When a funeral home selects an answering service to represent their business, they aren’t just making a decision that will impact them. They are choosing what type of experience their funeral home’s callers will have and how much support they receive in their time of grief. This is no small thing. When it comes to funeral home communication, every interaction matters. That caller who just needed service information may be a close friend of the decedent who remembers how kind and helpful the person who gave them the information was when they experience a loss in their own immediate family.
One of our favorite compliments to receive from a funeral home is that their callers couldn’t even tell they were speaking with an answering service. We love when we can give someone an experience that echoes the same personal and caring service our clients provide. While many of our solutions are designed to make life easier for deathcare professionals, we also spend a great deal of time considering how our answering service can be enhanced to give callers a positive impression of the funeral home.
Whether it’s the unmatched sensitivity of our Call Specialists or the convenience of our mobile solutions, here are 7 ASD features that have the biggest impact on funeral home callers.
1. Recorded Calls
There is a definite stigma associated with answering services and we have a pretty good idea where it comes from. If you’ve ever spoken with one when calling a business or medical office and had an unpleasant experience, odds are pretty good that answering service was not recording their calls. When it comes to funeral home callers, accountability matters. Aside from 9-1-1 emergencies, is there any other phone call you can think of that is more sensitive and emotionally charged than a phone call to a mortuary?
When ASD made the decision to become a funeral home exclusive answering service all those years ago, we knew that we had to raise the bar and provide recordings of the calls we handled. We were the first answering service ever to offer that and the reason it was so important was because we truly care about the level of care funeral home callers receive. We would never want to exacerbate the grief of someone by giving them a negative experience. Recording calls allows us to provide the most compassionate answering service to the profession, underscored by our commitment to employing highly trained professionals who grasp the sensitivity and significance of every interaction.
2. Obit Texting
You might be surprised to learn just how many funeral home callers ASD assists each day with service information. While these calls have decreased with advent of online obituaries, there are still a lot of people that prefer calling an establishment directly. When speaking to these callers, our Call Specialists will always offer to read the service details, however a recent ASD solutions known as Obit Texting gives our staff the ability to also text the information directly to the caller. With this solution, callers still receive the same personal attention, but have the option to receive information at their fingertips.
When I think of this solution, I often think of my boomer mom who has no problem with text messaging but struggles with browsing the internet or using apps on her phone. I can text her a link to look at a vacation house on Airbnb, but I’d never expect her to try to navigate the app. There are a lot of people just like her who appreciate the convenience technology offers but just need a little help. With Obit Texting, ASD helps funeral home callers navigate to the online obituary, providing a personal service on behalf of the mortuary. Furthermore, Obit Texting drives visitors to the funeral home website, allowing them to explore other helpful areas like links to send memorial gifts or to learn about making prearrangements.
3. ASD Mobile
The funeral planning journey unfolds as a succession of crucial decisions, all made amid the weight of profound grief and stress. These unique circumstances underscore the crucial importance of responsiveness when assisting funeral home callers. ASD Mobile, while created to give morticians more freedom, also greatly benefits families by helping to ensure their urgent calls, text messages and web forms are communicated to the funeral home without delay. In moments when families are seeking guidance and reassurance, that immediacy can bring comfort, clarity and peace of mind—helping them feel supported when it matters most.
4. Price Patching
When a person contacts more than one funeral home for prices or other information that will help them chose a firm for their loved one, here’s what often happens when the funeral home is unavailable. The caller will provide their phone number to several firms and then have to wait for a call back, not knowing if it would be a few minutes or a few hours. Often times, while speaking to one of the firms they called they will hear alerts in their ear letting them know one of the other funeral homes is trying to call them as well, interrupting their focus and making an already overwhelming experience that much more stressful.
Now, here is how ASD helps streamline this process to make it easier for families. We offer funeral homes a Price Patching option that ensures if an at-need caller reaches out for prices or other information, ASD can immediately patch them to the on-call director, eliminating the need for a return call. There is something about the sentence, “let me get a funeral director on the line for you” that just immediately reassures callers and helps them to feel like their needs are of the highest importance. Price Patching is a simple solution that helps thousands of funeral home callers every month receive enhanced customer service and caring support.
5. Next Step Text™
For a family member who has just lost a loved one, making that first phone call to a funeral home can be a daunting and intimidating task. Offering these callers immediate guidance and reassurance can help create an instant connection between the family and the funeral home while helping the family feel more supported. This is why ASD introduced our Next Step Text™ solution which enables funeral homes to send important resources to families via text after their first call. The text can be initiated by an ASD Call Specialist after handling a first call for the funeral home or by a funeral home employee using the ASD Mobile app.
Family members commonly have many questions and concerns on their mind while they are waiting for a funeral director to return their call. ASD’s Next Step Text™ provides a helpful checklist they can focus on during those difficult moments. This solution enhances the overall experience for families by giving them clear, compassionate direction at a time when uncertainty feels overwhelming, while also reinforcing that the funeral home is attentive, responsive and ready to guide them through the next steps of the journey.
6. First Call Connect®
Introduced in 2010, First Call Connect® was ASD’s very first patented feature. It allows funeral directors to connect directly into First Calls from their cell phone as if they were picking up another line at the funeral home. Since we first began offering First Call Connect®, it has evolved from a one-off feature utilized by a handful of funeral directors who were early smart phone adopters to a valuable tool that is used on average about 40 times per day by funeral homes across the country. That represents 40 families that everyday benefit from ASD’s technology!
I was still a Call Specialist when ASD first introduced First Call Connect®. It is pretty incredible to hear it live. You’re speaking to a family member, gathering information for the funeral home, when a reassuring and experienced voice takes over the call. The whole interaction sounds so personal and reminiscent of the past when funeral directors remained near the firm’s telephone at all times in case a family needed them. While First Call Connect gives our clients the ability to connect into these calls from anywhere, from the family’s perspective it feels like they’ve reached the funeral home itself, with the same care and familiarity they would expect if the director had answered the call.
7. FuneralSync™
As we mentioned above, one of the most common messages ASD handles from funeral home callers are requests for obituary information. Having accurate and up-to-date information enhances our answering service’s ability to assist callers with their service-related questions. This is why our answering service has partnered with the leading funeral home website providers to ensure funeral homes can share their obituaries with us effortlessly. Our FuneralSync™ program ensures our Call Specialists always have the most current obituary details at their fingertips, allowing them to provide clear, consistent answers without delay. For families and friends seeking information during an emotional time, this means fewer transfers, less confusion and the reassurance of speaking with someone who is informed and ready to help.
Final Thoughts
At the heart of every ASD solution is a simple goal: to help funeral homes deliver the kind of compassionate, attentive experience families deserve during one of the most difficult moments of their lives. The greatest compliment we can receive is a funeral home telling us we made a good impression on a family they are serving. While ASD continues to invest in innovative tools that improve responsiveness, access and efficiency, we never lose sight of the fact that technology is only meaningful when it supports genuine human connection. In an environment where empathy, patience and understanding are critical, there is no substitute for a calm, caring professional on the other end of the line—because when it comes to serving grieving families, the human element will always matter most.
Related Reading
7 Tips for Funeral Homes to Elevate Customer Service with Enhanced Communication
[VIDEO] How ASD Helps Families: A Widow Shares Her Experience
4 Things You Can Do Today to Improve Your Funeral Home’s Customer Service
