inbound calls to a department from any phone. Internal voice mail is also proving popular, particularly with flexible working hours and part time work making face to face communication difficult at times.
Avandda were even able to deal with a long term problem in Preston(?) A downstairs entry door became as time-consuming exercise for staff to answer in the busy office. The phone system has now been connected to an exterior intercom and door opening mechanism. Callers can now choose who they wish to see, phone direct to their extension and have the door opened by that member f staff remotely.
Using Samsung OfficeServ technology will also pay further dividends in the future when the offices are linked using - VOIP, voice over Internet, will mean that the offices can be in contact with each other and have full 'internal' extensions functionality, but with the benefit of all calls between the offices being free, a huge saving.
Hazel Hamblett from The Red Cross has been impressed with new system. 'Avandda thought long and hard about how they could best help us and have delivered a system that has allowed us to concentrate on helping the charity without being swamped with calls. It has meant we have been able to use staff in a more productive way. The investment will pay off in savings in a very short space of time'
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