Your commitment begins at approximately 8 AM or 8 PM. Your district phone captain (or substitute) will call you to make sure your telephone is receiving the Hotline calls made to (631) 669-1124. If you have not gotten the verification call by 8:10 AM or 8:10 PM, please contact your district phone captain or your group phone person. Those numbers should be on the Hotline phone sheet on the first page of this manual.

1. Answer your phone promptly. DO NOT let the call go to the answering machine. Keep your line free. Keep incoming calls brief.
2. Announce yourself: “This is (your first name). May I help you?” Please try to sound interested and happy to be of service. Your tone sets the tone. Remember the caller may be suffering.
3. Be patient and listen with compassion. Does the caller want help for himself or for a family member with an alcohol problem? Refer family members to Al Anon. Remember this is a program of attraction, not promotion. Do not talk for a long period of time (10-15 minutes tops), let a local 12 Step volunteer talk to them. You don’t want to tie up the Hotline and prevent other calls from coming in.
4. Get the caller’s name, telephone number and area he lives in. WRITE it on the BACK of the Log Sheet. If there is a THREAT OF SUICIDE and it persists, keep the person talking, try to get name, address and phone number and call the POLICE on another line or call 911 IMMEDIATELY upon hanging up. In case of a medical emergency, DTs, convulsion, etc., have someone call 911. Give authorities the nature of the problem and the telephone number of the caller and follow any suggestions given. DON’T PANIC.
5. Assure the caller that someone will be contacting him in a short time the same day or evening.
6. Terminate the call. “Thank you for calling AA. Good-bye, (caller’s name).
7. Call an AA volunteer in the caller’s area. Men with the men, women with the women. Keep calling until you get a positive response. DO NOT LEAVE A MESSAGE on an answering machine! If you get no satisfaction in the caller’s area, try a neighboring town. (See maps in manual for adjacent locations)
8. Record the name, telephone number and Home Group of the person who responded positively to your call on the BACK of the log sheet.
9. Please record any needed changes in the 12 Step Call list information in your book and notify your group phone captain or district phone captain. He will forward that vital information to other captains so that all the Hotline books can be corrected. Changes to be noted may include wrong numbers, incorrect availability times, person no longer able to provide service, etc. Use your best judgment.
10. Deliver your book and the Log sheet to the next appropriate person on the Hotline list. You have 24 hours to accomplish that.

Make sure you are clear about what AA can and cannot do:

1. We cannot give attendance reports for those people mandated by the courts to AA.
2. We cannot provide any acknowledgement of AA affiliation.
3. We are not a taxi service. If someone wants a ride to a meeting, advise him to call a member of his Home Group. The Hotline is not the appropriate vehicle for a ride to a meeting.
4. We WILL provide contact with an AA volunteer and possible ride for a newcomer, a sick and suffering alcoholic or an out of town visitor.

If the caller requests a speaker and/ or literature, refer him to the SIA office at 631 654 1150. Business hours are 9AM – 3PM Monday through Friday; 9 AM – 1 PM Saturday.