Phone Trees

A phone tree is an organized network of people who communicate with each other through the phone. It is prearranged in such a way that a member is able to send a message to a particular group in that network in a very efficient manner. Setting up a phone tree is time-consuming, but it is well worth the effort, since a phone tree can be used time and time again, and it doesn?t require to be reconfigured occasionally. Phone trees are used by a variety of groups, which include social activists, academicians, and school parents.

A phone tree can be visualized as a pyramid , wherein the person who initiates the call is at the top of the pyramid. For example, the person calls up three people, and in turn, the three people call nine. The answering service messages are sent in this way until the message reaches the people at the bottom of the pyramid. As it is evident, a phone tree divides the work of sending information to a number of people, instead of burdening a single person with the task. Hence, the message is sent in a more efficient way, and the exercise becomes more hassle-free.

Typically, a phone tree is set up by a single person, who is known as the coordinator. He is the one who determines the names of the people who will be included in the phone tree. For each contact, at least two phone numbers with answering service are collected. A phone number that has a voicemail or a phone answering service is preferred, since it ensures that the message will be sent across. After that, the list of names in the phone tree is divided among the members of the group. Each member will therefore have the responsibly of calling all the people on the list who are assigned to him. Since the members at the top of the phone tree are extremely important, it is a general practice to have the most reliable members of the group at the top of the phone tree service .

A phone tree can be used by a school . If there is an unscheduled holiday, the parents of that school can be notified by the group members of the phone tree. First of all, the coordinator of the phone tree will make a list that contains the phone numbers of the parents of the students. Next, he recruits a small group of people from that list who will be given the responsibly of notifying the parents about the holiday. This group, which is called the key group, must comprise of reliable individuals. The list is then divided among the members of the key group.

Ideally, the list should be divided according to the geographical location of the parents. It is also a good idea not to give more than eight names to each key group member. To make the phone tree more professional, occasional message drills will be done to check the efficiency of the phone tree. An alternate local answering service key group can be kept as a backup as well, in case a key group member is unavailable at the time.

Phone trees are beneficial when you need to mobilize members or supporters for a political issue or notify members of a company about an emergency meeting. It can also be used to complement a personal invitation, increasing the chances of a bigger turnout for an event. Although phone trees are one of the most convenient ways of passing a short message quickly, it isn?t very effective for passing a large amount of information. Therefore, if the information is not a short one, it is better to resort to other communication alternatives such as letters, notes, and email.

In a big company?s phone tree, a message is usually passed in an automated way. But this can be frustrating for those who receive the message, because they are required to listen to the entire automated message before they can respond by pressing the phone buttons. Some messages can be very long, and many people do not like the idea of having to listen to a recorded message for such a long time. This is the reason why some people try to avoid the phone tree .

There are ways for you to communicate directly with a live person in a company without having to go through the phone tree. You can go to websites such as Bringo and GetHuman.com , where there are databases of phone numbers of the most successful corporations. These websites will help you call the department you want to reach and get you to talk to a live human. This way, you won?t have to waste time going through the phone tree.