Setting up a helpline with volunteers can be quite a task: incoming calls need to be perfectly forwarded when you want to provide a confidential conversation and a listening ear.

What are the requirements for such a telephone helpline, and what actions do you need to take to set up a successful helpline? Let’s go through them step by step:

What Does a Volunteer Helpline Do?

A volunteer helpline helps people solve problems or provides a listening ear so people can talk about their issues. Examples of volunteer helplines include numbers where people can discuss financial problems, mental health, divorce, the loss of a loved one, or simply the need for a good conversation.

These helplines are often staffed by skilled volunteers who offer a listening ear in their free time. These volunteers need to empathize with others and show understanding for various situations. These phone lines are often available every weekday, sometimes on weekends or at night.

Running a helpline can be emotionally demanding for volunteers. That’s why it’s important for the technology supporting the helpline to run smoothly 24/7.

Thanks to the user-friendliness and numerous phone features of our Interactive Voice Response system (IVR), you can set up the helpline exactly as you want, allowing volunteers to focus entirely on the conversations while the caller can share their story with the right technology.

Step 1: Choose a Memorable Phone Number

You can set up a helpline with your local phone number. However, this gives a strong local impression, which may not be ideal if you want to attract a national audience. That’s why we recommend a national phone number. With a national phone number, anyone can call you at local rates from anywhere in the country.

An 0800 number is free for callers, meaning the call costs are covered by you. With a 0900 number, you can set the rate yourself, allowing you to provide a cost-covering service or even generate revenue.

If you don’t want a free or paid helpline but prefer callers to pay normal rates, choose an 085 number. We have a long list of available 0800/085 and 0900 numbers that you can secure immediately.

Step 2: Connect Volunteers to the Helpline

Now that the number is yours, you need to configure our telephony platform to determine where the phone should ring when someone calls. These destinations can be the landline or mobile numbers of the volunteers, a home phone, or an app they install on their computer.

This way, everyone becomes part of the call team, and you have a virtual call center.

On our team page, each staff member can indicate whether they are available to answer calls at that moment. This way, our system knows exactly who to forward the call to at any given time.

Your helpline is now optimally reachable. This technology works for 1 to 250 people and is the same technology used for emergency numbers that need to be reachable at night, such as transplant lines.

Step 3: Add Additional Features

You now have an easy-to-remember number for your helpline that connects callers to available volunteers. But what happens if all staff members are busy? Thanks to the convenient phone features of Belfabriek, you can prepare your number for such situations.

For example, you can record a welcome message with opening hours and adjust it when you’re unavailable. With a menu, you can offer callers options to choose from, so they are directly connected to the right colleague. And with a queue, you can place callers on hold when it’s busy. If the queue gets too long, you can set it up so callers are asked to leave a message on the digital voicemail.

Do you have specific needs? Your developer can use our telephony API (Application Programming Interface) to build a perfect custom solution.

The Telecom Provider for Helplines

As you can see, setting up a telephone helpline is entirely doable. At Belfabriek, you can start small and grow over time. All our customers have access to the same features, allowing you to expand your number as needed. Do you have questions about setting up a volunteer helpline? We’re happy to provide more information or help you launch your helpline via 0800-325 3227!