Vendor Spotlight on 1Call: Helping Healthcare Organizations Effectively Manage Day-to-Day and Crisis Communications



For over 36 years, Amtelco has been providing innovative communication applications to call centers around the world. In 1997, the 1Call Division was formed to offer enterprise-wide communication solutions designed specifically for healthcare organizations. 1Call is dedicated to helping healthcare organizations provide communications that connect people and information.

Our Customers Say It Best: The University of Tennessee Medical Center sets high standards for their customer service, striving to always exceed their customers’ expectations by providing personalized care and outstanding service. “The installation by Amtelco was fabulous, and the Amtelco folks were just great,” said Donna Jones, manager of PBX and information. When I talk to folks, I always compliment Amtelco’s service. I just feel like the technicians and trainers are always there for me. If I have a question, I just send it off to the trainers, and someone always gets back with me. If they can’t answer my question, we set up a time to talk. They will remote in, show me what’s going on and what I need to do. As far as service, we’ve rarely had a real issue with the Amtelco product. Any time I’ve ever had to call them, they get right in there and take care of the problem.”

Jones continued by saying, “The best thing about your service department is they never blame the other vendor. When I call and there’s an issue, the technicians say, ‘Okay, let’s get in there, and we’ll see what’s going on.’ They’re just there to help. They don’t care whose issue it is; they just want this product running. And they want me satisfied. I don’t have an issue with them at all, ever. If I call, they’re always there and always willing to help me. And one of the other things, which was important to me when we first installed the product, is that never do they ever talk down to you. Never do they act like ‘You should know this.’ They’re just great!”

Capital Health is Nova Scotia’s largest provider of health services. Faced with rising “no-show” rates when people missed their scheduled appointments, the call center was asked to make reminder calls.

Betty Bouchie, senior systems analyst, voice services, said “We actually dropped their no-show rate from nine percent to one percent. When we started doing calls for them, their average wait list was about nine months. We dropped it down to about six months with manual calls, and it’s three months now with Pro Show. The second that the word got out of the impact we had made, we had people lined up down the block. They want the same thing.”

Creating Lasting Partnerships: Every patient deserves the best care possible. 1Call’s goal is to provide healthcare organizations with the tools to efficiently handle caller’s requests with a single phone call, saving time, eliminating confusion, and providing patients with premier service.

1Call systems furnish integrations with existing networks to save costs and bring information together in a single location. 1Call has developed partnerships with Avaya, Cisco, Digium, HL7, and NEC.

Because of the detailed working relationship with customers, 1Call considers each customer a partner organization. By continuing to meet and exceed their needs, the list of 1Call partners continues to grow throughout the US and Canada, at organizations both large and small.

Featuring 5-Star Service and Support: 1Call works closely with each healthcare organization, helping them design a system that meets their unique needs. 1Call has a reputation for complete, professional system support, offering training, installation, and technical support staff on-call on a 24-hour basis.

Approximately 70 percent of the customer care group has been with Amtelco for 10 or more years. This promotes a comfortable working relationship between customers and the customer care group. 1Call’s 5-Star Service and Support is more than just a slogan, it comes with every 1Call system, and includes:

  • An informed customer care group
  • Experienced trainers and installers
  • Knowledgeable field engineers
  • Online resource library and tech helper
  • The largest healthcare call center user’s group

Innovation in Action: 1Call designs high-performance, reliable intelligent console attendant switchboard solutions that streamline hospital-wide communications. Frequent software releases give customers access to the newest features and technology.

The 1Call systems significantly reduce the training time needed for operators, creating a fast return on investment. Web-based access also simplifies procedures for operators and staff members. Detailed reporting is included with each 1Call solution, keeping the call center informed.

1Call features include:

  • Enhanced Call Management Solutions (featuring intuitive call flow navigation): Simplify call handling, reduce training time by up to 80%, and eliminate errors with customized call flow scripts. Supervisors can edit existing scripts or create new scripts at any time. Script libraries that handle a wide variety of call types are available for customers to download; plus, customers can upload their own scripts to share with others. The code call process is just one of the call flow scripts that help operators and personnel efficiently handle codes hospital-wide.
  • Web and Mobile Communications: Keep physicians and staff informed, no matter where they are. 1Call’s Web and mobile communications allows staff to access contact information, view and edit on-call schedules, and look at their messages using Web, smartphone, or tablet access.
  • Secure Communications: Maintaining privacy for physicians, staff, patients, and the organization is vital. 1Call helps provide secure communications with encrypted messaging for Android™, Apple® iPad®, iPhone®, and iPod touch®, and BlackBerry® devices.
  • Scheduling Solutions: 1Call’s on-call schedules allow physicians and staff members to view, enter, and edit their own on-call schedules. The automated schedules ensure that operators always contact the correct on-call person. 1Call also features automated workforce scheduling, allowing complex schedules for entire departments to be created in seconds.
  • Voice Services: Save time for internal and external callers by automating routine phone calls and provide better service for patients with IVR and speech solutions. The voice services solutions also allow operators to pre-record answer phrases, create multi-party conference calls, and automatically record incoming calls, outgoing calls, and screen captures, helping verify information, ensure proper call handling, and speed operator training.
  • Notification Solutions: Quickly getting personnel to the correct location is essential for healthcare organizations. The 1Call notification solutions are ideal for emergency communications, as well as for day-to-day communications, featuring automated and secure SMS, email, and paging for HL7 integrations. 1Call’s notification solutions also help customers be proactive by reminding patients about upcoming appointments.
  • Reporting: Everything that happens in the call center is tracked, maintaining complete and accurate statistics for quality assurance reports and any other needed custom reports.

Early History: 1Call has a strong history in the telemessaging industry. Amtelco, the parent company of 1Call, was founded in 1976 to provide communication applications to the answering service and medical messaging industry. Bill Curtin, the founder of Amtelco, received his first telecommunications patent in 1951. Since that time, Amtelco’s innovation has added 30 patents.

Amtelco Today: Under the leadership of Chairwoman of the Board Eleanor Curtin and President Tom Curtin, Amtelco’s main office in Wisconsin houses personnel in solutions development, customer care, field engineering, manufacturing, and administrative staff. Amtelco also has twelve sales offices and six customer care offices throughout the U.S. and Canada.

A Bright Future: 1Call is dedicated to continuing to provide healthcare organizations with the solutions needed to offer more services while containing costs. By working closely with customers, 1Call will continue to develop innovative features and products.

For more information, call 800-225-6035 or email info@1call.com.

[From the October/November 2012 issue of AnswerStat magazine]