The Phone Squad

Image via CrunchBase

I recently set up a Google Voice number for one of my non-profit clients, an anti-poverty agency. I went to their site and requested an invitation for them. I then sent Google an email telling them what I planned to use it for. I figured that they would see the public relations possiblities of something like this. They activated the account immediately. Cool.

The plan is simple. I am going to help them put together a squad of volunteers to man the phone during their Thanksgiving-Christmas donations drive. They are looking for food, clothing, furniture, appliances and, of course, money. Their problem is that, up to now, their main phone number is clogged with desperate pleas for help from hundreds of people. It is nearly impossible to get through to them, and, if you do, you do not get the kind of treatment you should if you are calling to give troubled families a Thanksgiving dinner or toys to give the kids for Christmas.

Their new Voice number will be for donations. The people who answer will be volunteers who will answer from home. They will be able to volunteer without leaving home. They will be able to put a widget on their website that will automatically call them and then call the volunteer on duty–and hook them up. That is one of the features of Voice.

There is only one problem. I do not think that these volunteers should be out there all alone, if they have questions or problems. I would like to build a collaboration platform that would give them instant access to a supervisor. My sense is that you could do this with Skype.

My problem here is what it always is. I am going to have a hard time getting the people in charge to understand what I am doing with this. They are my age, and, unfortunately, therefore technophobic. I am going to have a lot of splaining to do. (That is for those who are old enough to remember I Love Lucy.)

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