The new national breastfeeding line from the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) has proved so innovative it is winning awards. The line allows parents concerned about breastfeeding to gain information, support and access to expert counsellors quickly and efficiently. A virtual call centre routes parents to their nearest local expert using innovative technology provided by Opal Telecom and deployed by Mercury Energy. The whole system was designed in five months and was made possible by a donation from Persil Non-Bio.
When a call is placed, the NCT's system uses "non-geographic-based origin call routing" to determine where the call is from. The system then contacts the nearest local breastfeeding counsellor. If the expert - all of whom are trained volunteers - does not answer within five rings, the system rings a second and then a third local expert. In the event of no answer from all three experts, the system routes the call to a team of national emergency duty counsellors. They are guaranteed to be in. In the event of all lines being engaged, the system records a message which gets checked periodically during shifts.
After undergoing a soft launch the breastfeeding line was due to launch officially on January 29. "We've been testing the technology and it has been working brilliantly," says Diane Emery, head of fundraising at the NCT. "This line has been very much needed. Women just didn't know where to go. The problem was that there wasn't a single number for breastfeeding help with a guaranteed real person response. Ours is free and open to the general public.
The breastfeeding line won this year's e-business classic award for network services design at the prestigious eBusiness Innovation Awards programme. The line allows emergency cases to be diverted quickly to the appropriate services.
In order to balance the sponsor's and the charity's needs, data capture is a priority. Integrated voice response technology was installed to collect and validate details of first-time users. Another problem was changes to the emergency team. "Reprogramming the network at the last minute for one counsellor taking over for another is something that isn't going to happen - especially with 10 minutes' notice," explains Richard Samuel, chairman of Mercury Energy and the man responsible for the helpline's design. Mercury arranged the system so that each time a counsellor came on duty, they call into the network to input their phone number. All calls are routed to them until they log out at the end of their shift. "The overriding priority was that we had to make this system user and counsellor friendly. The sort of rules that might apply to a commercial organisation could not be forced here because everybody's a volunteer," says Samuel.
Opel's technology allowed Mercury to program with unique flexibility. One problem facing counsellors arose when their children answered their phone instead. Given the often sensitive and distressed nature of the callers, the system was programmed to announce who the call is for before routing it through. This reminds children to pass the phone to the parent before a caller is encountered. The system is so flexible that Mercury has even set it up to accommodate nine future lines as yet unbuilt. The breastfeeding line is also linked to the general NCT inquiries line.
In future, the NCT plans to run the breastfeeding line 24 hours a day. It would also like to set up an interactive antenatal booking service. "There's a huge demand for our classes - some women book in as soon as they know they are pregnant," explains Emery. The NCT's breastfeeding line number is 0870 444 8708. It is currently open from 8am to 10 pm, seven days a week. The enquiry line number is 0870 444 8707 and is open from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Thursday and from 9am to 4pm on Friday. The NCT receives around 80,000 calls a year from parents. NHS Direct operators also have these phone numbers and refer callers to NCT counsellors who offer information and support on pregnancy, childbirth and parenting
