rwh@aesat.UUCP (Russell Herman) (04/04/84)
(baa BAA BAAAARGH - sacrificial lamb)
We (utzoo!aesat) and I (rwh) are new to the net. For the past seven
years I've been a telephone counselor for Peel Distress Line, the regional
non-sectarian crisis line. We are a telephone-only service funded mainly
by the United Way.
If there are other crisis workers reading this, do you have any
information on micro-based software applications for this environment?
An item I am particularly interested to learn of, if it exists, is an
incremental data retrieval system that could be used for identifying
repeat callers. That is, as information is gleaned through the course of a
call (like family member's names, age range, any key identifying phrases),
it could be entered to winnow through a database that would suggest
possible identities (or perhaps distinguishing characteristics). Not quite an
expert system, but close; I'd settle for displaying a small number of
possibilities.
P.S. For those of you who have no familiarity with the workings of
crisis lines, let me douse flames over "privacy". Most centres do
generate call reports, for internal use only, as well as profiles for
recognizing, and guidelines for handling, repeat callers. These do not go
outside the centre short of, I suppose, a subpoena (which I've never
heard of happening).
--
______ Russ Herman
/ \ {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!aesat!rwh
@( [1;5m? ?[0m )@ 416-821-9190
( || ) AES Data Inc.
( [5m\[m__[5m/[m ) 1900 Minnesota Ct.
\____/ Mississauga, Ont. CANADA L5N 3C9