Introduction


Virtual Phone Banks 

VPBs allow you to set up phone banks directly in VAN. Once you've created a list, turning it into a shareable phone bank takes seconds, and allows you to have hundreds of volunteers and staff calling the same voters at once, tagging them using your campaign's own Survey Questions and Scripts. For more information on getting set up, navigate over to Contacting Voters => Using Lists.


Getting Started


How do I log into a VPB?

  • Go to your Main Menu/Home page, find Quick Tasks (should be at the bottom-right side of screen), click on Virtual Phone Bank.
  • Enter your VPB Code or, if you see it, select the name of your VPB and click Next.


  • The next screen will give you instructions for making a call. When finished reading, click Next.
  • Call the number at the top of the screen or click Skip to move to the next number. 
    • If you are able to talk to the first person, fill in their answers under Script, and select Save & Next Call.
    • If you are not able to talk to the person, first select I Couldn’t Reach [Name]. Then, select why you were not able to talk to the person and select Save & Next Call.
    • If you enter a response that indicates the person does not want to be contacted or cannot be contacted again, you will only have the option to choose Skip or Save & Next Household. 
  • Switch Household Members - you may notice that at the top of the screen there is a list of other household members. This enables you to enter survey responses for the person you reach, even if it isn’t the person you intended to call. 
    • Make sure you enter a response for everyone in the household before moving onto the next person
  • Multiple Phone Numbers - If a person has multiple phone numbers, you will see Number 1 of __ underneath the phone number. The number showing is likely their preferred number and the first number that you should try. 
    • If you are unable to reach them, you will have the option of skipping to the next person or trying the second number. When trying the next number, the first number you tried will be crossed out and the next number will appear below. Call the number and proceed to fill out the response.
  • Schedule for Events - if you selected Include Event Scheduler as a setting when creating your VPB, you will now see Schedule For Events near the top-right corner of your page. 
    • This button will allow you to schedule your contact for an event and record their status on the same page you are making a call to them from. You can learn more about how to use it here.

How do I log into an OpenVPB (for someone without a VAN account)

  • You can find information on the differences between OpenVPBs and VPBs in the OpenVPB help document
  • Navigate to the Open VPB link provided by your campaign or phone bank organizer.
  • Create or log in with your ActionID. 
  • Once done, proceed as indicated in the VPB section above.


Making Calls on Mobile Devices

  • Both Open VPB and VPB in VAN allow callers to call from mobile devices.
  • If a caller is logged into the phone bank via a smartphone, they need to click on the VPB link/enter the VPB code and then click on the number they wish to call to begin.
  • Callers using computers can copy each number into their phones from the web page and input any data received directly onto their device. 


Editing mailing address in VPB

  • If you selected Addresses under Editable Contact Details when setting up your VPB, then your callers will be able to edit addresses while using VPB -- you cannot do this in Open VPB. 
  • When your caller is phone banking and needs to change the address of the person they are contacting, they can click on Add New Address under Addresses.


Monitoring Phone Bank Progress

  • To track phone bank progress and results, go to Home/Main Menu, then find Administrative Menu and click on Phone Services. 
  • Then, click on Virtual Phone Bank and search up your VPB by name. 
  • Once found, go all the way to the right side of your screen, look for a drop-down arrow and click it, then, click View Report. 
  • Reports can be sorted by Canvass Results, Script Results, or both.  


Scheduling Events 

  • Before starting your phone bank, ask your organizer if you’ll be scheduling people for events over the phone. They’ll need to have created these events beforehand. 
  • If you will be, you’ll use the Schedule Events feature to do so:
    • You will see events under Schedule For Events in the top right.
    • By default, three filters are applied: Date, Event Type, and Roles. You will see one week’s worth of available events and only events of a certain type. Unless your organizer says otherwise, you’ll see all of the events you need here!
    • Your organizer should have provided you with instructions about which event(s) you are scheduling people for. If not, please clarify with them before scheduling; it can be difficult to un-schedule people for events.
    • To schedule someone for an event, select the drop-down menu under Status, then mark them as Scheduled. You can also use Invited or Tentative to indicate you spoke to someone, but were not able to schedule them.
  • From this screen, you can view all of the events currently scheduled in your committee. You can also schedule additional people for events from the Event List page. To do so, click on an event, then select Participant Actions in the far right corner and Add Participants”
    • From the Add Participant screen, you will first select what you would like to schedule people for, based on the types of roles your event will have. 
    • After selecting Finish, you will then be taken to a screen that resembles Quick Lookup. It works exactly the same way; just search the person you’re looking for and you can add them to your event.
  • If your phone bank is in the My Campaign tab and you’re trying to schedule someone not already in your My Campaign, you will need to select the option to Search My Voter File.
  • You should now be able to schedule people for events, both from a Virtual Phone Bank and from the Events List page!


How to Schedule an Event in VPB:

  • Click on Schedule For Events near the top-right corner (note: because the information about the events and volunteers are held in My Campaign, not My Voters, so when you schedule a person for an event here, you push that person and the information about their events over to My Campaign database).
  • You will then see the Event Signup Scheduler window pops up with the available events on it, and the Role will be determined by whoever created the event.
  • You can select Status dropdown and pick the appropriate option (for example, Scheduled means someone has confirmed that they are attending/available, Tentative is a maybe/not sure, etc). 
  • Once complete, click Save & Close. 
    • Example, if you are calling Sally and they are available to volunteer for your campaign, you can click on Schedule For Events on the same page that the call is being made. Then, you will see a list of events/roles for your campaign (if available), and you will be able to select a status (Invited/Left Msg/Schedule/etc). You can add the same contact to multiple events by clicking Save & Add Another. Once you are finished, click Save & Close.  
    • You can edit the event/s by going to My Campaign, find Events and change things as needed there.


Why are people being excluded from my VPBs?

  • If you’re finding that folks are being dropped from your VPBs before even sending them to round 2, you’ll want to double-check you’ve unchecked the exclusions for Early Voters and Election Day participants.