Reminder – We have a Protocol for Routing Callers to the Correct State Quitline!

Reminder – We have a Protocol for Routing Callers to the Correct State Quitline!

Dear Colleagues,
 
Since the national portal (1-800-QUIT-NOW) was developed in 2004, a few calls each year have ended up at the “wrong” state or provincial quitline (i.e., at at quitline other than the caller’s state or province of residence). This can be due to several factors, but most often is due to the caller having a cell phone number from a place other than their state or province of residence. The National Cancer Institute, which oversees the national portal, has developed a protocol called Take-Back-And-Transfer (TNT) so that quitlines can transfer the caller from the “wrong” quitline to the quitline for their state or province of residence. This protocol only works for calls that are received through 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

We ask that state quitline managers and service providers make sure that quitline staff are aware of the protocol and use it! Please note, the TNT protocol was expanded a few years ago to transfer calls from 800-QUIT-NOW and 855-DEJELO-YA to the Asian Smokers Quitline.  There are three Take Back & Transfer (TNT) codes, one for each of the 3 existing languages (Chinese, Korean & Vietnamese). Making use of this feature and ensuring that your staff is aware of how to transfer a caller to another state or province is important and allows us to ensure that residents in a particular state are being served by that state’s service provider.

For instructions on the TNT protocol as well as descriptions of different scenarios that may happen when transferring a caller, please click here.

If you have any questions on the TNT protocol or how to add your local toll-free number to your map profile, please contact Natalia Gromov at naqc@naquitline.org.
 
NAQC Staff