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In this Issue:
• Hot Tips: 2100 · 2500 · 3500 · 2000/MVP · Standard/Plus
• How are you using your PhoneTree® ?

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Welcome to the TreeHouse!

As a valued PhoneTree® customer, you are part of a growing group of organizations, businesses, schools, healthcare practices and religious institutions who are enjoying a greater level of communication and participation. You may be using your PhoneTree® to remind members of upcoming events, notify customers of monthly specials, confirm appointments with your patients, or just to let your members know who need their prayers the most. No matter how you are using your PhoneTree® , we want to make sure that we help you meet your communication needs, now and in the future. We created this quarterly newsletter to help you get the most from your PhoneTree® product.

With each issue, you will get hot tips and information, giving you the tools you need to use your PhoneTree® most effectively, as well as a peek into the ways that other groups like yours are using their PhoneTrees. We also want to hear from you. If you have any questions you’d like answered, or if there’s an item on your PhoneTree® “wish list,” feel free to send them to either our street address or e-mail them to us at treehouse@phonetree.com. Your feedback will be essential to helping us make this newsletter as effective as possible.

Has your PhoneTree® gotten you out of a jam? Or do you have an interesting or funny story to tell about your PhoneTree® ? We want to know! We welcome your anecdotes, and also any feedback on how you are using your PhoneTree® day-to-day. Let us know how PhoneTree® has improved communication in your office, and if we print your story, you’ll receive a FREE 6-month Customer Service contract! Let us know what you want to see in this newsletter... after all, it’s YOUR newsletter. And thank you for your continued support.

Did You Know... About Power Outages and PhoneTree® ?

Your PhoneTree® will retain its calling list, even in the case of a power outage. This ensures that your data will not be lost in the event of a storm or other emergency situation. On the PhoneTree® Standard, your data is stored in the unit itself. If you lose power, your data will not be lost, but you will need to re-record your message and reset the time—this is a built-in safeguard so that your PhoneTree® will not call your members in the middle of the night without your knowledge. With the PhoneTree® Plus, your data is similarly stored in the unit, but you also have a copy of your list on your computer, which you can access with the PBaseWin software (and you should, of course, keep a recent backup of this file). If you have a PhoneTree® USB unit or ISA card (all other PhoneTree® systems), your call list is stored on your PC (and uses the PC clock for the correct time). Your data will not be lost when the power goes out, but be sure to maintain a backup copy of your PhoneTree® folder (stored in C:\Program Files), so that in the event of a hard drive failure, your calling list can be restored.

Adding Power to Easy Call

You probably already know how to use Easy Call to quickly call your list. But did you also know that you can access the Kid Zone protection feature (Call Confirmation Mode), separate Night and Machine messages, and Pound (#) for More Info messaging, right from the Easy Call screen? Here’s how to enable this:

From the PhoneTree® Edit Screen, choose Preferences from the Setup menu. Click on the Messages tab.The first option on this screen is titled “Easy Call” message recording preferences—make sure the checkbox next to Allow separate day/night/answering machine and MoreInfo messages is checked (see below). Click OK.

Now, choose Using Easy Call from the Call menu. You should now see the Intro (dial 9), More Info (#), Night and Machine options at the bottom of the Easy Call screen.

Click the checkbox next to any one of the options to activate it. Click the red Record button next to the option name to record, then click the green Play arrow to listen. Refer to the How Do I…? section in your PhoneTree® manual or on the PhoneTree® website for more information on using these messaging options in your call session. [Back to top]

 

Adding More PhoneTrees
 
With the PhoneTree® 2500, it is possible to have up to 256 unique PhoneTree® icons on your PhoneTree® desktop. However, your PhoneTree® 2500 ships with only 8 of them enabled. Here’s how to increase the number from 8 up to 256.

You will then be prompted to restart the PhoneTree® application. After restarting, you will see your new PhoneTrees on the PhoneTree® desktop, with generic icons. You can choose new icons for any of these by right-clicking on an icon and choosing Edit This Icon from the submenu that appears.

