Welsh travel agency Tailor Made Travel has set up a virtual call centre which is helping the NHS to recruit vital additional staff, including cleaners and porters, after being forced to temporarily close its 20 branches and send staff home during the coronavirus lockdown.
Chief executive Simon Morgan said that while some staff were working from home to assist the travel agency’s own clients, other staff, who are ‘twiddling their thumbs’, are available to assist the NHS, industry partners and other organisations.
He said they had the capacity to handle 50 calls simultaneously.
"We have a volunteer crisis team in place (at home) dealing with all of our clients. We also have a number of furloughed staff – effectively ‘twiddling their thumbs’.
"Our unique communication technology allows us to send employees home with an Apple Mac and an internet phone. These are not limited to just our internal calls – we can accept calls for third parties too.
"After being approached to assist with NHS-related calls and successful trials of call management, recording, unique methods of identifying callers and called lines, the company has decided to offer the service to companies that have an influx of calls to deal with during the current crisis.
"We can be who you like, deliver pre written replies and convert calls to emails etc. There’s really no limit – and you don’t get a better chameleon than a travel consultant – we can pretty much put our hand to anything."
Morgan said no industry partners have yet taken up Tailor Made’s offer to provide telephone support, but he said he was sure it wouldn’t be long before it was approached.
"It is logical for us to offer our services to tour operators, airlines etc as we understand the business already and automatically understand key objectives," he added.
"If you’re a tour operator whose lines are jammed – let us help you."
