Fifty years ago, graduate student Mary Jo Williams (’78) saw an opportunity to help consumers get answers to their household-related questions quickly, and help reduce the workload of local extension offices that were fielding the calls. Williams soon became the first operator of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach’s AnswerLine. Half a century later, five staff now work to answer the 16,000-18,000 questions they receive each year (via phone, email, website, blog, and social media) with unbiased, research-based information.
AnswerLine coordinator Rachel Sweeney (’11) says staff members answer questions on a variety of home and family-related topics. “Sixty percent of our calls are food related (food preservation, food safety, recipe substitutions/ modifications), and we also answer calls on cleaning, stain removal, textiles, and household appliances,” she says. “We also field questions related to disaster recovery (what to do if your power goes out, cleaning up flood water, etc.), entomology, and horticulture.”
In the early days of AnswerLine, operators had four filing cabinets with cards that contained answers to commonly asked questions. When calls came in, operators took advantage of their long phone cords and good memories to help consumers. As the digital age arrived, AnswerLine began transferring the information from those cards into a database. Today, the operators use a blend of resources –– from digital documents to binders stuffed with resources dedicated to holiday meats –– to accurately answer callers’ inquiries.
With internet search engines so readily available, what is the value in contacting AnswerLine rather than taking a question to Google? The human connection, says AnswerLine staff member Jennie Savits (’09, ’14).
“I know we have AI, and technology is so important and we can utilize it, but I don't think that it would ever be good to get away from personal connection,” Savits says.
Oftentimes, callers aren’t asking just one question either. They’re coming to AnswerLine with a question that has multiple variables to take into consideration.
“For example,” Sweeney explains, “‘I canned these green beans and halfway through, the canner pressure drops, so then I decided to open it up and restart it.’ When you plug that into a computer, it’s not going be able to pull out an answer or give you what your options are. We can provide that human touch.”
They provide that human touch with the expertise and support of Iowa State staff and researchers. Each AnswerLine staff member attends trainings to further their specialty areas: Sweeney builds on her knowledge as a registered dietitian by staying in contact with researchers and other professional organizations; Marlene Geiger, who has been a 4-H judge for 30 years, meets with industry leaders to talk about new canning technology; and Savits brings in knowledge and connection of food sciences from her work with the Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute for more than a decade.
While staff members stay on top of learning to be able to answer callers’ questions, they know they won’t have an immediate answer for everything. Tackling new questions is part of the fun.
“I learn something new every day,” Savits says. “Any time someone asks me something I don’t know, I say ‘I don’t know, but we’ll find it out together.’ I love this job because it’s so different every day –– I never know what to expect when I answer the phone. I love being able to connect research to folks who are using it. Feeling like you can help people get the information that they need to help improve their lives or answer their questions is very satisfying.”