---
title: Biggest Thank You Ever!
description: When Winter Storm Uri shut down most of Texas, our amazing and dedicated ABA staff went above and beyond to maintain service for our customers!
image: https://www.abetteranswer.com/hubfs/iStock-1303330095.jpg
---

[![A Better Answer Call Centers](https://www.abetteranswer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/optimized/ABA_Logo_-_June_Picture_Blue_Trademark%20(1).png?width=135&height=146&name=ABA_Logo_-_June_Picture_Blue_Trademark%20(1).png "A Better Answer Call Centers")](https://www.abetteranswer.com)

We'd Love to Hear From You:[1-866-442-9500](tel:1-866-442-9500)

[![GET A FREE QUOTE](https://hubspot-no-cache-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/131482/50344ecf-861c-4fe6-a146-a87233d09839.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/131482/50344ecf-861c-4fe6-a146-a87233d09839)

[**search](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/biggest-thank-you-ever#)

# A Better Answer Blog

## Biggest Thank You Ever!

by [Dee Hawkins](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/author/dee-hawkins), on Feb 26, 2021 4:37:14 PM

![Winter Storm Uri blankets the DFW area with snow](https://www.abetteranswer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/iStock-1303330095.jpg?width=1254&name=iStock-1303330095.jpg)

“The Biggest Thank You Ever” – to our wonderful customers and our dedicated ABA Staff.  In Texas, we have all been through critical and unprecedented weather conditions. We thank our customers for their patience in experiencing very long wait times, busies and 10 times the call volume activity we have ever had. I know the news reported how bad the conditions have been throughout the State of Texas but I’d like to take this blog to tell you what happened on this end of all those incoming telephone calls.

For years and years, no one wanted people outside of any call center or answering service to handle their incoming calls. Well, when Covid-19 hit, everyone had to change direction to allow and help as much of their staff as possible to now work from home. As we move along, that seems to have become the norm and customers have been quite comfortable with hearing an occasional distraction. Now, nearly a year after Covid-19 hit, we have the ice storm of the century. Power was down everywhere … incoming calls hit an unbelievable high. Most of our staff who were remote lost power. Losing power shows its’ ugly face in many ways. Besides no electricity, many with no gas, no heat, no water and no internet. So instead of being able to log on, our ABA Telephone Service Representatives had to face the snow and ice covering most of the roads which were all treacherous to even think about driving on. Only a very few of our staff were able to log on remotely. Our IT Manager was at our Plano/Dallas area office by 2:15 am Monday morning dealing with no power. She got the generator going and the generator never shut down until the power was on reliably when it stayed up as a result of Cruz ordering the stop of mandatory rolling blackouts. Up until then we would have power for maybe 4 hours and then off again for another 24 hours. This has never happened in the 50 years I have been in business nor in Texas historical weather records.

We answered on our backup lines so at least our customers lines could ring in. But … on this side of the power loss, all our ABA TSRs drove on perilous icy roads to get to work leaving their families at home without power as they drove to work to answer their customers calls. Running on a generator didn’t give us any heat or light – it gave us power and screens and keyboards. Everyone was working to their maximum. People stayed overnight in the building, sleeping on blowup mattresses and others driving around picking up and taking home other ABA TSRs who couldn’t get out of their driveways, tires too thin, couldn’t get out of their complexes and so many other reasons. We brought in breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks to help everyone keep fueled. We stayed open every minute the whole state was down. We apologize for missing so many of your calls but this was truly something catastrophic, unprecedented and out of our control.

In all, we had nearly one-half of our staff working around 70 hours each during those days and the others as many hours and days as they could endure. Our midnight staff worked every night answering incoming customer calls with their fingers freezing, no lights, no heat – only the hum of the generator which we also had to keep feeding gas. These ABA TSRs are amazing people. Words cannot even begin to thank them for their tremendous dedication and loyalty to ABA customers and pushing themselves beyond the limit the body can endure emotionally, physically and intellectually and all the while having to pay attention to being socially distant and fearful of Covid-19.

While we have had all along, a service to immediately dispatch any ABA emergency notice to all our customers, they are located in Austin and were completely shut down. We have decided to continue maintaining duplicate records so we can personally dispatch to all our customers any current emerging or equipment upgrade. We will also directly contact our customers yearly for any emergency number change. We want to be sure our automated alert system reaches the correct person at your business so you are fully aware of any call center challenges and you have the option to route your lines back to your team.

We thank you all for your extreme patience and working with us to get through this catastrophic time. A Better Answer is motivated to continue giving all our customers great service as we have always done in the past. Everyone at A Better Answer values our customers, that would be “you” and we thank you for working with us through this, hopefully, once in a lifetime crisis. Words hardly seem adequate enough to say Thank You to our ABA Staff.

 

Topics: [News](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/news) [Blog](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/blog)

- [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share)

### About this blog

A Better Blog is your number one resource for what’s trending in the call center industry. Stay tuned to this page for articles, blog posts and other insights from a company that’s been the best in the business for almost half a century.

