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Wearing call-centre headsets, the call handlers talk in muted voices.
But they are not selling low-cost loans or dealing with wrangles over bank charges or broadband connections - they're fighting crime, one call at a time.
In an open plan office in Surrey, Crimestoppers staff answer anonymous calls round the clock.
This year, the charity is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and is expecting its millionth call.
Some calls will crack baffling cases; others may just be misinformation intended to settle a score. But all are dealt with in the same way.
No names are taken, no recordings are made, the skill of the call handler is in extracting as much information as possible.
Louise Peers has been taking such calls for nearly two years.
"Our primary concern is to sanitise that information so it won't identify any caller," she explains. "The information is then logged on our database and emailed directly to the police.
"Every day is different, you know; we get stuff from drink drivers, drugs, murders - it's just so diverse."
Investigative techniques
Four years ago, Crimestoppers appointed a dedicated trainer to improve the quality of the information being gathered.
Now, call handlers are taught the rudiments of law and investigative techniques to help them understand the information that police will need - and get the most out of every call.
"The way we're trained and the way handle our calls is completely different to a call centre. There's no tick sheets, no crib sheets, we engage with the caller and try to maximise the information," says Louise.
Crimestoppers was established as a reaction to the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the Broadwater Farm riots in north London in the mid 1980s.
It was originally called the Community Action Trust, and was based on an idea imported from Albuquerque in the United States.
At the heart of the concept is anonymity - callers know their names won't be taken and their calls won't be traced.
There have been criticisms of the unattributed nature of the material received, but the director of operations at Crimestoppers, Dave Cording, is adamant anonymity is vital.
"I think the police service call it the golden nugget - that information that they need to actually solve the case - and that's why we religiously and carefully look after the anonymity," he says.
"We sort of walk the fine line and try to give that information that the police need but that witnesses wouldn't normally come forward with."
Solving crimes
Calls to Crimestoppers lead to, on average, an arrest every 90 minutes. Every five days, information from Crimestoppers leads to a murder charge.
And in two decades Crimestoppers has helped put nearly a thousand killers behind bars, and recovered drugs and stolen goods worth a quarter of a billion pounds.
Two years ago, Crimestoppers launched its "most wanted" web page, and says the response has been staggering: 400 of those featured have been tracked down and arrested - that's a result every other day.
In its first year, Crimestoppers received 5,000 calls - last year that was up to 80,000.
As crime, and the fear of crime, becomes an ever more pressing issue, it's clear that more and more people are choosing to fight crime by picking up the telephone.
Call the charity Crimestoppers anonymously with information about crime on 0800 555 111. | Crimestoppers UK
0800 555 111
But they are not selling low-cost loans or dealing with wrangles over bank charges or broadband connections - they're fighting crime, one call at a time.
In an open plan office in Surrey, Crimestoppers staff answer anonymous calls round the clock.
This year, the charity is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and is expecting its millionth call.
Some calls will crack baffling cases; others may just be misinformation intended to settle a score. But all are dealt with in the same way.
No names are taken, no recordings are made, the skill of the call handler is in extracting as much information as possible.
Louise Peers has been taking such calls for nearly two years.
"Our primary concern is to sanitise that information so it won't identify any caller," she explains. "The information is then logged on our database and emailed directly to the police.
"Every day is different, you know; we get stuff from drink drivers, drugs, murders - it's just so diverse."
Investigative techniques
Four years ago, Crimestoppers appointed a dedicated trainer to improve the quality of the information being gathered.
Now, call handlers are taught the rudiments of law and investigative techniques to help them understand the information that police will need - and get the most out of every call.
"The way we're trained and the way handle our calls is completely different to a call centre. There's no tick sheets, no crib sheets, we engage with the caller and try to maximise the information," says Louise.
Crimestoppers was established as a reaction to the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the Broadwater Farm riots in north London in the mid 1980s.
It was originally called the Community Action Trust, and was based on an idea imported from Albuquerque in the United States.
At the heart of the concept is anonymity - callers know their names won't be taken and their calls won't be traced.
There have been criticisms of the unattributed nature of the material received, but the director of operations at Crimestoppers, Dave Cording, is adamant anonymity is vital.
"I think the police service call it the golden nugget - that information that they need to actually solve the case - and that's why we religiously and carefully look after the anonymity," he says.
"We sort of walk the fine line and try to give that information that the police need but that witnesses wouldn't normally come forward with."
Solving crimes
Calls to Crimestoppers lead to, on average, an arrest every 90 minutes. Every five days, information from Crimestoppers leads to a murder charge.
And in two decades Crimestoppers has helped put nearly a thousand killers behind bars, and recovered drugs and stolen goods worth a quarter of a billion pounds.
Two years ago, Crimestoppers launched its "most wanted" web page, and says the response has been staggering: 400 of those featured have been tracked down and arrested - that's a result every other day.
In its first year, Crimestoppers received 5,000 calls - last year that was up to 80,000.
As crime, and the fear of crime, becomes an ever more pressing issue, it's clear that more and more people are choosing to fight crime by picking up the telephone.
Call the charity Crimestoppers anonymously with information about crime on 0800 555 111. | Crimestoppers UK
0800 555 111
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