Senior Helpers Carleston
How a private-pay agency solved overseas VA connectivity issues and empowered schedulers to focus on strategic work
Challenge
When Virtual Assistants Weren't Enough
Senior Helpers Charleston had tried the overseas virtual assistant route. On paper, it made sense—affordable staff to handle after-hours calls and scheduling tasks. In practice, the problems mounted quickly.
"We had hired some virtual assistants who were assisting us after hours and on the weekends to handle call-offs and scheduling," explains Amy Peterson-Smith, Owner. "Unfortunately, just the nature of them being in another country, we had a lot of issues with it—internet not working consistently, phone calls not being able to go through because they just had poor coverage."
The unreliability created a cascade effect. When VAs couldn't connect, the burden fell right back on Amy's core team.
"My staff are being called in to handle little things like missed clock-ins and missed clock-outs. We said, alright, we got to figure out something else to fix this problem that doesn't necessarily involve hiring another person."
The real issue wasn't just connectivity—it was decision-making capability. "What we found with the virtual assistant is there were a lot of decisions that they just could not or did not feel comfortable making. They would escalate immediately, not waiting for a human to obviously try and figure out how to do that."
"We had answering services doing our calls, but we didn't have somebody who could actually handle some of those other miscellaneous things within WellSky.
Solution
AI That Makes Decisions, Not Just Takes Messages
When Senior Helpers Charleston evaluated Zingage, the team had one skeptic and one enthusiast among the schedulers. Amy was transparent about what they were trying to accomplish.
"I had one scheduler who was on board—she was like, oh yeah, let's go. The other two were a little bit apprehensive. They were thinking that this thing was going to come take their jobs."
Amy addressed it directly: "I literally said, no, that's not the plan. This is just a layer to kind of take some of that burden off of you, but we're going to always have a human element as it relates to scheduling."
The Turning Point
The shift in perception happened faster than anyone expected.
"It wasn't even two weeks ago when we launched—we added more time that Operator was working—that the one scheduler who was a little apprehensive was like, 'Hey, so do you think they can stay on for like two more hours in the morning so that I can actually focus on my work and not having to deal with calling somebody because they missed their clock-in?'"
The scheduler who worried about losing her job was now asking for more AI coverage.
Results
Schedulers Who Actually Schedule
The impact on Amy's team has been transformational—not in replacing people, but in redefining what they spend their time on.
"I see that we're going to be able to allow our schedulers to actually manage the schedule and not manage the tasks that are associated with making sure that the schedule is running efficiently."
Each scheduler now manages 70-75 clients effectively, with capacity to grow.
"Being able to help us ultimately grow the business—being able to add more hours, add more clients on without having to add another human. Right now, most of the schedulers are managing 70 to 75 clients. I need them to actually be proactive and looking at the schedule so that we can be scheduled out for past a week, not just past one day."
Industry
Home Care (Private Pay)
Location
Charleston, South Carolina
Primary Payer
Private Pay
Use Case
24/7 Operations
"I don't need them to do the little things, the behind-the-scenes, removing reds from the board. I need them to actually be proactive and looking at the schedule."
Amy Peterson-Smith
Owner
Key Learnings
Address job fears directly
Be transparent that AI augments, not replaces.
Let skeptics become advocates
The apprehensive scheduler asked for more AI coverage within two weeks.
Redefine the role
Schedulers should schedule strategically, not chase clock-ins.
© 2026 Zingage Inc.