This Is Your Wake-Up Call: Using Teleservices to Spread the Message

"For years, hotels and resorts have been implementing the wake up call service. We are all familiar with this service: guests request 7 a.m. wake up calls to be made every day and they go to bed each night knowing that at 7 a.m. the next morning, they will be awakened by phone calls letting them know it is time to get up and face the day. Society has become so familiarized with this service that the phrase “this is your wake up call” has even been integrated into everyday conversation as a figure of speech.

Now, everything from businesses to libraries, from school superintendents to politicians are integrating the wake-up call model into their everyday operations to circulate widespread messages in a very short amount of time. Of course, the term “wake-up call” is a bit of a misnomer in these instances; it would be more apropos to refer to these as “reminder calls.”

During this past election season, political candidates used automated reminder calls heavily to campaign and spread their messages and platforms to voters. On any given day, an American in any city could expect to receive a call from the recorded voice of John McCain, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, reminding them that voting day was rapidly approaching and getting in their last two cents before voters went to the polls.

Another way this technology is being utilized is by school districts. In the dead of winter, on particularly snowy or icy days, schools will shut down for the day. Traditionally, parents woke up earlier if they knew weathermen were expecting a heavy overnight snowfall so that they could tune into the local radio station for an announcement regarding their child's respective school's possible closure. Now, schools are using automated call systems to call parents first thing in the morning with a recorded message from the superintendent to let them know whether or not school is canceled.

This automated service isn't just used for a wide market, though—it can even be used for individual customers or clients. Businesses, like medical offices and hair salons, are using this technology to automatically remind customers of upcoming appointments on an individual basis. Even libraries are using automated reminder calls to remind patrons who have overdue materials. This particularly comes in handy when the office is really busy and no one is available to personally make reminder calls.

The bottom line is that automated wake-up and reminder calls greatly enhance one's ability to convey a widespread message in a short amount of time, making one's business or affairs run more proficiently and more effectively.
"



Joel Black is the General Manager of Diamond Voice, a provider of voicemail, virtual office pbx, third party verification and virtual phonebooth services. For more information regarding caller identification override and virtual phonebooth, visit their website at www.diamondvoice.com