When the first lockdown pulled down the shutters on all public-facing services on 23 March 2020 an urgent, and a digital, response was needed.
It soon became clear that digital was going to the be solution for most people and services: Public meetings became Zoom meetings; family gatherings were replaced with Facetime; the clinically vulnerable did all their shopping online; and working and schooling from home required devices and good broadband.
But what of those people who lacked the digital skills, devices or decent broadband needed to get online?
Before lockdown Dorset Council had recruited a team of Digital Champions to work with people in libraries who needed help getting online or to grips with their devices.
And then lockdown pulled the shutters down.
Where would these people, who now needed help more than ever, turn to now the libraries and the Digital Champions services were closed?
Dorset Council acted fast. Within a week of the first day of the first lockdown, the Dorset Digital Hotline was born.
Now, nearly 1,000 calls later, the Hotline has not only helped people with their digital skills, but it has also provided advice on broadband and online services.
We spoke to Dorset Council’s Lyndsey Trinder to find out how the Digital Hotline rose to the challenge of the Covid pandemic.
The background
Dorset Council has been providing digital skills support since 2013. Before the pandemic it had 70 Digital Champions providing sessions and drop-ins in at community settings, the majority in libraries.
The council also leads on digital inclusion projects, including a pilot with the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group to offer digital pregnancy services and Bourne Digital, a project to train unemployed and underemployed people in digital skills.
As part of Digital Dorset, the council works with partners to make the most of innovative technology, address connectivity and provide a wide range of forms of digital support.
Digital support during the pandemic
When the pandemic hit, all Digital Champion work in community venues halted and the council’s staff moved to home working.
Lyndsey said: “We immediately saw a big gap and knew people would need the help of our Digital Champions more than ever.”
The council rapidly set up a hotline with the Digital Champions who felt confident to provide remote support. It was operational by 30 March 2020.
A year later and the hotline had helped more than 900 people (there were 924 calls by 30 March 2021).
Enquiries have ranged from getting online and using a device for the first time to pleas on how to get better broadband while working and schooling from home.
The council also joined forces with the DevicesDotNow and Everyone Connected schemes to get devices out to some of our most vulnerable members in the community. The hotline and Digital Champions’ support to these people was vital in helping them learn to use the device and then get online so they could be connected to their loved ones and vital services.
Lyndsey said the lockdown was the catalyst for getting many people online for the first time.
“I can remember the days when people said “Oh no, I wouldn’t be interested”, and there’s been a massive shift to “Actually, I can see this is a real benefit for me and I need to know how to do it.”
How the Hotline works
The Digital Hotline is open Monday to Friday between 10am and 12 noon daily, an answer machine service operates outside those times.
A triage team from the council’s library service answers the calls and refers them to the most appropriate Digital Champion. Lyndsey explained:
“For our digital champions it’s really useful if you’ve got a similar device at home and you can see it and explain over the phone what the caller needs to do. Among our champions we have Android specialists and Apple specialists. We also have people who are good on Facebook, Skype, Zoom and we have people who are particularly good with online shopping. And then we’ve got someone who works in online security, so anyone who’s had a query about security can be directed to them.”
Wider community support
The digital help provided by the Hotline benefitted from support across the Dorset community.
It was regularly highlighted in COVID-19 Response meetings, with attendees from the public and voluntary organisations, and the council has also joined forces with other organisations to promote the hotline.
Bodies like the local Age UK partner and NHS now refers their users to the digital hotline, and the council has received support from organisations like the Sight and Hearing team to give tailored support to people with specific needs.
The Dorset Digital Hotline has been promoted in the local media, on social media and posters and postcards distributed were across the county via GP surgeries and parish councils.
Overcoming the challenges
The Digital Hotline proved to be a life saver for many but there were many challenges the Digital Champions had to face.
Showing someone how to do something on a device is much easier when you can sit with them and show them what to do in real time. Explaining over a phone is challenging – even more so if you are helping people who might also be visually or hearing impaired.
Sometimes it has taken the Digital Champions several calls over a few weeks to help people, and their patience is unwavering.
Occasionally a Digital Champion has offered to collect a device and set something up on behalf of a caller and the council has also worked with organisations like AgeUK and the Sight and Hearing team to help its callers. Lyndsey reflected:
“It is a real challenge to be able to help people when we’re trying to do it all remotely and especially for those people who we were giving devices to – most of whom had never owned one.
“One woman said it wasn’t for her and sent it back and another said she is managing, but couldn’t wait until the libraries opened because she wants to be shown how to use it in a way that really would suit her much better.
“But we have had many success stories as well,” Lyndsey reflected, “including a profoundly deaf man who has been able to communicate with friends via WhatsApp for the first time in nearly a year after he was given a smart phone.”
Digital Hotline – success stories and statistics
Beryl Davies from Sturminster Newton was one of 10 people in the shielding community to receive a tablet and training from a Digital Champion. She said: “This tablet has been brilliant; it’s opened up a whole new world for me.”
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Vicky Russell, NHS Link Worker, said one of her patients who received a device but could not upload zoom, was saved thanks to the Digital Champions: “I called the Digital Hotline and a wonderful man, Andy Taylor, called me. We tried to upload things to the tablet over the telephone, but with no success. Andy lives locally and said that he was happy for me to deliver the tablet to him and he would see what he could do. He not only managed to upload Zoom but also typed out instructions on how to use it!!”
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Caryn Mitchell, Rehabilitation Officer and Hearing Lead from the Sight & Hearing Team, saw how a free phone made a huge difference to a profoundly deaf man she supports. She said: “A huge thank you for sorting out this phone for JP in Bridport. It took around an hour or so to get him used to using it. He admits he is still learning but he seems excited by it. Thanks again for all you have done.”
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Danny said he was very pleased with his phone. “It’s grand”. He can now go online to use council services and had an e consult with the doctor which worked well.
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Nicolle, who has five children, said it improved her life as the school can contact her more easily, the children can do their schoolwork online and she can socialise via Facebook.
The stats:
From 30 March 2020 to 30 March 2021
- 924 people called the Digital Hotline
- 129 calls were from people needing help to use devices (laptops, phones, tablets, Alexa)
- 81 calls from people needing help with video conferencing, Zoom, Skype, Facetime, WhatsApp
- 122 people seeking assistance with online services such as Maternity Matters, shopping, doctor’s surgery.
- 86 people were calling about poor broadband and what help is available.
- Nearly 200 calls were about general IT enquiries, such as emails, printers, adobe software, passwords, virus protection and scams.
- Nearly 50 calls were about either getting help to receive a device or offering to give devices to people who need them.
- 13 people sought help with social media (predominately Facebook).
I have worked in communications for 25 years, first as a journalist and then in public and private sector public relations. From Southampton originally, I have lived in beautiful Dorset for the last two decades. My passion for Dorset has also turned into a passion for landscape photography. My other great loves are my family and Southampton Football Club.