Firms, Including Collection Agency, Unite to Help a Company in Need

Last week as hurricanes once again threatened the gulf coasts of the United States, member companies of I-OneSource came together to help a potential client in need.

The I-OneSource companies involved in this scenario are Account Solutions Group (ASG) based in Buffalo, NY; Sherpa Business Solutions located in Troy, Michigan and a potential client of Sherpa?s— HealthHelp, located in Houston, Texas, an area targeted by the devastating winds and rains of Hurricane Rita.

Elaine Alvord is ASG’s telecommunications manager. Last Tuesday evening, Elaine received a call for help on around 7 p.m. The request for assistance came from Scott Shafer, the president and CEO of Sherpa Business Solutions.

Sherpa specializes in the innovative application of technology and human resources to optimize business processes and deliver reduced cost, sigma-level quality and more rapid turnaround. ASG is one of the top-performing call centers in the nation.

When Scott Shafer called Elaine, he told her about a potential client, HealthHelp, an operation that needed a big favor in a big way. HealthHelp was one of the many businesses forced to evacuate their offices because of the Hurricane Rita’s potential danger and damage.

Like I-OneSource companies, HealthHelp shares a profound commitment to customer care. Because HealthHelp’s business involves the approval of medical procedures, interrupting service to clients and customers was not an option for them. They needed to find a solution to a very significant problem and turned to Sherpa. In turn, Sherpa contacted ASG.

On Tuesday night between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., Elaine Alvord worked on the phone with HealthHelp to figure out how ASG could accommodate them. HealthHelp needed a call center with sophisticated automation and phone systems. Beyond that, the company needed caring individuals who would go well beyond their job descriptions for people and a company they didn’t even know.

HealthHelp found that dedication in Elaine Alvord and several other members of ASG’s management and staff.

In less than 48 hours, ASG’s automation systems were realigned so that HealthHelp’s inbound calls would be routed specifically to certain phone groups. PCs were brought in and temporary workers were hired.

By Thursday at 1 p.m., ASG was 100% ready to house HealthHelp representatives. On Friday at 8 a.m., three staff members from HealthHelp were fully operational in ASG’s offices 1,500 miles from their corporate headquarters. Along with ten temporary workers from Buffalo, they answered 100 calls an hour from customers across the nation who needed medical assistance and guidance.

HealthHelp will continue to work out of ASG’s facilities through the end of this week.