Driving Usage

Problem overview – The company in question provides computer-automated updates to victims of crime concerning the incarceration status of their offenders, a program aimed at keeping crime victims safe from being re-victimized.  The system is set up through local jails, prisons or sheriff’s departments and then introduced to the general public.  It is free and available 24/7, yet it is up to the individual citizen to call the system (toll-free) and register for automated notifications by phone, text or email.  When a new victim notification system is introduced in a community, there is an announcement made through the media, but after a period of time public usage of the system typically falls off and, in some cases, dwindles to almost nothing.  This has caused contract cancellations in many locations.  The challenge has been to change the set-up process to address this problem so that crime victims are always aware that this system is available to them.  Consequently, “victim call transfer” was created to correct the problem, to be integrated in all new client projects.  This analysis draws from the Natural System model because it involves the integration and cooperation of all key sections within the company, all of which have a stake in victim call transfer because it has the ability to increase usage of the company’s entire victim notification service (Heil, 2013). 

The process – To begin with, the victim call transfer feature must be inserted into the overall project implementation job list, a comprehensive checklist that is used to schedule and track all new notification systems nationwide, from beginning to end.  This list also serves as a kind of mutually understood roadmap between the company and its clients, who are primarily law enforcement agencies.  Once the transfer function is inserted in the appropriate spot in the overall installation sequence, the organization’s assigned project manager is responsible for coordinating with the client’s on-site technical personnel to make sure the appropriate support individuals on-site are aware of this step and know what is expected of them. 

Next, the organization’s scripting department must develop a phone script that is appropriate to the specific needs of that community’s victim notification service.  This step includes writing simple, easy-to-understand information and instructions so that when a victim contacts the jail or prison, he or she can be transferred automatically to the organization’s notification service.  Once there, the victim can then register to be notified automatically when there is a change in their offender’s incarceration status (i.e. when they are released).  Ultimately, this step will successfully inform an individual who has called their local jail or prison that by simply pressing a button on their phone, they will be transferred automatically to a system that can help them right away. 

The next step is to physically record the script that has been prepared.  This is done in a sound-proof booth at the organization’s facilities, a step that is not unlike what takes place during a musical recording session.  Sound levels are carefully set and checked, and the script reader’s diction and pacing are also carefully monitored to ensure that the script is easily understood once it is implemented in the client’s notification service.  Once the recording is satisfactorily completed, it is layered into the proper sequence within the client’s victim notification platform.  (A client may request that the script recording for victim call transfer be performed by an individual whose voice is already used in the  existing jail or prison phone system, in the interests of continuity.) 

            Then, the lead project engineer assigned to that client calls the primary contact (usually someone designated by the local law enforcement agency), and informs them that the victim call transfer function has been scripted and recorded.  At this point, the client contact may ask to hear the message, which can be sent via electronic file, in order to secure final approval from the client’s end.  This can be a very important step in the process because it is at this stage that the organization will rely upon the primary client contact to help secure the physical integration of the victim call transfer where it ultimately belongs: within the jail or prison’s automated phone system. 

The next step in the process is crucial because it can ensure or undermine the entire victim notification system.  The company’s primary client contact sets up a meeting with the individual, or individuals, responsible for maintaining the jail or prison’s automated phone system.  It is at this stage that a key strategy is employed, one that the company’s lead project manager is expected to introduce.  The jail or prison’s phone manager is told in detail about how the victim call transfer will help make their job and that of administrators, officers and other personnel much easier since they will no longer need to answer and process victim phone calls individually.  This is a time-consuming task that can take jail/prison personnel away from other, more pressing responsibilities.  As such, this strategy serves an important motivational purpose  toward effecting change within a human system (French, 47). 

            With the cooperation and active assistance of the jail/prison telephone manager secured, the company’s lead project manager provides a file with the script recording, or a script that the facility itself may use to record its own message.  This is another important step in the process because it is here that the facility personnel determine how high on its phone selection “tree” it will place the option to transfer directly to the company’s victim notification system.  Placed as too low an option (at #5 or lower, for example), the caller is apt to lose patience and “zero out” to an operator, which would defeat the purpose of the victim call transfer option.  Placing the option at #2 or #3, for instance, represents an effective strategy for encouraging victim callers to make use of the notification system, thus saving the jail/prison in terms of time and salary hours.  Once the option has been set up, the company’s project lead personally performs quality assurance, working directly with facility personnel in the event that adjustments or corrections are required.

            In conclusion, it has been determined that the success of the company’s victim notification system depends on the individual victim’s ability to access the company’s system when they contact their local jail or prison.  Without the option to transfer directly to the company’s system, crime victims may never know that this important service is available in their community.  Engaging crime victims more effectively was the change that needed to take place.  Consequently, implementing the victim call transfer option in each client’s community jail or prison will go a long way toward helping the company succeed in retaining its law enforcement clients.