Jun 20, 2013
On Tuesday, June 18, the United States Patent Office issued ASD a patent for our First Call Connect® feature (Patent No. 8,467,515). First Call Connect® is the only answering service tool that allows funeral directors to serve clients in “real-time”, regardless of location or time of day.
We invented First Call Connect® so our clients could be available instantly to serve loved ones in their time of need. Receive a text message or a push notification through the ASD Mobile app the moment our Call Specialist begins to gather First Call information. This provides you with time to find an appropriate location to handle the new First Call. Once you call in, you can choose whether to listen in to the call or join in, just as if you were picking up a second line at the funeral home.
“As use of “real-time” technology grows, communication between families and funeral directors must be seamless. We created First Call Connect® while brainstorming ways we could help make that possible with the technical resources we have available here at ASD,” says ASD Vice President Kevin Czachor. “This is just another example of the ways ASD helps provide our clients with a market advantage.”
To activate First Call Connect®, dial the number sent to your mobile phone and selecting among these options: press 3 to enter the call immediately, press 1 to listen to the call in a muted mode, press 0 to speak with the call specialist prior to joining the call, or wait to obtain call details and call the family back. This range of options gives you the ability to decide how to handle a first call based upon the situation at hand. First Call Connect® delivers control to your fingertips, proving business can be conducted anywhere without sacrificing quality.
“First Call Connect® makes it seem to the family that we’re right there because we can connect right in to the call, no matter what time of day it is,” says Funeral Director John Paletski at Frank J. Bonin Funeral Home. “This feature also allows you to hear what the caller is saying and gives you a sense of their emotional state first so you can better react with them.”
First Call Connect® is registered under Patent No. 8,467,515. For more information, visit patft.uspto.gov.
Click here to see our press release announcement.
About The Author
Jess Farren (Fowler)
Jess Farren (Fowler) is a Public Relations Specialist and Staff Writer who has been a part of the ASD team since 2003. Jess manages ASD’s company blog and has been published in several funeral trade magazines. She has written articles on a variety of subjects including communication, business planning, technology, marketing and funeral trends. You can contact Jess directly at Jess@myASD.com
