Callers to the NCAA national office looking for help with NCAA bylaws and legislative interpretations will soon start seeing a difference in service.

The NCAA membership services staff is coordinating an enhanced communications system to be rolled out in a couple of phases beginning in June. Phase 1 is a new national office phone system to be implemented this summer. Among membership benefits is a prioritization feature that allows institutional callers (once they enter a six-digit identification code) to jump to the next in line, ahead of non-institutional callers. That should result in fewer hang-ups, voice messages and call-backs during peak periods.

The legislative interpretations line will be maintained, but the new system allows calls to be categorized to determine what topical areas garner the most attention (for example, reinstatement issues, eligibility concerns, amateurism, financial aid).

Other benefits of the new phone system include:

• Ability to monitor caller history

•  Additional menu of options allows calls to be more efficiently directed

• Callers informed of projected wait time

• Callers on hold hear informational messaging that may in fact answer their questions

Membership services staff members think the new phone system alone will significantly increase service capacity since phone communication is such a frequently used membership conduit. Callers will be more efficiently placed with the right representatives, and calls are tracked so that return calls can be routed to the same staff member, thus enhancing consistency.

The fact that institutional callers are prioritized is another plus, said NCAA Director of Membership Services Lynn Holzman.

“That should result in improved service to the membership,” she said. “Because institutional callers are our first priority, we ought to employ an infrastructure that treats them that way. The new phone system does that.”

Phase 2 of the enhanced communication system, which should be in place by fall 2007, coordinates all membership communication (including Web-based inquiries, e-mail, facsimile and the new phone system) into a single database (called the Membership Services Communications System) that increases efficiency and enhances consistency in messaging and interpretation. The searchable database will allow users to track the status of questions, interpretations or cases, and allow institutions and conferences to determine what concerns are being raised and by whom.

For example, conference offices can determine which of their members are raising concerns or having difficulty with various NCAA legislative matters. Other enhancements include being able to track which times of the year, month or even day are peak periods for calls. That information also will be passed along to public callers in the new system who, when they call during peak times, can be informed of when to call back for quicker service.

Holzman said the staff’s primary goal with the more holistic approach is to increase efficiency in overall membership communication and be able to better assess problem areas in NCAA rules that can then be addressed more strategically. She said the benefits of the database approach should be similar to those gained from implementation of the LSDBi, which broke new ground in making legislative services a one-stop shopping option.

“Overall, the new system will enhance membership communication without placing any administrative burden on institutional personnel,” Holzman said. “Status of interpretations and cases will be more transparent and efficiency in matching staff expertise to topical area will increase. Also, data on the types of calls and outcomes will be more readily available to help guide future legislation.”