National Domestic Violence Hotline Reaches More Survivors by Partnering with Genesys

The Hotline uses digital capabilities of Genesys Cloud CX to increase scale and drive more survivor-centric experiences

SAN FRANCISCO, May 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Genesys®, a global cloud leader in experience orchestration, today announced the National Domestic Violence Hotline (The Hotline), the 24/7 hotline serving anyone impacted by relationship abuse in the US, is swiftly connecting more survivors to essential support through highly trained advocates using the Genesys Cloud CX™ platform.

The mission of the Hotline is to shift power back to survivors, offering free and confidential support, safety planning and connection to crucial local resources via phone, online chat and text. The Hotline is available for anyone 13 years old and up.

External factors that add stress, financial strain or isolation can negatively impact survivors of domestic violence and that can further compromise their safety. Today's challenging health, social and economic environment has accelerated risk for domestic violence, limited sources of support for victims and increased financial and housing instability for those experiencing abuse.

"The pandemic greatly increased the need for 24/7 crisis support and services, as well as the complexity in serving survivors safely," said Marty Hand, vice president of technology for The Hotline. "Genesys helped us meet survivors where they were; support their evolving needs; and enabled us to serve more people amidst the highest volume in our 27-year history."

Empowering Survivor-Centric Support with Digital Technology

During a time when technology is increasingly used to cause harm, The Hotline is determined to leverage technology to expand its reach and support more survivors. To deliver services, the organization relies on highly trained advocates who provide quality, trauma-informed education, validation, and connection to empower victims and survivors to make life-changing decisions with dignity and respect.

With a growing demand for services, The Hotline needed to scale its operations quickly by using digital solutions to support live advocates who are administering survivor-centered services that match the sensitivity and urgency of their situations. The Hotline partnered with Genesys to modernize its contact center infrastructure through Genesys Cloud CX, an all-in-one Experience Orchestration platform that offers capabilities to deliver personalized, empathetic engagement across voice and digital channels.

Facing more than double the daily calls, chats and texts it receives - now nearly 3,000 per day - The Hotline sought to leverage the Genesys platform to expand the capacity of its advocates by automating the optional collection of non-identifying demographic data using digital and voice bots powered by Genesys Digital Bot Flows.

Now survivors can more quickly share details about their situations with anonymity. The Genesys Cloud CX platform also allows The Hotline to more efficiently route survivors to advocates, while automatically passing important context so advocates are better prepared with appropriate resources.

According to Hand, by carefully and sensitively using technology, the organization scaled quickly to meet the increasing demand for its services.

"We went from 92 advocates to 160 in less than two years. With limited funding available, we rely on technology to stretch that capacity even further," said Hand. "Saving our advocates time through automation provides a better experience and has reduced our wait times greatly."

"The time taken for us to answer 1 million contacts is getting shorter and shorter," continued Hand. "It took seven-and-a-half years to answer our first million calls and just two-and-a-half years to answer the last million."

To date, The Hotline has answered more than 6.5 million calls, chats and texts. Last year, webchat and SMS accounted for 43% and 9% of its interactions, respectively. Both digital channels have become essential for victims as sending a message via a mobile device can be safer than making a phone call.

"The Hotline's digital transformation is an important reminder that customer experience technologies support diverse use cases that extend beyond the traditional contact center," said Olivier Jouve, chief product officer at Genesys. "For The Hotline, orchestrating seamless, empathetic experiences between survivors and advocates has an important impact on lives. At Genesys, our vision is to enable any organizations with the technology they need to earn people's trust by making them feel seen, heard and understood."

To learn more about how the National Domestic Violence Hotline is transforming support for survivors visit TheHotline.org.

About Genesys

Every year, Genesys orchestrates billions of remarkable customer experiences for organizations in more than 100 countries. Through the power of our cloud, digital and AI technologies, organizations can realize Experience as a Service®, our vision for empathetic customer experiences at scale. With Genesys, organizations have the power to deliver proactive, predictive, and hyper personalized experiences to deepen their customer connection across every marketing, sales, and service moment on any channel, while also improving employee productivity and engagement. By transforming back-office technology to a modern revenue velocity engine Genesys enables true intimacy at scale to foster customer trust and loyalty. Visit www.genesys.com.

©2023 Genesys. All rights reserved. Genesys, the Genesys logo, Genesys Cloud CX, and Experience as a Service are trademarks, service marks and/or registered trademarks of Genesys. All other company names and logos may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.

About The National Domestic Violence Hotline

The National Domestic Violence Hotline envisions a world where all relationships are positive, healthy, and free from violence. If you or someone you know is experiencing relationship abuse in any form, help is available. The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides free, confidential support 24/7/365. Text START to 88788, call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or chat online at TheHotline.org. You are not alone.

Media Contacts:

Kelley Crane
Genesys
[email protected]

Method Communications
[email protected]

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SOURCE Genesys