Westlinks Helpline Manager with Phone Number
What is it?
The core function of Helpline Manager is to route incoming calls to scheduled agents. The platform uses digital voice technology
What does it do?
The core function of the application is to route incoming phone calls to your staff.
Each of your staff members has a user account with the "agent" role
Staff profile includes availability settings by day and hours per day
A set of shifts is configured. A shift is a span of time on one or more days of the week (e.g. M-F 8:00 AM to Noon)
Agents can request shifts which are subsequently approved or declined by managers
Managers can also assign agents to shifts
While the agent is on call, all inbound phone calls are routed to the phone number in the agent profile.
If multiple staff is on the schedule at the same time, multiple calls role from one agent to the next based on priorities.
If an inbound call is not picked up, it routes to voicemail where the caller can leave a 30 second recording. The recording is transcribed into text and emailed to managers and to staff on duty at the time
Starting 24 hours prior to a shift, the system sends a confirmation request to the agent notifying them of their upcoming shift. If they miss the call, it will keep calling every hour until acknowledged.
Phone calls are logged and posted to the system for analysis by managers. The logs are viewable for an entire day, by shift or by agent.
Who is it for?
The Westlinks Helpline Manager Application can be used by any organization who receives inbound phone calls. Some obvious uses are:
Nonprofit Helplines (Suicide, depression, sobriety, etc)
Virtual companies with no physical office
Online sales companies
Online support departments
Property management companies
And many more
What exactly do I get?
The application is a website which runs on a cloud server and consists of the following items:
Dedicated stand-alone cloud server hosted at DigitalOcean.
Westlinks Helpline Manager software package installed on the server
Domain name (either your own or one you purchase on Westlinks Online)
Twilio Phone Number
Each application runs on a dedicated cloud server and is configured with a dedicated Twilio phone number of your choosing and domain name also of your choosing. You may purchase a new domain name (starting at $12.95/yr) or configure your own (we will help you with that). Although the bulk of the installation is automated, there is some manual configuration work to do. We charge a one time setup fee for helping you through all the tasks required to get you up and running including one on one training as needed.
How does the phone number part work?
We integrate with Twilio's platform and provide you with the ability to purchase phone numbers for $2.00 per month (after $5.00 installation fee). You can choose a number in any city in the US and Puerto Rico.
I am not located in the US or Puerto Rico. Can I still buy a phone number?
It depends on the location. We will take this on a case by case basis.
I have an existing phone number. How do I connect my phone number to the Helpline Manager?
There are a few ways. Here are three possible solutions.
Forward your phone number to the Twilio number assigned to your Helpline Manager
Port your phone number to the Helpline Manager. This takes about 3-5 days from start to finish
Adopt the Twilio number as your new number for your helpline
Can I make outbound calls?
This application is intended to route only inbound calls to your agents. However there is a built in option for making outbound calls in combination with a validated mobile phone. Note that Westlinks Online offers a solution specifically designed to make outbound calls (and receive inbound calls). See our Westlinks Phone application for more information.
What are automatic updates?
From time to time there are required bug fixes, new features, or improvements added to the application. When these changes have been fully tested and are ready for production, we push them out to our customer installations. Customers are notified by email when these updates have been completed. Usually these changes have no direct impact on operations. If they do we make sure to inform you prior to pushing the update.
How many agents can I have on the system?
There is no limit. You can even have no agents in which case calls would only forward to voicemail. If you are a sole proprietor with only yourself, you can use the system to choose when you want to receive calls. Whenever you have no active shift, calls forward to voicemail.
What happens when there is more than one agent on shift at the same time?
If one agent is on the line and a new call comes in, it automatically gets sent to the second (or third/fourth...) agent. You can also assign priorities to your agents which will send calls to agents in order of their priorities.
Do I have to have a domain name?
We prefer that all installations be associated to a domain name. We offer domain names at a fair price or you can use your own and configure it to work with the platform (we will assist you with this).
