Crescent-News.com - Pilot program gets its start in NW Ohio

By DARLENE PRINCE

A pilot program for a new voice mail phone system to help those who are without a phone and in need of phone service is being implemented in a 24-county area that includes northwest Ohio. The system will eventually be extended over the entire state and then the nation.

Representatives of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks, Leader Technologies, Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission and several other agencies met Tuesday at the Defiance Regional Medical Center to explain the service and how it will benefit residents in northwest Ohio.

Called the Leader Voice Mail phone system, the voice mail can be used by unemployed people, the homeless, or people who have lost their phone service. It is being implemented first in the 419 telephone exchange area that covers 24 counties including Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Paulding, Putnam and Williams.

The system was developed by Leader Technologies Inc., Columbus. Leader Technologies had been working with a small phone company in the area and when the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC) learned of the project, it stepped in and worked with the company to expand the service.

Janine Migden-Ostrander of OCC said the OCC has been supporting this new technology for persons in need.

She said a person in need, such as someone who is unemployed or homeless who does not have any cell or land line phone service, can go to a social service agency and a voice mail account will be set up for the client. These voice mail accounts are free of charge for both the client and the agency.

Migden-Ostrander said a client will be given a wallet-sized card with information to access the voice mail including their individual user ID, personal phone number, toll-free number to access their messages and the website address for accessing their messages online. The voice mail account can be used by others to leave messages for the client including those from a prospective employer, family members, medical services or social service agencies.

The client can choose to return the call with any touch-tone phone. It is the plan to have local libraries provide the free Internet service for the voice mail accounts.

Migden-Ostrander cited an example of how an unemployed person has already been able to use the voice mail account to her benefit.

"A case worker at the Samaritan House in Lima said she had heard from an unemployed client who, after 30 days spent calling prospective employers, was finally able to get a message from one that was interested in hiring her," Migden-Ostrander said. "She was then able to return that call and was called for an interview." She did not have her own phone, but was able to pick up the message about the job on her voice mail account.

Jason Elchert, director of outreach and education for the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks, said, "We will be distributing voice mail numbers through the food banks we serve." He said about 3,000 charities receive food from the Harvest Food Banks in Ohio's 88 counties.

"In the last five weeks, 85 percent of the unemployed who called our hotline could not access the unemployment (phone) line," Elchert said. "Seventy-five percent of our callers have had their phone lines disconnected. The phone systems are always the first to go."

Deb Gerken, executive director of Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission, said, "We will be giving out voice mail numbers, too. We service five counties in northwest Ohio. We reach the low-income people. We have 10-12 people who have been trained to set up the system. We have already signed up some consumers."

Michael McKibben, chairman and CEO of Leader Technologies Inc., said he gathered engineers and other experts together to create a voice mail system that could be used by those in need. He noted that his company had faced another daunting challenge when it set up the communication system to help the state of Louisiana before and after the Hurricane Katrina disaster. "When the levies broke (in New Orleans), we were ready to go," he said.

He said he was pleased that the voice mail would be helping so many needy people.

Area social service agencies are urging their clients to sign up for the voice mail.

Also, there will be a training session for social service agency personnel on July 29 at 10 a.m. at the Defiance County Emergency Operations Center in Brunersburg. For information, call 419-782-1130.