Crisis management hotline.

Callers depend on you in their time of need.You can depend on us to help you help those you serve.

In 2010, suicide was reported as the tenth leading cause of death in the United States for all ages.

Statistics show that every two minutes, somewhere in America, another person becomes a victim of sexual assault.

More than 3.2 million students are victims of bullying every year.

Most people don’t think about these kinds of things on a daily basis, if at all. But when you take a moment to look at these sobering facts, their reality sinks in. Chances are that someone reading this will have been bullied at some point in their lives. Chances are that you may know someone who took their own life, or know of someone who was sexually assaulted. These are all dire circumstances, and while they can’t always be prevented, sometimes, they can be. Whether you are working for an established crisis hotline or putting together a group of volunteers to start your own, Specialty’s crisis management answering service can help expand your reach, making your services more easily accessible to those in need.

Suicide alone creates an estimated $38.6B in medical and work loss costs. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. For about $2.50 a day, SAS’ 24/7 reception is here to help.

SASDelivering Outstanding Customer Support

How It Works.

With over 300 U.S.-based representatives manning our 24 hour live answering service, we are capable of managing upwards of 30,000 inbound calls daily. We also have bilingual staff on board, enabling us to connect with the country’s growing Spanish-speaking population. When it comes to crisis management, timely response is of the essence. It is our goal to minimize reaction time between receiving a call and transferring it to the appropriate individual within your organization. That is why our friendly answering service professionals will respond to every call within 3 rings or less. The faster we get to the phones, the more people you will be able to help. We offer features such as:

• 24-Hour Care: There is no timetable for emergent situations. Therefore, there should be no timetable for assisting distressed callers. We operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year, representing your hotline and providing the exceptional service that callers deserve when they or someone they know are in the midst of a crisis.
• 1-800 Numbers: Our comprehensive service plans include 800 answering service numbers for your organization, at no additional cost. It may also be possible to arrange for vanity numbers. Month-to-month plans are billed in per-minute increments. We know that crisis lines often have a very limited operating budget, and this way, you are only paying for the operator time you use.
• Local-National Service: SAS can be utilized as the primary point of contact for national hotlines, and calls can easily be directed to local chapters with resources and information that may be better able to serve the callers’ needs.
• Multi-Channel Support: Specialty can act as the frontend channel for a number of reporting outlets such as suicide prevention, sexual assault hotlines, Veterans in crisis, church or emotional support helplines, contact centers for runaways and at-risk youth, and youth violence or bullying hotlines.

The Benefits.

Operating any type of crisis hotline takes patience and strength. When emotions are at their peak, having the right 24-hour call center on your side can provide peace of mind in knowing that every person in need will receive the same level of care that our representatives would expect if they were on the other end of the line. Benefits of working with our team include:

• Right to Privacy: We respect the confidential nature of crisis hotlines, and that is why we preserve complete anonymity in callers’ interactions with our staff. We will only gather the information that you request prior to transfer, and in-call scripts can be customized to meet your specific requirements. In addition, our call center adheres to the strictest security standards. Calls are recorded and monitored for quality assurance, and accessible to you at any time.
• Always Professional: When an individual is reaching out for help, compassionate care is the key to keeping them on the line until a resolution has been achieved. Our operators are trained twice as long as the industry standard, and our calm, considerate approach will put callers at ease, conveying the feeling that, yes, someone truly does care.
• Remote Operation: No matter where your agency is located, calls can be patched to any number, any hour of the day. Many crisis centers and hotline call centers are manned by volunteers. Having the ability to transfer crisis calls anywhere means that whether your volunteers are at home, at work, or out of town, they are accessible when callers need them most.
• Reduced Costs: Remote services eliminate the need to purchase expensive telecommunications equipment and rent actual office space to house volunteers. In an industry that is typically reliant on charitable donations, little or no overhead can be a boon.

If you aren’t certain that an answering service is right for you, we invite you to take advantage of our 2-week free trial, no strings attached. It takes an enormous amount of courage to pick up the phone and ask for help, and your callers are dependent on receiving the utmost care. A partnership with SAS ensures that callers will always be greeted by kind, professional live-voice agents who have their best interests at heart. Specialty is the leading crisis management call center, committed to helping you help those you serve.