Doing this will take you directly to the Desktop Icon screen for the PhoneTree® you’ve selected, where you can choose an icon from the Select an Icon list and change the name of your PhoneTree® (see left).
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Spoken Time/Date Options
 
To insert the time and date of an appointment into your messages, you can use the Text-to-Speech engine, or you can use the included Spoken Date and Time feature along with snippets for the rest of the message that you record yourself. Here’s how.

From the PhoneTree® Edit Screen, choose Preferences from the Setup menu. Click on the Flex Fields tab. Check the box next to Enable Spoken Date and choose the Flex Field containing the Date information that you have configured (see the Flex Field section in the PhoneTree® Manual for more information about configuring Flex Fields) from the drop-down menu. Then, choose the format that most closely matches the way that your Date data appears in your file under Data type. Repeat for Enable Spoken Time. Lastly, you can also allow PhoneTree® to automatically insert a spoken “ON” before the date and an “AT” before the time, so that you will not need to set up and record these snippets yourself on the Constructed Message Editor screen. Check the box next to either or both of these options if desired. Click OK when done. [Back to top]

Sorting and Filtering Data
 
With the 4.0 versions of the 2000 and the MVP software, you have access to powerful data management features. You have the ability to sort, filter and to view the members of your list a number of different ways. You could complete a call session, then filter out everyone except those who weren't home, so you could call them again. You could sort your list by reply, then start a new call session intended just for the people who responded a certain way. And you can view by Group, to quickly see which of your members belong to which group(s). Before looking at the ways to do this, it's valuable to understand the differences between sorting, filtering and viewing.

Sorting
Sorting your list means changing the order that the members in your list will be displayed AND called (PhoneTree® always starts calling with the person at the top of the view and moves down the Viewed list). PhoneTree® allows you to sort by Call Status, Name, Phone, and Replies. So, for instance, sorting your list by Name would show everyone in the entire list, but you'd see everyone in alphabetical order, based on the first character entered in the Name column (this is why it's best to type in people's names with the last name first, followed by their first name).

Filtering
Filtering your list means choosing to display a smaller subset of your original list of members. PhoneTree® allows you to filter on Call Status, Groups, and Replies. So, for instance, filtering your list by a Call Status of Ans by Machine would show only the people in the list with the Call Status of Ans by Machine. You can then decide to sort them also if desired.

Viewing
Viewing your list means choosing a certain filter and/or sort order for your list, then saving that information so you can View it that way again. The Standard View can not be sorted or filtered. It is necessary to create a new View if you would like to make changes. You can save several views for different functions. And keep in mind that if you have chosen a filtered view, the others in your list are still there, they are just not shown in the current View. To see everyone again, just choose Standard View.

Using the View Menu
From the PhoneTree® List Editor, choose Preferences from the Setup menu. Uncheck the box next to Use Short Menus. Click OK. Choose Filter/Sort from the View menu. Click the small “add” button in the lower left. Give this new View a name, then decide how you want to sort your List. Choose from either the Call Status, Groups or Replies columns. Next, choose the order to sort the data with the drop-down menus in the Sort Order box. For instance, to View only the numbers who were answered by answering machines, choose Ans by Machine in the Call Status box, then choose Call Status in the first Sort Order drop-down menu and then choose Name in the second Sort Order drop-down menu (to alphabetize the sort results). Click OK when finished. [Back to top]

Using Count Replies Mode
 
Have you ever wanted to quickly recruit a limited number of volunteers for a project, and then stop calling once you have enough people for the job? Your PhoneTree® can make this task easy with Count Replies Mode. This is a powerful feature available with all PhoneTree® models, including the PhoneTree® Standard and Plus. Here’s how to set up and use this feature.

On the PhoneTree® Plus, launch the PBaseWin software. Choose Talk to PhoneTree® from the PhoneTree® menu. Create a new Setup Set if you have not done so on the Choose Setups tab, then click on the Advanced Tab.

