Tiffany Phelan operates four Senior Helpers franchise locations across California and Arizona, providing home care services to older adults with a focus on stellar caregiver-client matching. Owner Tiffany, a 22-year industry veteran, adopted Phoebe to transform scheduling operations: cutting shift fill times by 75%, eliminating last-minute bonuses, and freeing her team to focus on what matters most: client relationships.
"I don't think there's been anything revolutionary in our industry until this."
Tiffany Phelan — Owner
| Senior Helpers CA + AZ | |
|---|---|
| Clients | 225 |
| Caregivers | 300+ |
| Office Staff | 15 |
| EHR | WellSky |
The Challenge: 7 Minutes Per Call, One at a Time
Before Phoebe, Tiffany's team faced a painful reality: filling a single shift meant making calls one after another—each averaging 7 minutes—while the clock ticked down on a caregiver call-off.
"Every single time they pick up the phone—looking up the person, dialing, waiting for them to pick up, having the conversation—the average time is 7 minutes. And we can only do one at a time."
With only 90 minutes to 2 hours to fill a last-minute call-off (and 30 minutes needed for the caregiver to arrive on time), schedulers were under constant pressure. At best, they could reach 10 caregivers per hour—nowhere near enough when you need answers fast.
The toll was predictable: scheduler burnout. Tiffany saw it as the most vulnerable role in home care.
"There's a tendency in this role for burnout. Above any other role in this industry, the scheduling role is where we see burnout."
The Solution: Phoebe Calls 50+ Caregivers at the Same Time
With Phoebe, Tiffany's team went from consecutive to concurrent. Instead of one call at a time, Phoebe reaches out to every caregivers simultaneously— via voice and text —collecting responses, answering questions, and surfacing available staff in minutes.
"At this point when we get a call-off, Phoebe is having simultaneous conversations. It's weeding out people who don't respond or aren't available. And it's taking that 7 minutes down to—within about 15 minutes—at least one if not five people lined up and ready to take that shift."
What used to take over an hour now happens in under 15 minutes - ****all in the background while the scheduling team moves on to the next problem.
The Results
75% Reduction in Missed Shifts
The metric that matters most: shifts that go unfilled. Before Phoebe, gaps were inevitable when time ran out. Now, with faster outreach and broader reach, missed shifts have dropped 75%.
"Our missed shifts—missed because we were unable to staff them—has dropped 75%. It's revolutionary."
Zero Last-Minute Bonuses
When you only have an hour to fill a shift, desperation sets in. Tiffany's team used to offer bonuses just to get someone to say yes.
"Sometimes when you have an hour to staff a shift, you have to offer a bonus... that has been eliminated entirely. We always have somebody willing to take it at the rate we set."
The gaming stopped too. Caregivers who used to wait until the last minute hoping for a bonus now know: someone else will take the shift if they don't.
More Caregivers Getting Work
Human schedulers have natural biases — they call the people who say yes. That meant overtime risk for favorites and no hours for new hires.
Phoebe doesn't play favorites. It reaches everyone, which means more caregivers are actually receiving paychecks—not just sitting on the roster.
"The number of caregivers who are receiving paychecks from us—not just who's on our active roster, but who's actually truly active—is going up in ratio to our client base."
Scheduler Retention
With the grind reduced, Tiffany expects her scheduling team to stay for the long haul.
"I anticipate that the folks who are in scheduling now will be in scheduling years from now. I see no reason why they would leave."
Scaling Without Adding Headcount
For Tiffany, the goal isn't cutting jobs—it's scaling without adding them. The efficiency gains from Phoebe translate directly into reinvestment: more time in the field, more client-facing work, more marketing.
"What I would like to do is take the staff I have now and scale with our 2026 growth plan without having to add any new jobs... All of these time savings, cost savings, revenue generation—for me, that turns into money I can reinvest into my business."
Working with Phoebe
Tiffany doesn't mince words about the Phoebe team:
"They're basically my favorite vendor. They deliver every single thing they have ever said they're going to deliver—on time or earlier. They are wildly responsive to our needs. I see them as really good partners for us versus just a vendor."
Integration with WellSky was seamless. Operational tweaks - like adjusting message wording or closing the loop when multiple caregivers respond - were addressed quickly.
"Every single thing we have asked for has been worked on. It's shocking, because we have vendors we've been asking for things for years."
The Bottom Line
Tiffany's advice for other home care operators is simple: don't wait.
"Within the next year to two, if you're not using something like this, you're going to be behind the eightball. All the companies using it are going to be so much more operationally streamlined—they're going to have so much more money to pour into marketing that you're going to be falling behind."
"The only thing in the last 20 years that has revolutionized our operational workflow is AI—is Phoebe. I just don't see a future in home care that doesn't involve it."