Comprehensive Phone Guide and External Communications

Table of Contents


Important Links
MainLine
Campaign/Candidate Communications
HotLine
PhoneList
Long Answer
HotlineResources


Important phone lines and associated emails:
  1. Mainline: Business communications, members, media, and general inquiries (Office Manager and DevComm)
    • 515-989-6363
    • officemgr@votesmart.org, intern@votesmart.org, jobs@votesmart.org (Office Manager)
    • membership@votesmart.org, media@votesmart.org (DevComm)
    • Mail
  2. Candidate Line: For PCT administration and candidate communications (PCT admin)
    • 515-989-6359
    • politicalcourage@votesmart.org
  3. HotLine: Research questions from the general public (Research)
    • 1-888-868-3762
    • comments@votesmart.org
    • Uservoice
    • research@votesmart.org
    • Special Interest Group Inquiries: ratings@votesmart.org (Research)
  4. Tech Support: webmaster@votesmart.org and Uservoice (IT)

Calls to these lines will ring differently than direct line calls.

Scheduling

Goal: For all phones to be covered from 8am-5pm.

There is a phone schedule sent weekly via email for each of the three phone lines. These schedules are either handled by a director or office manager. If one is scheduled and are not going to be in the office, it is their responsibility to make sure someone is covering the shift. If the replacement forgets, it is the primary shift holder's responsibility. The person responsible for the schedule should be notified when there are schedule changes.

Make sure phones are covered when those responsible are away from their desks, on break, or in a meeting. If the phone is ringing and no one is picking it up, pick up the phone.

Lunch Duty

Guidelines for External Communications

It is the job of every Vote Smart intern or staff member answering the phone to provide the caller with a pleasant experience. No matter what tone of voice the caller uses, remain polite and professional because as a phone operator. By answering the phone, staff are speaking on behalf of Vote Smart.

Non-partisanship Don't interpret any information. Be polite, respectful, considerate, and helpful. Never respond to a caller with: "I don't know." Don't use abbreviations (PVS/PCT/VSDM)

Phone Operation

The Office Manager (with the help of IT) is responsible for setting up phones and phone lines, updating the phone list, and troubleshooting problems. Please see the Office Manager if there are any difficulties or needs for an additional line (i.e. main line, candidate line, and hotline) to be added to a phone. They will be responsible for getting in contact with the IT department to solve these issues.

Using the Phone System

Phone Answering Procedure

1) Answering the Phone

2) Screen or Route the call if needed
At this point, you will determine if a call needs to be transferred. If it's a question you can address, address the question. If it is a more involved question, get an email address to send the answer. To take a special request: make detailed notes of the caller's questions and get an email address to send a response.
3) Taking a Message
- Response: "[Insert name/title] is unavailable at this time, but I can take down your contact information and the reason for calling and can give this information to them when they return."
4) Ending the Phone Call (If you Haven't Transferred It)
Once you've dealt with their initial inquiry, ask them if there is anything else you may help them with. If the answer is 'no,' continue as follows: "We appreciate your call and hope you will share us with people you know. Have a nice day, goodbye."

Email Coverage


Answers to Some Basic Questions

"What is Project Vote Smart?"
When you answer a call, this is one of the first questions you may be asked.

Short Answer:
Vote Smart is a nonpartisan, non-profit, political research organization. We provide the nation's first Voter's Self-Defense System. This system allows ordinary citizens to access biographical information, issue positions, voting records, public statements, performance evaluations from special interest groups, campaign contributions for current elected officials and candidates seeking to replace them, and information on voter registration. We were established by national leaders from both sides of the aisle including Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Michael Dukakis and Barry Goldwater. Vote Smart has been supported by the Ford and Carnegie Foundations, and has received praise from the New York Times, CNN, and PBS.

If the caller would like more information about who we are and what we do, you can use the Long Answer.

What information do we have?
If the caller is looking for information we collect, it is available on our web page. Many people who call Hotline will have access to the Internet and you can help to guide callers to the helpful resources on our site. These are some of the features of our website that will help them:
If a caller wants to know about VoteEasy
About Becoming a Member: ($45 is the suggested donation amount, but we will take any amount of money (i.e. $5 etc.). Note that if someone is looking to make a donation, the call should be rerouted to the Development Department)
Because we are funded exclusively by small individual contributions, as a donor, you are considered a member of Vote Smart which includes benefits such as:
If a caller has other questions, being familiar with these pages may help: HotlineResources and Navigating Our Website.

Handling Basic Requests

If a caller wants the Voter's Self-Defense Manual:
If a caller wants to be taken off of the mailing list
1.ask why they would like to be taken off of the mailing list.
2.if the recipient has died, DevComm handles the issue
3.if the recipient is alive, ask if they have ever donated to Vote Smart
1.yes, alive and yes, donated - transfer to DevComm
2.yes, alive and no, donated - take their name down. Do nothing with it (Prospecting mailing recipient).
(Note: Often members will call in with a response to a mailing they received from us and the Dev/Comm department will be best equipped to handle those calls, and record them properly in the database. If membership requires the assistance of another department, say it turns out the member really want to figure out how they can donate time doing some IT for us, membership will handle that with the necessary departments. To the extent we can, we want to give the members a single point of contact. Also, any changes to membership, e.g. removing from the mailing list should also go to Dev/Comm, and if unavailable take a detailed message noting full name (watch spelling) and state.)

Training
In addition to reading this manual, please complete the following exercises to familiarize yourself with our website: Navigating Our Website
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