Hotlines with recorded messages do not offer callers immediate personal contact with a staff person. A member of a project or agency staff calls back once messages are retrieved. Answers to information requests need to be timely and responsive in content. To be effective, hotlines must be well-publicized. Publicity is particularly crucial, since people must know about them and know the telephone numbers before they can make use of them.
Publicity can be in print media, at meetings, and on public documents.
Agencies gauge public opinion about a project. They identify specific, recurring issues or questions. Calls received do not represent a random sample, but they are an indicator of the opinions within a community. If an agency receives several questions in a certain subject area, it can adjust its outreach program to improve general understanding of those issues. Changes may be in order in the content of analyses and plans to respond to participants' concerns.