Running Sessions

VOICE's work takes place during regular in-person sessions and in the time between them. A session is where people make calls, collect messages and documents, set up email addresses, and get help with accounts and Lifeline. It is also where volunteers hear which parts of the service are working and which are not.

The Space

VOICE's sessions use the following space and equipment.

• A private spot for phone calls and for help with accounts.
• A laptop or tablet with a working camera and even lighting for identity checks.
• A smartphone with an ordinary cellular number for verification codes.
• A printer for faxes, documents, and Beacon sheets.
• A lockable box for envelopes of backup codes.
• A place to post Beacon sheets, and a Beacon screen if one is available.

A place that people already visit, at a time that stays the same from week to week, tends to work better than longer hours that change.

Sharing the Work

Volunteers share the work in small groups, which the software calls workgroups, as Volunteering describes, and volunteers from any group hold the sessions. In the VOICE software, a relay can be assigned to a whole workgroup, and the workgroups themselves can be changed in Settings > Workgroups.

The Rhythm of a Session

At the start of each session, the volunteers holding it agree who will work through each checklist, so every step has a named person. They also agree which of them will step in when a situation is beyond what one volunteer can manage. Between sessions, such situations go to the volunteer monitoring messages, who is confirmed at the end of each session. A relay that cannot wait is marked Urgent.

• Before the session, a volunteer reviews every relay still open for people who may come, and tests the message line by leaving a voicemail and confirming that it becomes a relay. The volunteer also checks the shared inbox, Beacon, VOICE's cell phone, and the device for online tasks, and tells the other volunteers about anything that needs attention.
• During the session, every request is recorded in the Switchboard, including requests resolved on the spot. People are told about waiting messages, email, and faxes privately, never in front of others. Anything a volunteer cannot manage goes to the volunteer chosen at the start to help.
• At the end, every open relay is assigned to a named volunteer, organization, or workgroup, with a Needed By date when the message names one. The volunteers confirm who is monitoring the Switchboard until the next session, and envelopes of backup codes go back in the locked box.
• Between sessions, the volunteer monitoring messages checks the Switchboard at least once a day and delivers time-sensitive email from the shared inbox as soon as they see it. Anything that cannot reasonably wait is marked Urgent, which notifies the workgroups chosen for urgent relays.
• Each month, someone places a call from the message line's account to keep the number active, and the team reviews the Switchboard's counts. The greeting is updated if the times or places of sessions have changed, and the procedures are revised where practice has shown a better way.

Example

At the start of a session, a volunteer checks the Switchboard and sees two relays for people who often come on that day. When Rosa arrives, a volunteer who monitors the shared inbox tells her privately that a fax from her benefits office is waiting, prints it for her, and closes the relay. Another person asks for help applying for Lifeline, so a second volunteer records the request with New Relay and works through the application with him on the session's laptop. Before the session ends, the volunteers assign the relays still open and confirm who will check the Switchboard until the next session.