As an additional option within our predictive dialer tool, Impactive offers the ability to "patch-through" contacts with a third party - often a legislator's office. Just like regular Phone Banking actions, Patch-Through Phone Banking is an action type that is published to Impactive users, which they can access via the Impactive volunteer interface for web or mobile.
Overview: Steps for Patch-Through Phone Banking Actions
The below article offers specific details on all of the settings and components of running a Patch-Through Phone Banking action. But to begin, here's a general overview of the steps/prerequisites that are typically required to run a Patch-Through Phone Banking action:
If gathering data (tags and custom fields) from the phone bank is desired, whether within the script or after the call, set up tags and custom fields.
If syncing data from phone banks to an external CRM is desired, set up CRM integration.
Import the contacts that will be called.
Ensure users (whether volunteers or staffers/admins) who will make the calls are onboarded.
Run the phone bank!
Setting Up a Patch-Through Phone Banking Action
To create a new Patch-Through Phone Banking action, head to Actions > Phone Bank and click + New Action in the top-left corner of the table, then click Patch-Through Phone Bank.
Setting up a Patch-Through Phone Bank and writing its script are very similar to setting up a regular Phone Bank, as described here. There are only two differences:
Patch-Through Destination
On the first page of the action's settings, you'll see a field for Patch-Through Destination. This is the phone number that contacts who agree to be patched-through will be routed to when the user clicks Patch-Through.
For the time being, Impactive only offers patch-through to a single destination (a single phone number) for a certain action; in the near future, we'll support the ability to map contacts to a set of multiple legislator options. Stay tuned!
Adding the Patch-Through Opportunity to the Script
On the second page of the action's settings, when writing the script, you'll need to designate the script block that includes the patch-through opportunity. Within the desired script block, click + Add Response; then, for one of the responses, use the drop-down at the right-hand side of the text box to select Patch Call. This will automatically convert that response option into the patch-through function.
Here's an example of what users will see for a script block that includes the Patch Call response option:
Getting Users Involved in Your Phone Bank
Once your phone banking action has been created and your script is set up, it's time to take the phone bank live so users can get involved! These steps are identical to a regular phone bank; learn more here.
Don't forget - Impactive offers template training decks to help train your volunteers, including one for Patch-Through Phone Banks here!
Starting a Phone Bank
Phone banks do not automatically begin when the action is published - an administrator must specifically Start Phone Bank in order for users to make calls.
This step is identical to a regular phone bank; learn more here.
Tracking Phone Banking Results
Our article here covers everything you need to know about phone banking results, including how to track call outcomes, syncing phone banking data to VAN/EveryAction, and more.