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Excerpt from MASCO Quarterly Update, Winter 1998 Business owners and managers routinely refer to their telecommunications equipment and operators as the lifeline of their operations. For the hospital and medical facilities that rely on MASCO Services Call Center, this figurative expression is on many occasions literally true. "People who call here are often in crisis or need medical attention. We know it's our job to get the appropriate response team to the patient as quickly and efficiently as possible," said Gary DuPont, MASCO's Director of Telecommunications and Customer Care. "We never say, 'I don't know,' or 'I can't find someone.' We will make every attempt to do research and locate the right person," he adds. The job is more complicated today than it was seven years ago when DuPont joined MASCO. During that period, the Call Center has upgraded equipment and the focus has shifted to a managerial and consulting role. In 1993, DuPont orchestrated the Call Center's move to state-of-the-art headquarters at 395 Longwood Avenue where it now provides centralized attendant, radio paging and distribution , message center and technical support services to MASCO Services member institutions and approximately 200 individual medical practices. Today, with a staff of 45 full, part-time and intermittent call center service representatives, the center handles more than 10,000 calls per day, placing it among the largest multi-institutional, shared telecommunications systems in the country. For the past four years, an independent survey ranked MASCO Services Call Center the best of its kind in Boston. A major factor in the Call Center's success, DuPont insists, is the commitment of the MASCO member institutions, especially the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center who invested substantial sums in equipment and are consistently supportive. Each signed a new ___ year contract as recently as November. An equally important factor, DuPont says, is a staff of high-quality individuals who care about what they are doing. "They are always there to support me and MASCO's operational goals," said DuPont. "Every time a new challenge is presented, Gary and his staff rise to the occasion," said Richard Shea, MASCO's president. "Over the past few years, new members have been added, technology has been upgraded, and the number of communications services has increased. The Call Center staff has handled each of these changes without sacrificing performance standards." "The call center representatives are often the first voices that patients and families hear when they call Dana-Farber, and their friendly and efficient manner makes a big difference," said George Bono, manager at Dana- Farber Cancer Institute. Future plans for the Call Center include replacing and upgrading all call processing, paging systems, and operator work stations. Another goal is to devote more time to the needs of the Colleges of the Fenway. Currently, MASCO Services is assisting the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences in an assessment of its telephone communications system. MASCO initiatives include efforts to increase savings for local, long distance, cellular and paging services. "For colleges, we are not the same lifeline that we are for the medical facilities," said DuPont. "But we have to ensure that our academic institutions, like our medical centers, know we are here to support them." Once hired, employees are offered a wide range of educational programs through the Care Institute (the corporate university) and through frequent formal and informal internal seminars. In addition, employees receive constant on-the-job support. The payoff for DuPont is seeing a well-run shop. "I don't hear a lot of accolades for myself, but many times our clients will comment on laudable performances of a particular associate. And that tells me I've done something right," said DuPont. Future plans for the Call Center include replacing and upgrading all call processing, paging systems, and operator work stations. The center will also refine techniques to measure its performance and gauge customer satisfaction. "My feeling is if you can't measure something, you can't improve it," said DuPont. "Our new Lucent system has many improved features that help us benchmark our service levels and ultimately enhance our performance." Back to the current newsletter/article
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© 1998-2007
MASCO Services Inc. |
