How a church protects their staff and congregation
Calvary Chapel came to us several years ago. They were overpaying for their church communication services and were looking for a better option. We sat down with our friends and came up with a solution that accommodated their needs.
(If you are ever in the Dallas area on a Sunday or Wednesday, drop in. It’s a great service.)
The Calvary Chapel Use Case
Secure Building Access
We enabled the church with door access units that present voice and video feeds directly to the desktop phones and mobile apps of the office staff. When a visitor comes to the door, staff can see and communicate directly with that person. The staff can see if Amazon is dropping off packages or if someone is there for a scheduled appointment. The door lock can be activated directly from the phones. If they happen to be out of the office, they can use their mobile apps to see video and communicate with the visitor. The church has the flexibility to move about the office without worry. With this church communication service, the system provides the security they need to feel safe and protected while they are in the office.
Call Control / Call Screening
When pastors are counseling or in study sessions, they cannot be interrupted by phone calls. Consequently, we ensured that calls are not directly to the pastoral staff. Instead, the other staff phones ring. If necessary, a staff member can transfer a call to a pastor. The pastor also has the option the set his phone to Do Not Disturb mode to ensure privacy.
Time of Day and Day of Week Intelligent Call Routing
During normal business hours, when an a call comes in, all of the staff phones ring. The first person to answer, handles the call. If all staff are busy, the call routes to an Auto Attendant or phone tree. The Auto Attendant provides the incoming caller with options to: hear the church address and meeting times, leave prayer requests in a voicemail box, or leave a general message for the staff. Voicemails are then emailed to the appropriate staff or volunteer.
For incoming call received after hours, on holidays, or during special events, call are routed directly to an Auto Attendant with a similar set of options.
Prayer Line
A dedicated voicemail box was configured so that people calling in with prayer requests can leave a message. The voice message is then emailed directly to the volunteer staff that manages the prayer requests.
Mobile Service
The church communication services include a mobile application, for times when staff are roaming the building or are off campus. The app allows them to take and receive calls as if they are originating or terminating directly from the church. This way, the staff never has to give out their personal cell phone numbers. Staff can also be reached when they are out of the office by enabling their app to receive calls. Outbound calls generated from the app will display the church name or number to the called individual so that people will not be able to capture their personal cell numbers.
SMS Texting
Calvary uses group text messaging from their main number. Members of the congregation can send text messages to the main number and those messages can be read and responded to by any of the staff via their mobile app or via an online messaging portal.