The main focus of every school is the pupils. Quite rightly. But every good school knows it’s also important to keep an honest, open and positive relationship with parents. Call recording can make that easy – one of the reasons many schools are seeking to implement it. Gone are the days of costly, cumbersome systems that only IT teachers understand. Professional call recording systems are now affordable and easy to use. And they can help with everything from resolving disputes to tackling absenteeism – keeping parents on side and increasing operational efficiency. Here’s a short breakdown.
1. Communicate clearly, benchmark best practice
In most schools the board of governors has no visibility of how staff interact with parents. With schools receiving more calls from parents than ever, increasingly from parents who are not native speakers of English, it’s essential that your frontline staff communicate clearly and efficiently. A telephone recording system allows governors and senior staff to set a benchmark for best practice that staff old and new can follow easily.
2. Save time, money and energy on resolving disputes
Unfortunately, all schools occasionally receive calls from disgruntled parents. It comes with the territory. If they are disputing something that has been said over the phone in the past, call recording gives you the power to remedy the situation. Otherwise you can monitor the timeline of interactions with the parent so that the situation is handled with the tact, empathy and sensitivity the situation requires – no matter who answers the phone. Call recording also helps to resolve disputes with suppliers on cost, order or delivery issues. Every call is recorded and stored for easy playback. Anytime.
3. Find the best staff with a smarter recruitment process
The hyper-competitive job market means schools are receiving huge numbers of applicants whenever they advertise a vacant position. Unsurprisingly there are normally more prospective employees than can reasonably be called in for interview. Call recording allows you to add an extra layer to the recruitment process: a telephone interview. The interviews can be conducted by anyone and played back to the interview panel later, saving time and ensuring you invite the right candidates to meet in person.
4. Improve pre-emptive communication
Over time you may learn that there are a small set of questions that parents ask frequently. You might decide to update the information on your website, add it to the parent portal or send a letter to all parents to answer common questions before they’re asked, reducing the number of inbound calls and building your relationship with parents.
5. Combat absenteeism
Professional call recording gives you a simple, accurate system for monitoring absenteeism. Every time a parent calls to notify the school of a genuine absence, it can be recorded and stored with the date the call was made. Staff can build up a profile of authorised absence versus truancy across the lifespan of each pupil’s time with the school.
In a nutshell
Voice recording equipment is no longer the preserve of financial institutions or large customer service operations. It can improve every type of organisation and has clear benefits for schools. When it comes to the test of operational efficiency, call recording can help you pass with flying colours.
For a no-obligation discussion on how the right call recording system can improve your school, contact Business Systems.
