Genealogy Corner… FamilySearch Support Missionary

Issue 32.12

Part 1

In April 2010, I began the training to answer phone calls and email for the Family History Department (FamilySearch) Worldwide Support Services.  http://servicemission.ldschurch.org/csm-public/public/viewOpp.jsf?oppId=9542&viewOpp=true  I work from home, set my own hours, and learn a lot about FamilySearch and its products.  Worldwide Support is open 24/7 taking phone calls and answering emails.  In the North America group we can be online anytime from 6:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. except Mondays when we close at 5:00 p.m. for family home evening. We don’t really close; we just let the Asia Pacific team take over and you might get a missionary from Australia or New Zealand if you call at those times.  Since I began we have added the live chat to our repertoire so now we can just type in our answers and help patrons that way.

Patrons call into 1-866-406-1830 and are directed to different support queues.  I handle New FamilySearch Support, Family Tree and Product Support which covers FamilySearch.org and all of the products there.  They have different queues for FamilySearch Indexing, Research Support, and Family History Center Support.  Missionaries can serve wherever their expertise might be.  Sometimes I do FamilySearch Community Support and answer questions at the Wiki at wiki.familysearch.org or on Facebook on many of the FamilySearch pages found there.  I learned a lot about FamilySearch and all of the programs while training during the first eight weeks of service.  Most of the new insight I get is from attending the online meetings held each week.  Each queue has training meetings, and there are weekly Tuesday mission meetings and occasional department meetings where we hear the inside scoop from the product managers.  Once a month, they have a devotional or other spiritual meeting with a guest speaker.  All of the meetings are online, streaming live over the Internet.  They are also recorded to watch later if you aren’t available at the time. 

Missionaries are in groups, like zones, and the people can be from all over the world.  In my group I have one sister in Pennsylvania, a couple from California, a leader in Las Vegas, etc.  We also have larger groups we are in and a Skype Support group.  When we are answering phone calls or email questions we can always ask on Skype for a second opinion, or ask for help finding an answer in the FamilySearch Knowledge Base.  We learn how to use Skype, LANDesk (observing the patron’s computer), the phone system, email etiquette, the Knowledge Base, etc.  We are serving from our own homes, but we are interconnected using technology and become close friends with people we work with on a daily or weekly basis.  Continued next week. 

For more information, contact Shanna Jones shannasjones@msn.com or 435-628-4900.