Updates Newsletter

Technical questions this week

What if I can’t get into the staff client?  How do I submit a helpdesk ticket?

Send the issue to the helpdesk via an email to helpdesk@apple.evergreen.lib.in.us

Outbound Calling

Outbound calling began on Monday.  A summary of questions and answers have been collected here:

Q.  If we, at the library, place the hold for the patron, will we have to choose what pick up method the patron desires or will their “My Account” preference be the default for the hold we place for them via the staff client?

A.  When you place the hold, there are two check boxes.  One to allow a phone notification, one to allow email notification, or you can select both, as the patron chooses.  The selection made by the patron in “My account” will override any selection you choose if you place a hold on the patron’s behalf.

So, if you select a phone notification and phone number for the patron to be notified on, that will only occur if they additionally have phone notifications enabled.

Q.  Phone calls state Evergreen items are ready for pick-up (or something similar) and patrons do not understand what Evergreen is.  Suggestions on how to make patrons more aware would be welcome.

A.  You may want to the sign “Do we have your current phone number UPDATED” to post around the library.  If any library has begun to use additional materials, and would like to share those, we can post them for everyone.

Another option, if you have patrons who frequently request holds to be placed on their behalf, would be to add a patron note indicating their “default” preference.  You could then train staff to defer to this note when placing a hold on a patron’s behalf.

Finally, there is one more option.  You could create a new statistical category which would allow you to keep track of patrons’ default preferences.  While this would not be utilized by the phone system, it could be used by your staff, when registering new patrons (or editing old ones) to make note of their preference.  This could then be referred to in cases where necessary.  Also, please note that you would need to update this statistical category on all existing patron records.  This, perhaps, could be done each time a patron comes in to check out an item. Staff could check to see if there is an entry, and if not, ask the patron for their preference.

If you need any assistance with setting up any of these statistical categories, please feel free to open a helpdesk ticket and it will be assigned to one of our technicians to assist you.

 Q. Messages that are left on answering machines just state that items have been delivered (or similar).  Is there a way to delay message or indicate to call local library?  The Evergreen portion of the message didn’t make it to the phone. 

 A.  This is the exact wording of the message that goes out to customers with unfilled holds: “This is an automated call from “patron library” intended for “patron name” informing you that the “item/items” you requested “is/are” available for pickup.” It voices this entire message every time.

The patron’s library will be the one they selected for pickup location when they placed the item on hold. The library name is pulled from the EI database for each org unit branch. The items in “” are computer generated for the Library branch name and the patron name as they are dynamic per customer the rest of the statement is voiced by Niles the developer.

The message is repeated 3 times or until the customer hangs up. If the customer hangs up prior to the message repeating then they might only hear the last part. There will always be ways that the customer can short circuit the call by accidently hanging up or on purpose. The automated phone system can only go so far for the customer.  In all but the most extreme cases it works for them just fine.

This is launch week and with use, the customer will get more familiar with the process and should understand their role.

Q. I think the problem is that there is a delay between the repeats of maybe 5 seconds and people usually won’t wait that long to hear if there is more to the story…  Is there a way to shorten that delay??

A.  The delay has been shortened to 2 seconds.

 Q. For those of us (and our patrons) who ignore and/or block any unknown numbers, is there one number or a list of numbers that the calls are going to come from?

A.   317-202-1220

219-232-0137

260-440-3355

574-537-2030

765-588-5982

317-202-1220 is the default, and the other numbers are used only if the recipient is within the same area code.

Q. We are trying to figure out how to monitor the missed calls… basically we need to run the failed calls report at some point during the day and then call these people?  One person appeared twice on the list… I thought they would only appear if the computer had tried them 3 times??

A.  There is a note that gets placed into the patron’s account by the phone system, so not all libraries are calling the patrons on this report. Besides, if the automated phone system can’t reach the patron, the staff aren’t likely to reach them either.  You might be able to reach the patron from a different phone number, but it’s likely that the problem will sort itself out the next time a patron logs into their account and reads the note.

Some patrons will appear more than once on the failed call list due to a couple of conditions.

Yes, the system will attempt to call the patron 3 times, but a call can fail in more than one way during the 3 attempts. (busy, failed, no answer)

The report will identify on a unique hold request, then user, then call disposition (busy, failed, no answer, answer). IE, 1st call is busy, 2nd call is no answer, 3rd call is answered will end up with a patron on the failed call report twice, and the successful calls report once.  Each report identifies the call disposition, and the only one that is a concern is FAILED.

It’s also very likely that a patron will get called on a hold at one point in the day, and then a second or third hold will become available later in the day.