How Firefighters Depend On Community Phone’s Reliability For Emergency Calls
“Community Phone has just made the firefighters’ lives less stressful and my life less stressful,” says Tricia, administrator at the fire district.
Their Setup
The Sonoita-Elgin Fire District is a team of firefighters and emergency personnel who keep people safe across 700 miles of rural Arizona. Their team of 30 fields emergency calls every day from the community. They are dispatched for wildfires, medical emergencies, and local needs like clearing cattle. They are in a truly rural area, without a stoplight at the main intersection and 50 minutes from the nearest hospital. They trust Community Phone to be their phone provider.
- Favorite Features:
Call History in the app,
Voicemail Transcripts and Adding Contacts - 1 Number
30 Team Members
How Their Experience Changed With Community Phone
Before Community Phone
The Sonoita-Elgin Fire District used traditional landline phones. Tricia, the administrator for the fire district, decided it was time to make a change.
Huge Price
They were paying $600 per month.
Inflexible Features
The fire station had no way to review voicemails or make sure they were not missing calls, other than going into the settings on their old landline phones. Residents began to complain that they’d call again and again with no answer. Tricia asked, “Is there any way we can streamline this even more? But with traditional landlines, it just wasn’t an option.”
Physical Address Book
Tricia used to keep track of each caller’s name and issue in a physical address book, and then pass the physical piece of paper to a member of her team. That meant some people’s calls, despite Tricia’s heroic efforts, were forgotten.
With Community Phone
Tricia at the fire district now has two lines, one main line and one that rolls over in case the first one is busy. Plus, she can review missed calls and voicemail transcripts in her Community Phone app.
Complete Reliability
When someone calls the fire district, the phone must ring. A dropped call can be life and death. Plus, the fire district is truly remote in Arizona. That means that few providers can offer the reliability that the fire district needs. Community Phone’s hardware provides a strong enough connection that the fire district never drops a call. Learn more about our hardware
Call History On The Go
Tricia and the other administrative staff are moving around the fire station all day helping the community. She explains, “I don’t have a desk where I just sit here. With the app, I can see everybody who calls even when I’m up and down from my desk all the time.” That means that, “if something comes through where 911 dispatch needs us, then I can see that on a more timely basis.” Learn more about call history
Lower Price
With Community Phone, they save more than $500 per month. Tricia says, “That’s money that can go towards training equipment, EMS equipment, safety equipment for our guys, updates for ambulances. That’s huge.”
Voicemail Transcripts
In emergencies, it’s important to know exactly what is going wrong. When someone leaves a voicemail, it can contain vital information for their safety... or it can be a nuisance sales call from a random company. Tricia reviews voicemail transcripts to, “see if it’s a priority or not.” Learn more about voicemail transcripts
Virtual Address Book
Certain people in the community call frequently, about similar circumstances each time. Now when someone calls Tricia adds them to the contact list in the Community Phone app. Then, when they call again, she can see their name come in and anticipate what type of help will be needed. Learn more about savings contacts
Why They Switched to Community Phone
- Reliable calling
- – The Sonoita-Elgin Fire District needs to trust that when someone calls, the phone will ring. Dropped calls can be the difference between life and death. There are few phone providers who can ensure that level of reliability in an area as remote as Sonoita. The Sonoita-Elgin Fire District trusts Community Phone to be reliable.
- Powerful Features
- – Tricia, the fire district’s administrator, needs to respond to callers as quickly as possible. With the Community Phone app, she can keep track of calls coming in and make sure every urgent call gets a reply.
- Cheaper Price
- – The Sonoita-Elgin Fire District has a tight budget, needing to support 700 miles of Arizona residents. The $500/month savings from Community Phone means they have more money to put toward fire truck maintenance and safety equipment for the firefighters.
“We just evolved so much from traditional landline to using Community Phone, having an app on the phone and now having an app on the computer.”
