Telephone Answering Services

The Vendor is required to provide Telephone Answering Services to the Department.
- The answering service is experiencing difficulty, preventing them from providing after-hours service as stipulated, they must notify the designated on-call therapist for the Mental Health Clinic, Addiction Services immediately.
- Mental Health Clinic from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30a.m. Monday and Friday; 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; all weekends; County holidays; and emergency closures (ex. Snow days, safety drills). On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday between 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the phones will be answered by staff at the Clinic. In the event of an emergency call, the call will be forwarded to the answering service to contact the on-call person, following all urgent call procedures.
- Addiction Services from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30a.m. Monday and Friday; 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; all weekends; County holidays; and emergency closures (ex. Snow days, safety drills). On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday between 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the phones will be answered by staff at the Clinic. In the event of an emergency call, the call will be forwarded to the answering service to contact the on-call person, following all urgent call procedures.
- The answering service is experiencing service difficulty during the Mental Health Clinic’s normal working hours, they must alert County Mental Health Administration immediately.
- The answering service is functional and fully operational, and it is within the normal operating hours of the Mental Health Clinic, the service must notify the Administration immediately. If the service is restored during the after- hours period, they must notify each program’s on-call therapist immediately.
- The answering service currently handles approximately 300 calls per month for all programs and staff covered. These calls include clients, providers, and law enforcement agencies needing to reach on-call emergently; clients and providers call to leave messages to cancel appointments; and on-call staff reporting their whereabouts. There is one person on call each day both for the Mental Health Clinic and Addiction Services.
- The answering service will obtain the name and telephone number of the caller, and when the caller indicates an emergency, will immediately contact the appropriate on-call staff member with this information.