Helpline

A helpline, or switchboard, is a telephone service which offers help to those who call. Many helpline services now offer more than telephone support - offering access to information, advice or customer service via telephone, email, web or SMS.^[1][2] The word hotline is also sometimes used to refer to a helpline. A helpline can provide emotional support to a person in distress in its minimalistic form. It may help the individual.

Services include:

• user assistance, for example computer software support
• telephone counseling, medical hotlines, insolvency hotlines, crisis hotlines and many other types of hotlines.