We are excited to announce changes to the live research assistance volunteer program today, changes that will bring you a much better volunteer experience.
Announcements
Starting in early February, when you check in, you could get a call about researching in any area, not just your specialty areas. The process to answer these calls is to:
- Help the patron as much as you can.
- Ask if they would also like to speak with a specialist for that area.
- Transfer the patron to the specialist, if desired.
Currently, you are registered as a specialist only, meaning that you will only get calls about questions where you have experience. This change means you will then be helping as a concierge AND as a specialist.
Watch for an email from us for the specific date of the change, and how the concierge service works in detail.
What this announcement mean?
More patrons to help! You signed up to help as a specialist, but because so few calls come to the specialist groups, you probably haven't received many calls. As a concierge, you will! All calls come through to the concierge line first. A concierge volunteer helps as they can, then passes calls they can’t answer onto the specialists.
Questions?
How do I check in to take calls?
- Go to familysearch.org/ask/givehelp.
- Enter or verify your phone number.
- Click Check In.
- Your phone will ring, and you’ll press 1 to validate.
How can I tell the difference between a concierge and a specialist call?
- Concierge calls have two beeps at the beginning.
- Specialist calls announce the name of the specialist group.
What if I only want to take specialist calls and don't want to be a concierge?
No problem. You can remove yourself from being concierge through the following steps:
- Go to familysearch.org/ask/profile.
- Sign into FamilySearch.
- Click Edit.
- Scroll down, and click to remove the check in the box in front of concierge.
- Click Save.
That's it! Just be aware that in making this change, you will receive very few calls to help. In the future, we hope to develop other ways you can help with locality needs as a volunteer.
Thank you for your dedication and willingness to help so many patrons with their research questions. Contact us with questions about volunteering at research@familysearch.org.
