Chapter 5

Managing Technology

A. Telephone Systems

The telephone system is the crux of the hotline. Is it user-friendly? Does it support the volume of calls? Is it adaptable? It is generally agreed that an effective telephone system must be the first priority for a hotline. This can be, and often is, a very expensive proposition. Many programs report great frustration in achieving what they need. Different programs are experimenting with various options.

The systems used by survey respondents vary according to program size and requirements. The Massachusetts Justice Project likes its Centrex system which allows staff to put clients calling the hotline through to other offices while maintaining the pay status of a local call. Kansas uses a simple phone technology called Plexar to send callers to other offices without requiring the caller to re-dial. This links callers to the most appropriate resource without forcing them to make another call. CARPLS also makes use of its conference-call abilities to link clients with affiliates. The Puerto Rico program appreciates this function as well. The Tennessee Elder Law Hotline has a Panasonic XDP with intercom and voice mail. Although it does not have an automated call distribution system, the two 800 lines and one local line can roll over to any line available. The system also allows a call to be “flashed “ to another office or agency so that the client can be instantly connected to an appropriate referral office.

Many of the larger programs surveyed use an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) system that keeps callers in queue until hotline staff are available (see Ch. 1), thus preventing busy signals. ACD users include CLEAR, CARPLS and SALA. CLEAR is very happy with its Lucent Definity set-up which is suitable for large offices. CARPLS has a Toshiba Advanced Telecommunications, Inc., system which has thirty lines. Both CARPLS and SALA incorporated English and Spanish options using the ACD system. Indeed, an ACD system is particularly useful for routing callers to appropriate advocates, whether on the basis of language or other criteria.

The New Hampshire Senior Legal Advice Line and the Maine Legal Services for the Elderly Hotline both use Executone phone systems that consist of four lines that roll over to one another. When all the hotline staff are responding to calls at the same time, callers get a busy signal. The hotline for the Legal Aid Foundation of Long Beach chose the Norstar Prelude ACD system because it allows them to do such things as track the number of daily calls, the number of abandoned calls, and the average waiting time. The Kansas system includes ACD, although they do not use it for the hotline, and voicemail. The Puerto Rico program is happy with its intra-island Watts service even though it does not include voicemail or ACD

The Texas program has three phone lines for the hotline plus access to outgoing phone lines from the Texas Legal Services Center. Each line has answering machines with three boxes each. However, clients seem to have trouble following instructions on which menu option to push.. LASH ordered an ACD system when their PBX system reached its maximum capacity. They expressed a concern, voiced by many, that human contact (via a telephone receptionist) is preferable to the maze of a complicated and often faulty automated phone system.

A new trend various hotlines are exploring, including the AARP Pennsylvania Advice Line and Central Florida Legal Services, is leasing phone systems rather than purchasing them. This has the advantages of avoiding a large capital outlay at the inception of the hotline and preventing the hotline from the obsolescence of a system it owns. The Pennsylvania and Florida hotlines, among others, are working with Tele-Lawyer, Inc. to lease the phone system and usage services, although telephone system leasing is available from other sources as well.

B. Intake Software

There is still considerable variety among hotlines’ preferred software. Few hotline managers describe their software as ideal. Based on the information available, the majority of the programs use either Kemp’s Clients for Windows (62 hotlines) or have customized software (17 hotlines). TIME software from Western New York Law Center is used by 11 programs. Many programs are pleased with Kemps’s ability to adapt to their program needs. The Pennsylvania hotline is now served by Tele-Lawyer, Inc.’s proprietary software.

The cost and availability of technical support for the software is rapidly becoming a major factor in software options. The legal service programs in Indiana and Connecticut each have a technical support employee dedicated solely to troubleshooting statewide computer problems.

C. Other Technology

The Project for the Future of Equal Justice has a website that provides information on hotlines across the country. www.equaljustice.org. More information on technology as well as other topics is posted at the Legal Hotline Technical Assistance Library at www.povertylaw.org. It also serves as an online forum for discussion of issues and topics of interest to hotlines. Most of the information compiled for the Directory of hotlines is available on this website. As increasing numbers of legal services programs, including hotlines, have internet access this should prove to be an increasingly rich and useful resource. The West Virginia program uses Technet, a bar sponsored on-line service that houses state law and other legal information.

At this writing, 62% of hotlines have e-mail but the numbers are increasing rapidly. Some programs have e-mail but are not willing to publish the address. There is no information available about any programs that currently use e-mail to communicate with clients although the West Virginia Senior Legal Hotline and the other legal services providers in that state have received a Legal Services Corporation technology grant to put in place an email intake system. (2000).

Most programs rely heavily on the fax machine for various purposes. Many are currently working with community agencies, libraries, and churches to improve client access to fax machines in order to get documents to the hotlines. The Kansas program makes use of its network ability to fax from their computer. This allows them to send intake sheets by computer to other staff members instantly.