Consolidating for a Cure
The American Cancer Society centralizes its call centers
SINCE CONSOLIDATING its 40 call centers into two over the past four years, the American Cancer Society has built up an operation that will soon be able to handle 3.5 million inbound calls per year.
With the aid of data gathered by local field offices, the health-related charity has been constantly refining caller databases used for fundraising and providing free information.
The ACS began phasing out local call centers when it opened its first nationwide teleservices center in January 1997; a second center was added in August 1999. All 800-number calls were rerouted from the group’s 40 centers to these two facilities. The ACS now has the capacity for expansion to 448 workstations.
Right now, the group answers 1.5 million inbound calls annually and responds to Web site (www.cancer.org) inquiries, sending out more than 55,000 e-mails per month. The e-mail portion of its service program will soon be relocated from Atlanta to Austin.
Phone reps and the Web site provide information about cancer, drugs and related topics. Typically 72% of calls received involve data inquiries, and 28% come from donors.
About 220 agents use the ACS online database to provide basic information with an emphasis on social services such as transportation to receive treatments, cancer diagnosis, risks and prevention. Those seeking more clinical details are transferred to a second tier of 10 representatives with nursing backgrounds.
