Better Connection for Mental Health
Cisco helps TELL better support those in need
By C Bryan Jones
For almost half a century, Japan’s international community has relied on TELL for free, anonymous, and confidential telephone counseling and information. The multifaceted nonprofit organization took its first call on April 1, 1973, and has been providing professional face-to-face counseling and an extensive outreach program ever since.
Like many organizations, TELL has been impacted by Covid-19. The need for social distancing has disrupted the way in which they deliver their services and adjusting to an inability to make use of the usual system has been challenging.
Unprecedented Times
TELL’s Lifeline crisis phone support would typically operate from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. seven days a week. Chat support would also be available on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. But due to the pandemic, they had to stop offering the option of coming into a phone room, because these are often small spaces.
“We have a couple of phone rooms—one in Tokyo and one in Osaka—so we thought that we’d be fairly resilient should a disaster happen in one area,” said Lifeline Director Vickie Skorji. “But this is something that’s impacting people around the world, nevermind prefectures or even a country.
“This donation will make us more resilient, allow us to better meet the increased demand, and move us closer to our vision of achieving 24-hour service."
“We moved things to chat, but we also knew the phone calls were important,” she explained. “Where we could, we put in a makeshift internet phone system. We would divert the landline to an internet phone number. Then, if the support worker was in a place where they could take the call confidentially, in a private space at home, they could do so.”
But this process was less than ideal and could cause confusion. When someone would call a lifeline number, they would get a message in Japanese from the phone company letting them know that the call was being rerouted to an internet number.
“That was quite confronting for them, and it was all in Japanese,” she added. “That would either make people skeptical or, if you don’t speak Japanese, you’d hear that and wonder what was going on.”
The disruption to the normal phone system also impacted training.
Helping Hand
Then TELL found a partner who could change the situation. American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) President’s Circle member Cisco Japan G.K. is helping TELL’s Lifeline crisis phone support by providing its Webex Calling solution free for five years to ensure that the counseling continues uninterrupted—especially important during this time of great stress, when calls to the Lifeline have been skyrocketing.
“We are delighted to support TELL in the deployment of their new calling platform,” Cisco President of Asia–Pacific, Japan, and Greater China Dave West, who is also an ACCJ vice president, told The ACCJ Journal. “TELL performs such an important role in the community in Japan, and we hope Cisco’s leading cloud calling solution will power their ability to continue to fulfill this vital function and scale support services even more over the years to come.”
TELL Chairman and ACCJ member Timothy Langley said: “We are so grateful for Cisco’s contributions to TELL and its assistance in our mission to save lives. Cisco’s Webex Calling application will provide broader access to the TELL Lifeline, expanding our telephone capacity and empowering TELL’s dedicated team of volunteers to securely provide remote support and counseling. This donation will make us more resilient, allow us to better meet the increased demand, and move us closer to our vision of achieving 24-hour service. We look forward to building upon our partnership with Cisco to better serve the international community and raise awareness for mental health in Japan.”
Skorji echoed this. “We’re really excited that we have the option to get our phone system back in place. And we will have a more robust system so that no matter what disaster may come, we can offer support at home, in the phone room, and through chat.”
Vickie Skorji, Lifeline Director, TELL
Timothy Langley, Chairman, TELL
Dave West, President of Asia– Pacific, Japan, and Greater China, Cisco
THE JOURNAL
Vol. 58 Issue 3
A flagship publication of The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), The ACCJ Journal is a business magazine with a 58-year history.
Christopher Bryan Jones, Publisher & Editor
