Hotline

Hotline is supposed to be a direct connection for emergencies, for a particular service, for complaints or to get information.  When a hotline is set up, it has a clear purpose. A peculiar hotline is the one that is a direct line for top communication, either national or international. The kind of hotline, which is not easily available nor ordinary, is the one set for listening and learning about the true picture of its users or consumers. Actually, there are some of these, in theory. There are few of those that works efficiently. There are plenty of cosmetic hotlines, very good at taking complaints and doing absolutely nothing about them. In addition, there is seldom a hotline for harsh and sound advice.

What matters is the outcome from the input provided. Do hotlines fulfil their aim? How often a hotline is helpful? How people approach this type of service provided, or disservice available? Proposals that include the provision of a hotline are everywhere. Private companies as well as the public service sector set up hotlines to better understand the needs, and doing so, serve the society. The huge gap and the tricky issue concerning hotlines in general is that they were replaced with a recorded service or virtual assistant. They lost track of the human ability to listen to carefully. Even if and when these channels of communication are monitored and checked upon details provided by their users, they deliver poorly.

By contrast, any sort of interaction among those who are in need of something and those who really care about it works much better. Where there is genuine interest there is a way. It is that simple. Hotlines that happen to be of a lucrative service do not worry about opinions until a public outcry. Hotlines set up by providers of real solutions always care about the other side. If the utter objective of a hotline is to be successfully achieved it is vital to establish beforehand what kind of a hotline it is intended to be, a problem-solver or a headache-dispenser. The good news is that hotlines can be constantly reviewed and improved, at least, when under pressure.

by Ale Madia