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News

United Way to merge call centers

Greensboro News and Record

Need urgent child care? Know someone in need of shelter? Got a health care question? Just dial 2-1-1.

United Ways in the Triad and Triangle are merging their confidential 211 call centers in hopes that one day the referral service will cover the entire state.

The merger means that instead of separate call centers in the Triad and the Triangle, there will be one central call center operating out of Durham.

“This is the first step toward creating a statewide system,” Neil Belenky, president of United Way of Greater Greensboro, said.

The 211 centers provide information about local health and human service programs, as well as provide nonemergency referrals.

It also provides information about volunteer opportunities in the area.

"Our region is blessed with a large number of services,” Belenky said. “But the challenge sometimes is accessing those services, knowing where to go."

The primary reasons for the merger are to increase efficiency and cut costs for the United Ways .

A statewide system would allow the service to reach areas not served by 211 centers, and help the center more efficiently respond to situations crossing regions, such as a hurricane, United Way executives said.

Currently, United Way’s 211 services cover about 43 percent of the state.

Despite being in Durham, the merged center should still be able to provide good service to callers from the Triad, said Bobby Smith, president of United Way of Greater High Point.

Like at the Triad call center, operators at the merged center in Durham will use the caller’s area code to pull up the appropriate database to refer them to local services, Belenky said. Local United Ways will be responsible for updating these databases.

Smith didn’t know, however, how much of the information given to callers from the Triad center had been based on the operator’s personal knowledge of the area versus reliance on the databases.

But the merger will allow the Triad and Triangle United Ways to combine their advertising for the service, which may help them reach more people, he said.

“I think a lot of people are still just learning about it,” Smith said. “The potential is (for) volume to increase dramatically.”

Contact Alexis Gines at 883-4422, Ext. 231, or agines@news-record.com