THE VIRTUAL OFFICE

WLLO Village has a dedicated staff and a main phone number for inquiries, service requests and questions about Villages in general.  We have four volunteers, 3 of whom are well trained.  I volunteer to be the office volunteer at least two days a week.

Our hours are 10:00 am til 2:00 pm although I respond up until 4:00 pm or 5:00 pm, if I'm near my computer.  I can receive the phone calls wherever I am (they are translated by Google Voice and sent to all office volunteers as an email), and return the phone call, get clarification then enter it as a service request when I get to my computer.

Google Voice does a pretty good job but there is still a lot to be desired.  Ellen sounds like Alan.  Some members leave messages that don't quite have all the pertinent details ... like "this is Hazel and I need to go to the foot doctor on Thursday."  Of course we need to ask her the doctor's name and address and what time her appointment is.  Sometimes they have forgotten that they already requested that ride.  Often they don't have the street address so we put on our detective caps while they explain it's near Home Depot near that McDonald's just off the highway and look online while talking with them.

Once we enter a service request in our Village software, we choose which Volunteer to email the request.  For instance if it is a ride to Dr Norton for an 11:00 appt, the office volunteer checks the typical time from Hazel's house to that address and asks for driver to pick her up at 10:45, wait or return when appointment is over, then drive her back home.  Sometimes one driver can do the morning part but another needs to do the return trip.  Oh yeh!  We aim to please!!

The Office Volunteer calls the member to tell them WHO is picking them up.  The driver calls the rider the day before the appointment to confirm everything is still on. Some members call to ask who is driving two or three days before.  They just need that reassurance someone IS coming.

We can enter a note for drivers ... Hazel uses a walker, is very slow and needs help opening the door to the doctor's office.  Many riders ask the driver to made additional stops ... pick up a quart of ice cream, or a prescription.   We usually ask the rider ahead of time if there will be additional stops because sometimes drivers only plan a specific amount of time.

So far we have a 100% record of accommodating each request.  One request that we did not have success filling was less than 4 days notice (one of our rules)(and we have often done next day requests).  A pretty good track record.

Best of all?  Members have no idea that I am not working in an office complex, with my own desk, equipment, assistants and file cabinets.  This is how I run my office day ...