What happens at half past one
The phone fills up exactly when the place is fullest. Both want the same person.
- Three calls ring at once and there is only one person.
- Whoever is serving the counter has to choose who to leave standing.
- The caller gets an engaged tone and does not try again.
- The call that does get picked up is dealt with in twenty seconds and half done.
- Nobody knows how many were lost: there is no trace.
- All three are answered at once, with none of them waiting.
- The person in front stays that person's only customer.
- The caller gets a voice on the first ring.
- The call is handled in full even if it is the sixth that hour.
- There is a record of what came in, at what time and what each one wanted.
Working from the next rush
No extra hires and no shifts to organise: the peak stops existing as a problem.
Four at once, and all of them whole
A peak is not solved by picking up faster: it is solved by handling several complete conversations at the same time.
It answers the usual questions, which are most of what comes in at once.
If the call brings an opportunity, it takes it down instead of letting it drop.
And whatever needs someone on the team reaches whoever can take it.
Afterwards you get the map: the hours when the phone genuinely saturates.
Every sector has its bad hour
The peak is always in the same place: exactly when the team cannot handle it. Go into yours and see which one it is.
Saturday morning: the salon full and the phone too.
Two in the afternoon, dining room full and dinner bookings coming in.
Half past eight: everyone asking about their car at once.
Monday first thing, when the whole weekend piles up.
The day the listing goes up: twenty calls about the same flat.
What changes when nobody hears an engaged tone
These numbers come from businesses whose phone was saturated two hours a day.
We stopped choosing between serving a table and picking up the phone. Now both happen.
Group of 6 restaurants · BarcelonaIn spring our calls triple. It is the only way to cope with it.
Motorcycle dealership · SevilleWhat everybody asks
Five quick answers to get the doubts out of the way.
Try it at your next rush hour
It starts answering in minutes. The next avalanche no longer returns an engaged tone.
The phone causes more trouble
If this one rings a bell, these three will too. Each is solved on its own.