THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 6, 1995 TAG: 9505060334
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Want to give the governor some advice, some praise, maybe even that family recipe for peanut soup?
You want to just listen to the sound of his voice?
Whatever. Call him.
When you ring the governor's Capitol office from now on, you get more than a chance to have your say. You also get an earful of George F. Allen.
A greeting from the The Guv. It's a telephone phony, mind you, not an in-the-flesh executive. But it's still the governor, and at his solicitous, Virginia best.
``Hello, this is George Allen,'' the new executive phone message answers, leaving all the ``governors'' and ``honorables'' and other such pretension for the stationery. ``I sherr appreciate your taking time to call,'' he drawls.
Allen's aides say the system was activated Friday to ease the workload of the office's two operators and to prevent taxing the patience of callers. When the phones get flooded, the new system can answer five calls at one time.
About 300 callers a day ring Allen's office - twice that number when the General Assembly is in town - and most just want fax numbers, addresses or their legislators.
Now they will press a number for recorded accomodations - after a warm-hearted welcome from Allen.
There are other options. Got a problem? Want a human? Option six gets you constituent services. A real person, no less.
Policy office? Option seven. Press office? Option eight.
And, of course, there's that daily march of callers who simply want to vent their frustrations or offer political postulations. They get cast into the magnetic wilderness of option No. 1.
``I'm still with you,'' the governor says when callers press one and enter his ``opinion line'' recording.
``I certainly welcome your comments, suggestions or ideas about Virginia government. Thanks again, and look forward to hearing from you.''
Of course, you know he's not going to really hear you. It doesn't work like that. His staff takes notes from the calls and prepares a package of comments given to him every week.
But you can bet, staffers promise, that if a message is left on that recorder, your idea will soon be transcribed, maybe paraphrased, and left on the governor's desk.
Friday, the first day the system was activated, about 60 opinion line calls came in by 4 p.m. For privacy reasons, Allen's aides would not say what they contained. But the two operators the system is designed to replace were busy at work, handling the overflow.
Many callers simply wanted to hear the governor's voice on the recording. ``I think that's obvious,'' said spokeswoman Melissa Herring Dickie.
The cost to taxpayers: nothing, the staff says. The governor's phone system had the capability, they just programmed it and turned it on.
The phone number stays the same: 804-786-2211. Office hours are weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5:30 a.m., but the automated dial-Allen service operates around the clock.
KEYWORDS: GOVERNOR'S OFFICE PHONE ANSWERING SERVICE VOICE MAIL by CNB