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Storiesparlcorpdev2021-02-04T00:05:21+00:00

Stories

Insights. A few examples from clients who have solved big problems to achieve success.

Improving Patient Experience with Parlance Voice-Enabled Call Routing Solution

stories of parlance - hendrick health system

Duane Donaway at Hendrick Health.

Duane Donaway, Director of Technology at Hendrick Health is interviewed by Parlance Account Executive Annmarie Block. Duane discusses the benefits of Parlance, including:

  • Improved caller experience / patient experience
  • Elimination of large, maze-like phone trees
  • Callers can speak naturally and connect
  • Reduced time and effort needed for employee communication
  • Easy implementation

Parlance is a Covid-19 response tool:

  • Enabled Hendrick to deliver excellent caller experiences — even during a crisis
  • Speech-enabled call routing technology freed up operator staff on the frontlines of the Coronavirus crisis, to field urgent or complex calls
  • Prepared Hendrick for call volume surges
Learn more

Improving Patient Access

stories of parlance - advent health

Kelly Hubka at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission

As Director of Population Health and Care Navigation, Kelly Hubka is always pushing to improve patient access to healthcare. For her, it was clear that operating nine primary care clinics with separate phone and scheduling systems was a major barrier to patients accessing the care they needed. And because call volume data across the clinics was nonexistent, planning a transition to centralized scheduling was a daunting, if not impossible task.

“Scheduling appointments was a big issue for patients. And getting through on the phones was the first issue…

Read more

it’s the first point of contact for patient access, so we had to take a serious look at how difficult it was for our patients to navigate our siloed, antiquated phone system.” – Kelly Hubka, Director of Population Health and Care Navigation

Creating continuity across clinics – and a unified patient experience

Kelly saw that that patients needed streamlined voice access – the ability to navigate themselves to the services they need by simply speaking. And by documenting incoming call volume, she knew AdventHealth would be in a much better position to staff effectively as they moved to unify all call agents on a single platform with full visibility across the network of physician offices.

“How do we make healthcare easy for our patients? How do we keep them safe? – These were our guiding questions as we explored solutions.”

A strategic partnership

Today, staff and patient response to the new centralized scheduling has been overwhelmingly positive. With unprecedented visibility and brand continuity across AdventHealth primary care providers, plus an efficient, pleasant caller experience, Parlance is supporting the organization’s goal of providing patients with a unified care experience.

“This was a significant change, encompassing technology, process, and culture. Now, with greater access to all our clinics, we are greater as a whole. We can serve patients on a new level.”

stories of parlance - kelly hubka

Creating a Culture of Seamless Communication

stories of parlance - advent health

Daniel Anderson at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission

In 2017, Daniel Anderson, Emergency Management Program Manager at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission, along with department director, Charles Murray, led an organizational shift that was as much cultural as it was logistical – consolidating siloed Operators and Security departments into one business unit, with the goal of closing a serious communication gap between these two essential teams. Facing a daunting logistical and cultural shake-up, AHSM needed a technology partner capable of supporting this transition.

Reducing call volume – and empowering employees

“We were very concerned about call volume coming into the Operation Center. To be honest, we were scared…

Read more

– how could we unify these two teams if call volume was so unmanageable?

The system we had at the time was archaic, so staff was hungry for change. I needed a solution that would mitigate call volume today and carry us more strategically into the future.” – Daniel Anderson, Emergency Management Program Manager

A strategic partnership

With the support of Parlance advisors, Daniel’s team implemented a new protocol for routing the nearly 110,000 calls per month to the call center, automating simple calls and freeing up staff to manage more complex calls that require personalized support.

“Now, these two teams are working together seamlessly, sharing information in-the-moment. Parlance is reducing the number of calls coming into the room, which keeps staff engaged and unified, focused on sharing information instead of scrambling for it.”

Today, the 30 percent of incoming calls that reach the consolidated Operator and Security team receive the attention they need, with Parlance routing the remainder exactly where they belong – a success that boosts staff morale and efficiency and improves patient care.

Improving Patient Experience

stories of parlance - tahoe forest health

Jake Dorst at Tahoe Forest Health System

When Jake Dorst joined Tahoe Forest Health System as CIO, his new colleagues told him plainly: they
were frustrated with their current call system. Every day, countless patients were getting lost in the void
of endless, often inaccurate phone trees, and executive assistants were fielding calls that erroneously
landed on their lines. The offsite Operator Services team seemed frazzled – overworked and underpaid –
with high turnover preventing them from providing reliable service. And above all else, Jake was worried
that the complete absence of call volume data was creating a serious blind spot.

