live chat for information & referral shye louis, 2-1-1/life line, rochester ny fran spadafora...
TRANSCRIPT
Live Chat for Information &
Referral
Shye Louis, 2-1-1/LIFE LINE, Rochester NY
Fran Spadafora Manzella, 2-1-1 Tompkins, Ithaca NY
Jill Wolski Ordonez, United Way 2-1-1 and Crisis Hotline, Albany NY
Questions:
How many centers in the room already offer chat?
How many would like to offer chat?What other services would you like to
offer online?What are your concerns about moving
I&R services online? What prevents you from moving in this direction?
Overview:
1. Learn about our Chat Services2. Operational Considerations for
Implementing Chat
Chat at our Centers
1. Rochester – 2-1-1/LIFE LINE Chat and Veterans Chat Back-Up
2. Albany – Crisis Chat3. Ithaca – 2-1-1 Chat
Communication is migrating from voice to other channels The average U.S. mobile
phone subscriber now sends and receives more text messages than voice calls.
-Nielson Mobile, September 2008http://www.bizreport.com/2008/09/nielsen_mobile_texting_vs_talking.html
• Instant Messaging is wildly popular, disproportionately so for younger age groups.
• 14.2 billion messages per month (2006)
Why add Live Chat?
Are we in the “Phone” business ?
Or are we in the “Helping” business?
Chat Keeps I&R in the Helping Business:
Accessibility to inquirers is a core principle of I&R Inquirers who are
deaf/hearing impaired Inquirers who have
speech impairment Inquirers who prefer the
medium to telephone Inquirers who do not
have access to a phone but do have access to internet
Enhancement to public searching your website
Common areas of concern about Chat:Can text adequately convey the
complexity of human emotion and compassion?
What is my center’s liability?How do we send rescue in emergencies?What technology platform should I use?How much volume will we receive?How do I train staff to provide service
online?How can I ensure I have enough
staff/volunteers to meet demand, without any new funding?
Mitigating Liability
Disclaimers IT Security
Choosing Chat Software
CostOne timeOn-going
SecurityEase of UseEase of Installation and Set-UpDesired features
Choosing Chat Staff
Not all staff are created equal when it comes to chat
In addition to excellent I&R skills chat specialists should demonstrate:the ability to multi-taskhave the ability to work under pressurehave strong written communication skillshave strong typing skillspreferably have previous experience using
IM or other chat services.
Training chat staff
Trained I&R SpecialistsTraining Manual/GuidelinesSoftware TrainingPractice Chats
Differences in Chat Tone of voice/inflections are not present
Increased importance on clear, concise language Discourages use of slang and humor
Need to “read” the communication style of your visitor and respond accordingly Chat segment style
Chat length is generally longer than call length to cover the same material. Need to consider this when staffing chat Takes longer to type than speak Chat culture – inquirers might be multi-tasking while
chatting Expectation for chat staff different in terms of response time
Chat Process
Identical to I&R Process Listen Assess Action Plan Close
Active listening skills such as paraphrasing and reflection of feeling are still critical to having good contact
Opportunity to assist with online database navigation
Operational Decisions
Availability Multiple chats Use of chat slang, abbreviations and
emoticons Canned Responses Information collected from chat visitors Documentation and reporting
considerations Promotion/marketing
Chat Dilemmas
Suicide Emergencies and other emergencies – considerations in sending emergency services
Out of service area/out of country chats Prank chats Opening links sent from chat visitors Contact from “bots” Repeat chat visitors
Supervision and Evaluation of Chat Services
Self-evaluation by chat staff Monitoring of chats in real-time Review transcripts of chats Post-chat feedback survey
2-1-1 Chat Demonstration
www.211fingerlakes.org http://hsctc.org/index.php?page=chat
Crisis Chat
A national chat concept
How “Crisis Chat” started…
Unsolicited E-mails to Crisis Centers
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I am so alone. don't know what to do. all I think about is suicide. I don’t want to hurt the people who say they love me (even if I don’t believe them), but why should I bear all this pain or hurt? If I tell my therapist again about these feelings or thoughts, she'll send me to the hospital. I can’t go to the hospital because I only have one week left of college to graduate and I don’t want to ruin that for my parents who think it's important. I don’t want to ruin the holidays for my family by being in the hospital or dead. But I cant stop the thoughts.
I called, but cannot find the courage to speak. I feel pathetic doing this, but I thought calling could only do more good than harm. Unfortunately my shyness will not allow me to talk.
CONTACT USA’s VisionOne National Portal
Easy access for the public via universal marketing
Technical Support for Crisis CentersOperational and Training GuidelinesOES Standards and AccreditationAssistance in securing funding
National Conference Share practice learning sessions & support new
OES centers
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How it works: Multi-Service Website Platform
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iCarol ementalhealth.ca
Emotion Technology
How is Crisis Chat Applicable to 2-1-1 Centers?
Blended centers can join on Crisis Chat portal.
Standards, Operations and Training materials can be adapted for online I&R.
Technology platforms can be the same.
Centers that develop either crisis or I&R chat can move to the other one quite easily after implementation of one.
Crisis Chat Demonstrations:
Crisis Chat WebsiteCrisis Chat Service
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Other National Chat Efforts to learn from/collaborate with:
Veterans Crisis Chat Homeless Veterans Chat National Suicide Prevention Lifeline chat
efforts
The Future
What else is already out there/coming soon? Email Texting Integration with social networking Video ???
2-1-1 Online in the Future
Comprehensive Community Info WebsitePublically accessible and intuitive database
on community services. Information on specialized health/issue
areas (mental health, prison re-entry etc).
Direct Services for I&R/CrisisChat, email, texting, social networking,
discussion groups etc.