Check the box next to Count Replies, then type the number of volunteers you need in the How Many? box. Now, once you click the Send Setups to PhoneTree® button, the next call job will use this option. Using the PhoneTree® Standard, press the [MENU] button, then <A>DVANCED. Use the right arrow key to scroll to the Count Replies? option. Press <Y> for Yes, then press [ENTER] to see How Many Replies? Type in a number from 1 to 999, then press [ENTER] again. With the next call job, PhoneTree® will count the number of "9" (or "Y," for "Yes") replies, and will stop the call job when the desired number has been received.

Be sure to ask for the "9" reply in your message. For instance:“Hi, this is Susan Jones calling from the school. We need seven substitute teachers to come in today for the first through third grades. If you will be able to teach today, please press '9,' and please be at the school no later than 9:30. <pause> Thank you.” After the call job has been completed, check the Replies column in Call Status to find out who your volunteers are. [Back to top]

How Are You Using Your PhoneTree System ?

We asked two groups of our users “How are you using your PhoneTree® system?” Following are their answers, some of which may surprise you.

Faith-Based Organizations
“Our church mainly uses PhoneTree® as a reminder system to contact the administrative staff and deacon ministry on a regular basis to remind them of all their upcoming meetings,” says B.J. Wells of New Hope Baptist Church. “Also, we use it specifically for cancellations of choir rehearsals or other meetings that have to be rescheduled. We have a membership of approximately 2000 and we’ve used it on two occasions to contact the entire congregation for an upcoming event. I would not trade this system for anything—it is a time-saver!” Says Jenna Roher of Christ Church:

I would not trade our PhoneTree® for anything—it is a time-saver!

“ Three weeks ago, we had a situation where we had to call a Sunday School class of over 120 people on a Friday, to inform them that a class social that was scheduled for that very evening was cancelled. PhoneTree® allowed me to pull up the entire class, record the message and start calling. By 2:00 PM, every member of the class had either been contacted in person or had a message on their answering machine. What a lifesaver!” Carolyn Phillips of First Presbyterian Church agrees:“If I had a nickel for how many calls PhoneTree® made for us last year, I would be able to buy another one. It pays for itself! The PhoneTree® has taken away the frustration of countless staff hours spent on the phone and the complication of elaborate person-based calling that often fails and offers little feedback. Using the PhoneTree® frees up enormous time to focus back on the ministry of our Christian Education Department, Music Ministry, Youth Groups and our church as a whole. It takes just a few minutes to set up and saves hours of time.” Kay Filson of Platte Woods United Methodist Church sums up her PhoneTree® experience by saying “Best thing since sliced bread.”


Retail Businesses
Cory Wiedel owns three General Nutrition Center stores and helps manage two others in Nebraska. He says: “Over a year ago I bought two PhoneTree® telephone messaging systems for use in my GNC stores. This undoubtedly has been one of the better purchases that I have ever made. In the past my people and I would spend countless hours on the phone reminding our customers about our discount Tuesday, and when Tuesday would come, we were all tired just from making all those calls the prior day. The PhoneTree® systems have already paid for themselves. We do not have to hire additional people to make calls, or call the customer lists ourselves; PhoneTree® does that for us and we know that the calls have been made.” Joe Barry, owner of four GNC stores in Texas, agrees: “My wife and I have four stores. The number of Gold Cards totals almost 2400, with 1450 at a single store. We spent a few days entering our database and started calls on Friday, continuing through calls for all four stores at 6 PM Monday. I did add a dedicated phone line to one store, thus allowing the PhoneTree® to work uninterrupted. We are 100% satisfied with the PhoneTree® , our employees now think we are saints, and my wife and I wish we had done this sooner.”

Now It’s Your Turn
How are you using your PhoneTree® ? Tell us how PhoneTree® has improved communication for your group, and if we print your story, you’ll receive a FREE 6-month Customer Service contract! E-mail your stories to treehouse@phonetree.com, or send them to the address below. Thank you!

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