“The offsite Operator Services folks would say, ‘Oh, we connected that call.’ Well, if they connected it to…

Read more

– the wrong place, that doesn’t help anyone! I needed accuracy and data that they simply couldn’t
provide.”– Jake Dorst, Tahoe Forest Health System CIO

Harnessing the power of voice – and data

Seeing that Tahoe Forest was hungry for change, Jake recommended Parlance voice-enabled call
routing. He had had success with Parlance at other organizations and knew that the implementation
would be seamless and the results invaluable. No more confusing IVR menus and no more lengthy hold
times. Moreover, with plans on the horizon to build a centralized Access Center to support clinics,
registration, scheduling, bill pay, and care navigation, Jake knew they needed a strategic partner that
could streamline the patient experience and provide actionable data to inform their planning.

“Having Parlance as a reliable solution was invaluable as we built out the Access Center. We simply
wouldn’t have been able to build it with the offsite staff. It’s really been a huge win for us.”

Inspiring patient confidence

With the Parlance-supported Access Center providing a centralized access point for patients to get the
information they need simply by speaking, patients now have seamless access to the care they need.
And with voice-enabled self-service relieving the burden of routine and erroneous transfers, front desk
staff and agents have time to provide better service to patients who need complex, empathetic support.
The result? Staff and patient satisfaction are soaring at Tahoe Forest – in no small part thanks to Jake
advocating for change.

“It was great to have a win like this early on in my tenure at Tahoe Forest. A lot of people welcomed the
change to Parlance, and to see it work so well has been really rewarding. When you’re a hospital or
healthcare system, patients judge your competence at every level. And if you can’t get your phone right,
they’re wondering if you’re going to get their hip replacement right. Parlance has helped maintain
patient’s confidence in the care they receive with us.”

stories of parlance - jake dorst

Reducing Call Volume to Improve Staff and Patient Satisfaction

stories of parlance - the valley health system

Jayne Chase at The Valley Health System

With nearly three decades’ experience as telecommunications manager at The Valley Health System, Jayne Chase knows her call center inside out. And with a staff of 13 fielding up to 3,500 calls per day for six Las Vegas hospitals, the overwhelming volume was causing considerable stress among her team members. Resignations were a concern, especially working in a hospitality town that offered other telecommunication opportunities.

“It was really hard. With the hotels and casinos as our competition, it was tough getting good people to stay…

Read more

We had resorted to temp workers, but training new people every month was very expensive and time-consuming.” – Jayne Chase, Valley Health System Telecommunications Manager

Making a business case for automation

Jayne knew that patient experience was going to continue to decline unless something changed. She approached her CFO with Parlance, pitching the solution as a way to reduce the number of calls requiring operator assistance by 50%, make more efficient utilization of the current staff, eliminate caller hold times, and get call center staff back on track to providing effective, pleasing, personalized customer service.

“The Valley Health System is all about customer service. It’s our goal. But we’re also invested in our employees’ experience. We care about them greatly, too, and Parlance is a big part of that.”

Realizing labor cost savings

Now, with Parlance-provided data, the business case speaks for itself – and, as Jayne puts it, “the solution has lived up to what we expected, answering up to 50% of our incoming calls.” In fact, The Valley Health System recently opened a new hospital without having to hire more operators, representing a significant ROI. Operators today are less rushed and better able to provide thoughtful, compassionate service for complex issues – a personal touch that is essential to providing personalized patient care.

“Now, in the event of only one person staffing the phones, Parlance can handle nonemergency calls – seamlessly and accurately – which frees up staff to answer critical code calls.”

stories of parlance - jayne chase

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Brian Kramer

Brian is a Software Engineer who has spent more than 5 years developing cloud-based applications in industries such as Educational Technology and Healthcare.  As a Software Engineer at Parlance, Brian’s responsibilities include development of web applications, maintenance of HL7 interfaces, and implementation of new technologies. Prior to Parlance, Brian worked as a software consultant at Accenture. Brian holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Dayton.

Ali Karasic

Ali is the Marketing Director at Parlance.  Her background is in marketing and graphic design. Prior to Parlance, Ali worked in several sectors including; HighTech, EdTech, and Non-Profit, in both traditional and digital marketing. Ali grew up on the Jersey Shore, graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and has lived in the Boston area for over 15 years. She is passionate about connecting with people and spent 6 years for a Boston-area business networking organization. Ali loves working at Parlance because the team is friendly, smart, collaborative, and always focused on learning and improving.

