UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 21, Page 1
February 24, 1994
Nursing uses voice mail to enhance communication

     Since October, students, staff and faculty in the College of Nursing's
Division of Special Programs, have been using a variety of call management
features offered through the University's new voice mail system.
     According to Madeline Lambrecht, director of the Division of Special
Nursing Programs, several voice mail features incorporated into the
division's teaching and administrative procedures have both enhanced
faculty contact with students and reduced the amount of time staff must
spend responding to requests for materials and basic program information.
     Voice mail has been particularly beneficial facilitating communication
for students enrolled in the college's distance education option, Lambrecht
said.
     To facilitate the educational needs of registered nurses, the
University offers courses which are videotaped in instructional television
studios and are then made available at participating work sites. All
registered nurse students are also required to complete a minimum of three
on-campus courses.
     This distance learning option is ideal for nursing personnel,
particularly because shift work makes it difficult for them to attend
regularly scheduled classes. In addition, students who reside or work in
areas distant from the campus are still able to enroll, she said.
     Currently, distance learning is carried on at more than 95 work sites
in Delaware and nearby states. A site coordinator is available at each
building or place of employment.
     In the fall, each enrolled student was given a voice mailbox and
personal identification number, and the appropriate course voice mailbox
number was given to all class members.
     By using this new feature, class members are able to leave messages at
any time for the faculty member assigned to monitor the course. The faculty
member can contact all members of the class with messages about particular
class tapes, syllabus changes, additional reading assignments and questions
of common interest to all the students. In addition, faculty can respond to
individual concerns via a student's voice mail without worrying about an
individual student's work schedule.
     One of the biggest advantages of v-mail, Lambrecht said, is its
ability to help office personnel respond to administrative questions
regarding such issues as course availability, fees and schedules. To
provide quick  answers to frequently asked questions, the division
initiated the Special Programs Information Line.
     By listening to the instructions and selecting the appropriate number
on a Touch-Tone phone, callers are directed to different levels of options
offering appropriate information. There always is the opportunity to speak
to a person, but many times that proves unnecessary as routine requests are
handeled electronically.
     For example, callers to the College of Nursing's Division of Special
Programs are able to have documents faxed to them automatically by pressing
the phone key options. The information, which can be sent to the caller's
business or home from a central University site, includes distance learning
course listings, Accelerated Degree Program information sheets, distance
education work site information forms and nursing application forms.This
phone feature, like the faculty and student mailboxes, is in operation 24
hours a day, seven days a week.
     This process requires no action by college personnel, Lambrecht said,
and for those who request information during the weekend, it will be
waiting at a person's work  site upon arrival on Monday morning.
     Using voice mail features saves more than just time and money.
According to Lambrecht, the need for routine responses by office staff are
greatly reduced, allowing them to devote more attention to program needs.
In addition, when callers receive the information they are able to call
back with specific questions based on their review of the information they
received by mail or fax. In this way, nursing office staff are able to
respond to meaningful, as opposed to routine, individual concerns, and they
use time more productively.
     According to Patricia Traynor, senior secretary in special nursing
programs, approximately 40 percent of the office's incoming calls are being
handled by voice mail.
     "I think this has made a significant difference for us," Lambrecht
said. "There has been a great increase in the amount of calls that come in.
We're growing rapidly and our people resources are not growing at the same
pace. Voice mail helps us provide services in a timely manner."
                                                  -Ed Okonowicz