Spotlight

Linda Parker is the Vice President of Central Station Services/DTC Call Center Operations at Connect America. In our employee spotlight interview, Linda spoke with us about her background, her responsibilities and what motivates her at work.

Describe your background and how you came to Connect America?

I started with Connect America the day we opened the doors. Before Connect America was established in 2004, I worked for our founder, Ken Gross, at two other companies he owned. I was a Regional VP at Tri-State Alarm and then moved into Connective Home.

What does your role as Vice President of Customer Service entail?

I oversee four depts, all under the CARE umbrella: Billing, Tech Support, Activations and Customer Relations. My role is to mentor not just the incredible leadership team under me but also the agents who have been with us anywhere from three months to 10+ years. I am also the liaison for many of our Central Monitoring Stations, working alongside them to ensure our accounts are well monitored and new projects move along as planned.

What does a day in your role look like?

Our teams are divided into 12 pods, and we have been remote since March 2020. We have 10 in leadership roles and 68 agents. Each pod has a leader as well. My day consists of watching our metric reports, monitoring our call center while agents are on active calls, assisting agents with questions and issues from callers in their pods and meeting daily with my team managers and supervisors. I also help daily with many other department meetings adding any experience I have due to my longevity in the company.

What are you most proud of about the work you and your team do at Connect America?

Our team is the human element of Connect America. We answer questions, assist with billing, remind subscribers of the benefits of our service and help aging seniors continue to live safely in the comfort and familiarity of their homes. Our mission is to make sure our subscribers are comfortable with their systems and know how and when to use them. We can all get to sleep at night knowing we may have very well just saved someone’s life.

Is there a special project or accomplishment you are most proud of during your time here?

My proudest accomplishment is my Leadership Team. I had this role from 2004 to 2014 in the Care department and moved on to Finance for a few years. Coming back to this role in 2019, I was able to recreate the culture in this team to once again be family and live by the mantra my mentor, Ken Gross, taught me- “Take care of your employees, and they will take care of your company.” I mentor my leadership team to live by that, and they are the BEST! This role is not achieved alone.

What motivates you at work?

I love to teach.
New agents, tenured agents, leaders…every day brings a new set of teachable opportunities.

Is there a special customer testimonial or experience you would like to share?

We have a Positive Feedback voicemail line where agents can refer a caller. I receive many of these voicemails a day, and they are awesome reminders of how great our team really is.

What would you want our customers or healthcare partners to know about Connect America?

Connect America is truly committed to our subscribers. It isn’t just the devices we place in their homes. It’s the support and all the effort that goes into the background that keeps this machine moving.

Tell us something people may not know about you?

I have a pretty large family. Four children, three stepchildren, six grandkids and a new grandbaby on the way. My home office includes three dogs and two cats. My son, daughter, son-in-law, and grandson also work for Connect America in some capacity. That’s how great this company is- you bring your own family in because it is that wonderful to work here!