By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D.
With the Millennial generation’s love for texting and general avoidance of placing a phone call, it’s tempting to project the demise of the call center. Although this may make for a logical conclusion, it’s not going to happen any time soon. Though tomorrow’s healthcare call center will undoubtedly have more chat transactions than it does now, the telephone will remain its primary communication device.
Why?
The reason is the simple fact that calls are superior in several key situations, and these significant advantages will not go away any time soon.
Talking is More Effective:
Speaking is faster than typing. When describing complex medical situations, speaking our words is more effective than typing them. With the status of our health at stake, we want to communicate quickly and to get it right the first time. The telephone allows us to do this.
Our Tone Carries Meaning:
Emotions are easier to communicate verbally and to be understood. Humor, desperation, and pain do not come across well in written form. How many times have you had a text message or email be misunderstood because your tone of voice did not come across?
Likewise, healthcare provider empathy comes across better when talking, instead of typing. It’s hard to communicate compassion through a chatbox.
Yes, we do have emojis, a graphical representation of various emotional states, yet emojis are prone to misunderstandings, offering confusion almost as often as clarity.
Pick Up the Phone:
In stressful situations, people of all generations will gravitate to the phone. It provides for fast and efficient communication in time-critical, stressful situations. Often, when people reach out for medical help, the situation is both time-critical and stressful. The telephone offers a simple, no-hassle way to communicate. That’s why it’s the go-to tool for difficult situations.
Yes, texting is the newer technology that all the cool kids use, while the telephone seems stodgy and old school in comparison. Yet when critical, timely, and accurate communication is essential, the telephone wins almost every time.
In the future, your healthcare call center will undoubtedly handle more chat communications. However, the telephone will continue to ring for most situations.
To prepare for the future, embrace chat technology, if you haven’t already done so. But don’t lose sight of the telephone. It will continue to be the cornerstone of your healthcare call center operation for many years to come.
Read more in Peter Lyle DeHaan’s Healthcare Call Center Essentials, available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book.
Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of AnswerStat and Medical Call Center News covering the healthcare call center industry. Read his latest book, Sticky Customer Service.