Community Care – Handling of Calls, Transfers, and Escalations

Transferring Calls

Our company policy is to warm transfer all calls.  To warm transfer, you must provide the following information to the person you are calling before transferring the call to them:

The caller’s name, address, Association name, and the nature of issue or question.

Escalated Calls

If a Homeowner requests to speak with a Supervisor, Director, or John Hammersmith because they are upset, please obtain the caller’s name, address, Association name and the nature of issue so you can warm transfer the caller to one of the employees below:

• Keeley Linthicum x 504
• Lynae Guardado x 492
• Sierra Vancil x 126

If none of the above parties are available, please create an “Escalated Issue” action item in Vantaca, notify CSS that you have done so, and inform the Homeowner they will be called back. Please do not include negative commentary regarding your fellow employees. If there are questions, please contact a member of CSS.

Calls for CAMs – Homeowner Calls

When a Homeowner is calling to speak to a CAM, please ask probing questions and exhaust all options before attempting to transfer the call to the CAM. Please use appropriate judgment as to when a call should or should not be transferred to a CAM. We are here to support our CAMs and our Clients. We should not be transferring calls just because the information is not readily available. Please do your due diligence and research information in Vantaca, and within their Governing Documents and Policies. Do not “pass the buck” (meaning the call) because you do not want to take the time to find the information.

Examples:

• A call asking about trash pickup day should not need to go to a CAM.  This information is in Vantaca. As a Community Care Agent, you should be able to handle this call.
• A call regarding an insurance claim would be appropriate to send to the CAM, as long as you have helped in every way possible before transferring that call.

If all options have been exhausted and the caller still needs to speak to the CAM, please follow the directives below:

• Always obtain the caller’s name, Association, address, and what the call is regarding. You must still note Vantaca regarding the call!
• Attempt to transfer the call to the CAM (via warm transfer) to their office extension.
• If they are not available, please offer to transfer the caller to VM.
• Do not transfer calls to CAMs on their cell phones, unless they specifically ask you to. If they are not in the office, they do not have the tools and resources available to effectively handle that call.
• It is acceptable for you to call a CAM on their cell during business hours (M-F 8am–5pm) to ask questions or to let the CAM know about an emergency situation. If you call a CAM on their cell phone then you need to be prepared with the information and your questions. If a CAM is not at their desk, 99% of the time they are in a meeting with a client or a vendor, or performing a site visit. It is important to be succinct and prepared so the call is efficient.
• Do not call a CAM’s cell phone if they are on vacation. You need to contact the CAM covering the Association or in an emergency you may contact the on-call Manager.
• If they request the direct email address or extension of the CAM, please offer to send their information to the requested party but do not release the direct contact information, as we need all communication from Homeowners coming through Community Care via email, the Portal, or telephone.

Calls for CAMs – Board Member/Vendor Calls

• If a Board Member is calling for a CAM, please obtain their name, and the Association name to warm transfer to the CAM or their voicemail.  There is no need to ask additional probing questions or attempt to handle the call. If someone claims to be a Board Member take that as face value and proceed with a warm transfer.
• If a vendor is calling, please determine if you are able to help them (if they are calling to report a work order has been completed, or just asking for information on a work order that was issued by Community Care). If you are not able to help them, and they need to speak to the CAM regarding a project, proposal, or invoicing, please obtain the name of the caller, name of their company, and what Association it is regarding, and attempt to warm transfer the call to the CAM or their voicemail.
• If a Board member or vendor asks to be transferred to the CAM’s cell phone during business hours, please honor this request (unless the CAM is on vacation). It should still be a warm transfer (make sure they answer and are willing and able to take the call). Do not cold transfer to cell phones, do not give out their cell phone number, and if they do not answer or cannot take the call, please pick the call back up and offer to put the caller through to the CAM’s office voicemail.

Board Member Calls for Directors

If a Board member calls (regardless of escalated or not escalated) and is requesting to speak to a Director, or John Hammersmith, please see below:

1. 1. Obtain the name of the caller and the Association, and attempt to warm transfer the call to the Director at their internal office extension.
   2. If they are not answering in their office, please offer voicemail to the caller.
   3. DO NOT transfer calls to Directors on their cell phones, unless they specifically ask you to.  If they are not in the office, they do not have the tools and resources available to effectively handle the call.

Additional Reminders and Best Practices:

• Please do not transfer Homeowner phone calls, escalated or not, to the CAMs or Directors to their cell phones (unless the CAM or Director specifically asks you to do this!).
• It is acceptable to call CAMs/Directors on their cell phones during business hours (M-F 8am–5pm) to ask questions per the guidelines above.
• Do not call assigned CAMs outside of business hours OR if they are listed on vacation or other leave per the myHammersmith directory and/or Vantaca.
• If there is an emergency issue after business hours (M-F 8am–5pm) or on weekends, please reach out to the on-call CAM which can be found on myHammersmith under Announcements. This is updated weekly on Tuesdays.
• Please do not ever make a promise on behalf of someone else – such as “They will call you back by the end of the day.” You should never make promises on behalf of others unless the employee has specifically made this commitment themselves. Making promises for others that cannot be kept will only make the caller upset, as well as your fellow Team Members.