Suparna Agnihotri

Suparna Agnihotri joined Parlance as Senior Software Engineer. She has 15 years of experience in Software Development. Along with the development team, she works on the core product and makes sure to deliver best solutions to support Parlance customers. Suparna worked for a Hedge-fund firm, as Senior Software Engineer, for 9 years, before joining Parlance. Suparna got her Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from Mumbai University and Master’s degree in Computer Science from UMass, Boston.

Scott D’Entremont

Scott joined Parlance in 2018 as Chief Revenue Officer. He is responsible for all aspects of growth at Parlance. New revenue generation, revenue retention, and increasing the value of the Parlance brand in the markets we serve are all part of his responsibilities.. Scott has a technology career that spans 25 years with 20 years in executive management as both a CEO and COO. As founder CEO of Netspoke, Scott grew the company from 2 people to 120 and an annual run rate of more than 20 million leading to the acquisition of the company by Premier Global Services (NYSE PGI).

Annmarie Block

Annmarie is responsible for growing new Parlance sales in Texas and the Southeast, primarily in the healthcare and education sector. Annmarie has spent the last 30 years in sales and sales management working with communication and technology companies, for both national and Boston-based companies. Previously, Annmarie served as the Vice President of Sales, for Netspoke (purchased by PGi), where she trained and developed a dynamic sales team in both the fundamentals of sales and outstanding service. Annmarie has been awarded numerous personal and team awards for outstanding achievements in sales, including Presidents Club, The Deloitte North American Fast 500, The Deloitte Technology Fast 500, and The Inc. 500. She joined Parlance in 2018, and is happy to be doing what she loves most — working directly with customers. Annmarie holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has been living in Southern California since 2006.

Michele Gosselin

Michele has been with Parlance since 2009, as a Customer Solutions Engineer. In addition, she serves on the Parlance dialog design team and manages the performance benchmarking process. Michele is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, with a degree in Psychology.

Scott Gomes

Scott joined the Parlance team in 2003. He has had many roles including Systems Admin, Infrastructure Manager and is now the Manager of IT and our Customer Solutions team. In this role, Scott is responsible for the team that deploys, manages and innovates Parlance’s managed solutions that our customers have come to rely on. Additionally, Scott has a direct role in the infrastructure that supports these endeavors. Prior to joining Parlance, Scott worked in tech roles at RCN, Click2learn.com, and One INC. He attended Fitchburg State College, majoring in Communications.

Nancy Fyrberg

Nancy joined Parlance in 2001. During her career at Parlance she has worked in many different departments. She began her Parlance journey in Customer Support, dabbled in Sales, supported the Marketing department and then came back home to Customer Solutions in 2015. She loves working with customers as she is truly “a people person”. Nancy partners with her customers to understand their pain points, in order to design applications that support their caller groups and business needs. Prior to joining Parlance, Nancy had worked at multiple companies within a technical customer support role. Nancy graduated from Salem State University with a Bachelor of Art degree; photography concentration, music minor. She enjoys spending time with her family and pets and always tries to live an artful life.

Maurizio De Cagna

Maurizio is a solution engineer. His responsibilities are building, testing, monitoring, and improving applications and the user experience for the Parlance managed solution. His background is in customer support, testing/QA, sales support and product management.
Maurizio grew up in Switzerland and Italy and is fluent in French and Italian. He enjoys solving problems, helping people, fixing electronic devices, building FX pedals, and playing around with synthesizers.

John Laidler

John is an experienced Software Engineer who has spent more than 35 years developing applications, including 20 years working with telephony speech recognition products.  As a Senior Software Engineer at Parlance, John’s responsibilities span a broad range including development of web based tools, implementation of HL7 interfaces, providing Dictionary Management applications and investigation and evaluation of new technologies. Prior to Parlance Corporation, John worked on telephony applications at Lyrix Incorporated and before that worked for Raytheon developing Air Traffic control systems. John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Leeds University (UK).

Dan Heer

As a Business Development Executive at Parlance, Dan works with health systems, higher education institutions, and enterprises throughout the Midwest to improve their organizations caller experience. After graduating from Minnesota State University with a degree in Economics, Dan began a Business Development role in healthcare staffing. Always wanting to move into the technology space he found a role with Gartner, inc. working with emerging technology companies to help understand their markets to scale their business’. Through sourcing and discovering many tech companies with growth potential, Dan realized he wanted to be a part of one himself and knew what to look for. Parlance was the perfect fit. The technology had immediate value to its customers, but what sold Dan to work here was the team that Parlance employs.