### Subscribe to get more great content!

### Recent Posts

### Posts by Topic

- [Blog (57)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/blog)
- [Better Service (52)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/better-service)
- [News (36)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/news)
- [Better Business (33)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/better-business)
- [Call Handling Heroes (33)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/call-handling-heroes)
- [Awards (29)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/awards)
- [Testimonials (21)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/testimonials)
- [ATSI (19)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/atsi)
- [Answering Service (17)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/answering-service)
- [Better Communications (15)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/better-communications)
- [Customer Service (15)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/customer-service)
- [Articles (12)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/articles)
- [Customer Experience (6)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/customer-experience)
- [Charities (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/charities)
- [Certifications (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/certifications)
- [Small Business (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/small-business)
- [CAM-X (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/cam-x)
- [DBJ (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/dbj)
- [call answering services (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/call-answering-services)
- [medical answering services (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/medical-answering-services)
- [Call Center (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/call-center)
- [HIPAA Compliance (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/hipaa-compliance)
- [answering service benefits (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/answering-service-benefits)
- [answering service outsourcing (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/answering-service-outsourcing)
- [call recording benefits (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/call-recording-benefits)
- [call recording for business (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/call-recording-for-business)
- [ecommerce answering service (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/ecommerce-answering-service)
- [enhancing customer experience (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/enhancing-customer-experience)
- [hiring an answering service (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/hiring-an-answering-service)
- [outsourcing during recession (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/outsourcing-during-recession)
- [startups (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/startups)
- [streamline business (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/streamline-business)

[see all](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/biggest-thank-you-ever#)

### Blog Archive

- [January 2026 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2026/01)
- [October 2025 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2025/10)
- [April 2025 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2025/04)
- [January 2025 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2025/01)
- [May 2024 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2024/05)
- [April 2024 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2024/04)
- [September 2023 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2023/09)
- [June 2023 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2023/06)
- [April 2023 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2023/04)
- [March 2023 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2023/03)
- [February 2023 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2023/02)
- [December 2022 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/12)
- [November 2022 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/11)
- [June 2022 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/06)
- [May 2022 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/05)
- [March 2022 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/03)
- [February 2022 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/02)
- [November 2021 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/11)
- [October 2021 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/10)
- [August 2021 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/08)
- [July 2021 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/07)
- [June 2021 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/06)
- [May 2021 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/05)
- [April 2021 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/04)
- [March 2021 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/03)
- [February 2021 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/02)
- [January 2021 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/01)
- [December 2020 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/12)
- [November 2020 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/11)
- [October 2020 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/10)
- [September 2020 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/09)
- [August 2020 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/08)
- [July 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/07)
- [June 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/06)
- [May 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/05)
- [April 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/04)
- [March 2020 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/03)
- [February 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/02)
- [January 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/01)
- [December 2019 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/12)
- [November 2019 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/11)
- [October 2019 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/10)
- [September 2019 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/09)
- [August 2019 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/08)
- [July 2019 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/07)
- [May 2019 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/05)
- [April 2019 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/04)
- [March 2019 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/03)
- [February 2019 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/02)
- [January 2019 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/01)
- [December 2018 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/12)
- [October 2018 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/10)
- [September 2018 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/09)
- [August 2018 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/08)
- [July 2018 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/07)
- [June 2018 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/06)
- [April 2018 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/04)
- [March 2018 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/03)
- [February 2018 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/02)
- [October 2017 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/10)
- [September 2017 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/09)
- [August 2017 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/08)
- [July 2017 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/07)
- [June 2017 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/06)
- [May 2017 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/05)
- [April 2017 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/04)
- [March 2017 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/03)
- [February 2017 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/02)
- [December 2016 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/12)
- [November 2016 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/11)
- [October 2016 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/10)
- [September 2016 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/09)
- [August 2016 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/08)
- [July 2016 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/07)
- [June 2016 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/06)
- [May 2016 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/05)
- [April 2016 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/04)
- [March 2016 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/03)
- [February 2016 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/02)
- [January 2016 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/01)
- [December 2015 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/12)
- [November 2015 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/11)
- [October 2015 (6)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/10)
- [September 2015 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/09)
- [August 2015 (6)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/08)
- [July 2015 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/07)
- [June 2015 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/06)
- [May 2015 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/05)
- [April 2015 (6)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/04)
- [March 2015 (6)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/03)
- [February 2015 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/02)
- [January 2015 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/01)
- [December 2014 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/12)
- [November 2014 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/11)
- [October 2014 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/10)
- [September 2014 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/09)
- [August 2014 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/08)
- [July 2014 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/07)
- [June 2014 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/06)
- [May 2014 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/05)
- [April 2014 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/04)
- [February 2014 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/02)
- [January 2014 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/01)
- [December 2013 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2013/12)
- [October 2013 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2013/10)
- [August 2013 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2013/08)
- [December 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/12)
- [November 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/11)
- [October 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/10)
- [September 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/09)
- [July 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/07)
- [June 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/06)
- [May 2012 (21)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/05)
- [April 2012 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/04)
- [March 2012 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/03)
- [February 2012 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/02)
- [January 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/01)
- [December 2011 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/12)
- [November 2011 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/11)
- [October 2011 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/10)
- [August 2011 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/08)
- [July 2011 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/07)
- [May 2011 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/05)
- [April 2011 (26)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/04)
- [March 2011 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/03)
- [November 2010 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2010/11)
- [October 2010 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2010/10)

[see all](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/biggest-thank-you-ever#)

[![New call-to-action](https://hubspot-no-cache-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/131482/cbf52556-bdda-4454-845b-4e58dac2452d.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/131482/cbf52556-bdda-4454-845b-4e58dac2452d)

### Contact Us

### Subscribe To Newsletter

### Connect With Us

[**](https://www.facebook.com/ABetterAnswer/) [**](https://twitter.com/ABetterAnswer) [**](https://www.instagram.com/abetteranswer/) [**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/a-better-answer/)

### Want to work for A Better Answer? Fill out our online [Job Application Form](https://www.abetteranswer.com/jobs) and become a Call Handling Hero®!

©2026 A BETTER ANSWER

[ Request a  
 Quote Now! ](https://www.abetteranswer.com/get-a-quote)

```json
"@context"
```