• 1) The first step is to install the “Rotator Phone Interview” software module on each computer. If you are reading this line, this step was already completed, at least on this computer.


• 2) The administrator proceeds to connect the survey on your PC. To achieve this, there is a menu (That will show up after pressing “Main Menu” on your left), it will allow you to connect surveys or remove them from the list. (Removing a survey does not mean to delete it, but disconnect it, so it’s no longer shown on the list). To accomplish this task, the administrator login and password will be required.


• 3) Once the administrator connects the survey, and it is shown on the available surveys list, you are ready to start the phone interviews. Double click on the desired survey, and type your login and password defined by the administrator.


• 4) Once you are inside the system, press “New Call” and the system will assign you a new case. Then a screen will show up asking you to dial a number and then you can start interviewing.


• 5) If the number you are dialing is wrong, busy or does not answer, press hang up and select one of the status options displayed. Never forget to fill out the “Observations” dialog box, since it will be useful for following the case.


• 6) If the call was successful, proceed to read each question to your interviewee while you register each answer on the system using your mouse and keyboard. The system will guide you intuitively by the hand, however if you find that the sequence of questions is illogical or that the wording is unclear, please contact your administrator to make the necessary adjustments.


• 7) If you want to retake a “pendent” case, just press the green button (with the phone icon on it) and proceed to make the call. The system will control the calling attempts. If you reach the limit of attempts for that number, the call will be cancelled. A cancelled call means that it’s not worth it to waste time or effort in that case, so you can continue with the next.

Special utility options for the phone interview:

• 1) Suspend an Interview: if in the middle of a call, the interviewee asks you to stop the interview for some reason, just press the button “Suspend” and make an appointment to another date or time. The system will automatically remind you when to call him/her again. Always remember to fill out the “Observations” box which will be useful to follow the case.


• 2) Transfer a case to another user: Suppose that someday, you ask your supervisor to leave the office a couple of hours earlier, but you know that you have some calls pending, with interviewees that had suspended some hours before. Don’t worry; you can transfer those cases to another user, who will continue with the interview without problem. Do not forget to fill out the “Observations” box. It will be useful for the following case.



Note: The user who has received these cases may reject your request, so you should negotiate with him/her, or you will be in trouble, since pending calls not made, will be shown in red color on the administrator screen.



• 3) Change the Status of a call: Rotator automatically controls the status of each call made. Although, it might occur that you made a call, you hanged up, and you did not select the right status option. If you wish to modify the status manually, do this: Edit the call, when the main screen shows up, click the little gray button on your right. You will be required to type the administrator’s login and password to erase its status and assign a new one.

A LAN (Local Area Network) is mandatory for CATI in which the survey’s folder has to be shared between administrator and interviewers. For large surveys, or for surveys with interviewers located on remote sites, you may install this application on a Windows Server and get access using a Terminal Server.