Ann Colella

Ann started her career with Parlance in 2016, as Implementation Project Manager.  She ensures a timely delivery of the Parlance solution while focusing on the customers objectives.  Ann has 18 years of project management experience.  Prior to joining the Parlance team Ann worked at Fidelity Investments for 16 years, overseeing a variety of project implementations.

Sheila Kelly

Sheila joined the Parlance team in 2012 as a business development executive covering the Western United States. She takes great satisfaction in developing strong and enduring partnerships with clients to solve operational challenges that impact customer experiences. Prior to joining Parlance, Sheila had stepped away from the corporate workplace for more than a decade to raise her children and focus on civic engagements in her hometown of Great Falls, Montana. She holds a BA from Vanderbilt University.

Keith Greenwood

Keith has been with Parlance since 2006, starting as a Field Service Engineer. His present role as Solutions Engineer has Keith working with our customers to deploy speech solutions from project inception to ongoing maintenance, providing 2nd-tier support and acting as a SME for integrating Parlance Service with our customer’s unified communications and telecommunications environments. Before Parlance, Keith worked in various technical roles at Lockheed-Martin and PixelVision/Avocent, and attended Northeastern University, majoring in Electronics Engineering.

Chris DeRizzo

Chris has been selling for Parlance since 2000.  Living in New York State, he mostly covers the New England territory, although he has customers all over the country.  Prior to Parlance, Chris held positions in both sales and finance.  One of the reasons he’s enjoyed being with the Parlance team for so long is his quest to help customers save money and create efficiency with our solution.  He also loves getting out and meeting different people and creating new relationships. Chris enjoys the outdoors and spending time traveling with his family.

Bill Pajunen

Having worked in the telephony and speech-enabled application industries for 30 years, Bill has seen the technical landscape in a constant state of change.  In his software development role, he has found the task of enabling innovation both rewarding and challenging.  Working with vendor integrations, distributed environments, process instrumentation, and data analysis have all added to his appreciation for the development process and its role within a successful service offering.  Working at Parlance with a collaborative development team to deliver new features or products is great. When that product is reliable, and valued by the customer, even better. Before joining Parlance Bill worked at Wang Information Services, VoiceCom, and Lyrix Inc, all telephony and-or speech application service companies.

Amy Murphy

Amy Murphy has been a member of the Parlance team since the Back Street Boys joined forces!  She’s held several sales and marketing positions throughout her career at Parlance and considers the Parlance team family.  Currently, Amy manages the Parlance Business Development team and focuses on developing new client relationships. She helps organizations realize the incredible impact of Parlance speech automation technology — streamline operations, improve service levels, and lower costs.

William Sadkin

With over 30 years of experience in building mission-critical real-time systems, Will serves as the Director of Software Development at Parlance, and is one of its founding employees.  Will considers it his team’s mission to bring highly reliable and serviceable speech-driven solutions to market, and to then support those systems to ensure that both Parlance’s solutions and customer service remain the best in the industry.   Prior to Parlance, Will worked at Unisys and BBN Technologies (now Raytheon), where he helped design and build deliverable systems in several technological domains, including air-traffic control radar processing, military tactical training VR simulation and speech recognition.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from SUNY Potsdam.

Mindy Garber

Mindy Garber is a founding employee at Parlance and is Chief for Quality/Customer Satisfaction. Her responsibilities include corporate processes, support, training, field engineering and customer surveys. Since 2004, Mindy has also been active in the conflict resolution field. One day a month, she serves as a mediator with the Massachusetts District Courts, and has mediated over 250 civil disputes. In addition, she serves as a non-attorney arbitrator with the Massachusetts Bar Association.  Mindy is a guest lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and teaches workshops in Negotiation Skills, Difficult Conversations, and Design Dispute Resolution for Engineers. She has a MS from Stanford University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. She also attended Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation.

John Emery

John Emery has been in communications since he took an announcing job at age 16 at the radio station in his home town. After college and two years in the military he became the founding music and production director for radio at the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.  He then spent 12 years as Production, then Programming Vice President for Charles River Broadcasting in Boston.  Since 1998 he has been a solutions engineer and recording manager for Parlance Corporation.

Joseph Maxwell

A technology industry veteran, Joseph has nearly 30 years of experience. As CEO of Parlance Corporation, Joseph is responsible for all aspects of company strategy, product development, technology infrastructure, and service delivery. Joseph shares his expertise with visionary organizations nationwide, in healthcare, higher education, and enterprise, who rely on Parlance every day to improve call handling, ease caller effort and reduce operational costs. Prior to Parlance Corporation, Joseph worked on speech recognition technology-based applications at BBN Technologies (now part of Raytheon). Joseph holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.