Matthew Smith had been working in call centres for years, mostly on the tech support side, when he decided a change was necessary.

This week he’ll be celebrating his third year as an associate with 811 Telecare, and he’s glad he made the switch.

“There is definitely a big change, a big, new type of pressure, and that’s what makes this more interesting. It’s something new every day, and no two calls are ever the same,” Smith said.

“There’s definitely more of a responsibility, more pressure on it. These are, in a lot of cases, can be life or death situations.”

When someone calls 811 and a Telecare nurse is unavailable, an associate will gather the caller’s information. If the call is determined not to be urgent, the information is held until a Telecare nurse is available to call them back. If the call is urgent, a nurse will be freed up to come on the line immediately. If it is deemed an emergency, the call will be transferred to the EHS Medical Communications Centre.

“It’s rewarding knowing that you’re making a difference, that you’re helping people. That you’re getting people the help they need, either through a nurse or through a COVID test,” he said.

Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed his role, becoming the first point of contact for people looking to book tests.

“It’s definitely made it a lot busier, a lot more hectic,” he said. “We’ve gone from very easy days where I might be doing 30, 40, sometimes 50 calls, and now on average I’m doing 80 to 100 calls depending on my shift.”

Smith, a married father of three with two young grandchildren, turns to his family to help ease the stressors of his job, along with a side business and a passion for online gaming.

“I’ve been pretty lucky, I don’t usually take home whatever happens here with me, and I don’t bring whatever is at home here. So, I’ve learned how to do that.”

To succeed in this role, Smith said people have to have patience, empathy, and communication skills, qualities that he has honed over the years.

“We’re here to help. We may not always have the answers, but we’re here to help you,” Smith said of he and his fellow Telecare associates.

“You have to be willing to really make sure that you’re getting everything possible to help the nurse help the caller the best for when they get that call back.”