The office of Dr. David Mandel employs currently three full time reception staff and one part-time. With two busy offices, the reception staff are constantly running. They are responsible for a large number of tasks which have to be consistently completed by the end of the day.

The most familiar aspect of their position which patients will recognize is scheduling and changing appointments either by phone or in person. On average the Mayfield office receives approximately 300 phone calls each day. That was based on a survey conducted in March 2003 for a 2 week period. Another survey will be conducted at the Chardon office, but it's safe to estimate that there is another 200 calls per day in that location. Total for the practice each day, 500 calls.

Prior to putting into service a voice mail system, many of the patients, outside medical facilities, and other physicians would become frustrated with the office lines being constantly busy. Everyone concured that this was unacceptable! That's when everyone in the office got busy reviewing options in improving the quality of the phone service, patient response time and decrease in busy tones.

In 1999 the first voice mail system was installed with a positive response from callers. However other problems still remained unresolved. For one, patients still had a long wait on hold and the reception staff still received a majority of calls through their station. With their additional tasks to perform, they could not manage the phone volume. In 2002 the office upgraded to a newer voice mail system with addtional options such as:

Being able to self-direct your call to the appropriate department.
Special prompts to leave detailed prescription refill information
Choosing to hold for a receptionist in a phone que or leaving a message.
Hearing background dialogue to let you know your still connected.
Ability to identify the correct extension by employee first or last name through the directory.
Staff can certainly appreciate the days when calls were answered by a "real person". However in the fast and busy environment of most offices, the most chosen solution today is voice mail. As a patient of Dr. Mandel's office you can count on the staff always pursuing better ways to meet your needs. Your comments are always welcome so please see the link on this page to share your ideas.

The reception department will continue to provide news and information related to their department on this web site so visit them again.