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Telecoms & Internet specialist supports charity hotlines for third campaign running

Comic Relief has chosen THUS plc to handle its telephone donation hotline and other automated telephony services for the third campaign in a row.

Following a tender, THUS will be simply covering its costs to support the charity event (which occurs every two years) providing a crucial link between Comic Relief and the public. THUS will be supplying a range of call handling services from January to April 2001 including Red Nose Day on March 16, 2001.

For the forthcoming campaign, THUS will use its IVR (Interactive Voice Response) automated call handling kit to manage a donation hotline, enabling callers to leave credit card details and other information. THUS is also providing a transcription service to transfer these details ready for banking. On the evening of Red Nose Day, the donation hotline will be routed to call centres around the country filled with volunteers taking donations from the public. THUS's call centres are proud to be a part of this, with 80 agents volunteering their time and effort on the evening of Red Nose Day to take calls from the public wishing to donate. If all the call centre agents are busy, calls will overflow to THUS's IVR automated call handling kit to ensure the maximum number of donations are taken on the night.

From January 2001, THUS will also be managing a fundraising pack request line, which will be advertised nationally, to handle requests from the public. Caller details are captured and transcribed by THUS, then passed to a fulfilment house to ensure information reaches those trying to raise money for the charity.

Additionally, THUS will be working closely with other companies supporting Comic Relief to handle calls generated by competitions and special promotions. These may involve national press, TV and radio campaigns over the coming months.

Rick Scott, Red Nose Day project manager at Comic Relief said: "THUS has been a valuable supporter of Comic Relief for many years, handling nearly half a million calls which raised £1.5 million for Comic Relief during the last campaign. We're hoping for a record-breaking volume of telephone calls to be generated this year and it's reassuring to know we can rely on THUS as our sole provider of automated telephony services."

Bill Allan, THUS chief executive said: "It's always a pleasure to be involved with Comic Relief and to be selected to supply automated telephony for the third consecutive campaign really cements the relationship we have developed with the charity. Connecting the public is a vital part of the fundraising efforts and we look forward to supporting what we hope will be the most successful Comic Relief campaign ever."