Volunteers Field Calls for Victims Using the Joplin Tornado Info Facebook Page thanks to VirtualPBX and PrintsMadeEasy
24 minutes is all the warning the residents of Joplin received to prepare for the F5 tornado that would completely flatten three miles of this small city in Missouri. The devastating tornado has been declared the most deadly in years, leaving in its path at least 139 victims and over 100 missing people.
Surrounded by the mayhem left by the tornado, PrintsMadeEasy (https://www.printsmadeeasy.com) saw first hand that communicating reliable information was nearly impossible and quickly becoming a critical issue. They were determined to help the people of Joplin stay connected by setting-up a support line for the victims and volunteers. Susie Matthews, online operations director at PrintsMadeEasy, quickly contacted VirtualPBX, enlisting their support.
As a longtime customer of VirtualPBX, Susie knew the hosted phone service would be the perfect solution, allowing volunteers to answer questions about drop-off sites for donations, locations of volunteers and hospitals, and to take down missing-person updates.
VirtualPBX responded by providing PrintsMadeEasy with additional phone lines, a local number and automatic call distribution (ACD) queues to help manage the increase in inbound calls. This support line fields calls for the Joplin Tornado Info Facebook page created by PrintsMadeEasy to help the people of Joplin stay connected.
“Because we’re so close to the disaster in Joplin, we did not want to just sit back and watch, especially since most of us are familiar with the places that were hit,” says Matthews. “VirtualPBX has been great by donating its hosted phone system, which has worked well for us in the past, along with a local number for people to call. We encourage anyone interested in joining us in our efforts to give us a call.”
As PrintsMadeEasy donates their free time to taking calls and updating the Joplin Tornado Info Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/joplintornadoinfo), they may soon need more volunteers. With VirtualPBX, Matthews can quickly and easily create additional extensions for volunteers. PrintsMadeEasy and other volunteers can even make and receive calls on-the-go, as Virtual PBX can allow calls to be directed to any phones anywhere. Volunteers currently working outside the affected area can now provide immediate response.
Such an influx of support and aid required organization, and VirtualPBX was glad to be able to offer some much needed assistance.
“When a longtime customer calls asking for practical help to provide a vital service like their support line, the only reasonable response is ‘yes,'” says Paul Hammond, CEO of VirtualPBX. “After viewing the devastation, it’s heartening to know that we can provide assistance that makes a difference, and we’re grateful to Susie and her team for their hard work. We’re glad we could help.”
To follow along on Facebook about any needs you may have regarding the Joplin disaster please visit https://www.facebook.com/joplintornadoinfo for more information.
