Deployment of TTNC services - Covid-19

Giving all we have to those who are helping others.

Our Covid-19 response

In the Spring of 2020, the world suddenly looked very different. The Coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown caused many businesses to reconsider their everyday working practices, and groups were created with the idea of helping each other and supporting their local communities.

We, as I'm sure most people, were overwhelmed by the selfless focus of these groups and of the individuals going the extra mile to help those in most need. This led us to look at how we could help.

What we did

As a company, we sat down to discuss what we could do to help, and the unanimous decision was "everything we can". Not just around our community, but to anyone who was going above and beyond. We had the telecoms know-how and resources to offer our services to those who were helping others and we thought it was only fair that we provided these services for free.

We hoped that we could enable community groups to focus solely on helping their neighbours rather than worrying about their funding and creation of a phone system. We were ready to give everyone who was part of the frontline everything they needed to make a difference.

How we did it

We published a blog post titled "Dear Community Heroes" on the 20th of March, days before the lockdown was announced, in which we outlined our plans to offer everything that these groups or individuals need for free, for as long as they're needed.

We followed this up with a social and email campaign, reiterating our pledge, and began to create new accounts and configuring services, some of which are still being utilised more than a year later.

Our entire customer-facing team were given the go-ahead to offer advice and free services to these new enquiries, as well as aiding existing customers looking to re-purpose their numbers to help.

It didn't take long for referrals to start coming in and for our offer to begin being mentioned in the press, across various social groups and forums, allowing us to help more and more compassionate organisations.

Further calls to action were posted on our social media and to existing customers, and as the first lockdown came to an end, we reiterated our commitment and vowed to continue to offer services until things got back to normal.

How our service was deployed

We quickly realised that each group, although setting out with the same goals in place - helping those that need a hand or a chat - had various different ways to achieve it. Offering each group access to all our features meant that we could listen to how they wanted their number to work and adapt their number functionality to realise their vision.

The main requirement across the board was a simple way to forward their call to the right people at the right time; most groups were run by volunteers who were on-call for periods of time. This was efficiently dealt with using Time Based Forwarding, creating Time Plans, which allows calls to be sent to the correct volunteers. Used in conjunction with Hunt Groups and Forward To All, allowing up to 15 destinations to ring at once means that no calls are missed, and everyone can answer, ensuring that calls are handled as quickly and effectively as possible.

As a lot of the volunteers were using their personal mobiles, it was essential to ensure that calls wouldn't be intercepted by anyone's mobile voicemail. Rather than restrict its use, Call Screening was added to most number setups. This meant that not only would a forwarded call require confirmation of acceptance, but the call handler would be aware of the source of the calls.

As well as receiving calls, many groups were also coming to us for an outbound solution. Our VoIP Service allowed their members to make outbound calls displaying their TTNC number. This meant that all of their communication could be recorded, ensuring there were no mistakes made with shopping drop offs. VoIP was easily rolled out using our Softphone App with instant QR Code provisioning sent via email.

Outbound SMS was also utilised as a communication method, for example Sarah from Fare Divide used an SMS Display Name to send out daily updates to those who were unable to access the food bank's Facebook page. Notifying her community as 'Fare Divide' proved successful in reaching those less technically minded.

Our Virtual Receptionist functionality was a must-have for those groups attempting to provide multi-dimensional help to their neighbours. Offering callers a simple menu to route calls correctly proved to be a great success - we created bespoke Professional Voice Recordings, giving the callers the details of each option, then set up the call forwarding. This allowed the groups to be able to run all of their services from a single number.

How our services were used

All the groups who approached us were looking to help their communities, most by helping with shopping trips or delivering vital prescriptions to those who were vulnerable, shielding or unable to get out.

Some groups were looking for ways to help with their neighbours' mental health, the idea of a line for those who lived alone to be able to ring up for a chat with a volunteer. In the case of the Bute Lifeline, a qualified counsellor was available to help if needed.

As well as a vast array of community groups and Mutual Aid organisations, we also helped several medical bodies, both within the NHS and private sectors. For example, establishing new internal contact numbers for Neurology and Occupational Health Departments in hospitals, to provide patient assessments, while restricting inter-departmental movements. As a result, their patients received better care and stopped the potential spread of Covid. The Orpington Central Community Aid Group began an online shopping service aimed at staff of their local hospital - over the course of the first 12 months of the pandemic, they have helped over 5,000 NHS Staff members to be able to focus on the frontline effort.

In the initial 12 months since the first lockdown began, we helped many groups make a difference to those around them. Some groups have closed due to the loosening of restrictions. Others have become mainstays of their area, using their experience from lockdown to assist their neighbourhood permanently.

Almost 75,000 calls were made to TTNC numbers, equalling 246,000 minutes - so many people helped, and so much fantastic work done by people from all walks of life who simply wanted to selflessly help those in need.

"They went the extra mile to help others, and for that, we are eternally grateful."

Feedback from community responders