Vaccine Hotline Registers Thousands of Calls

Loop News | March 30, 2021

itelbpo Smart Solutions, the company contracted to deliver customer experience management for the registration and appointment for COVID-19 vaccines in Jamaica, says thousands of calls have come in since day one. “Since the programme started on Monday the 22nd of March, we have seen over 8,000 calls come into the hotline. Day one was extremely tough, but we were able to manage 78 per cent of the callers who were trying to speak to an agent, but today the calls have subsided somewhat and we’re now able to answer over 90 per cent of them calling in”, itelbpo Founder and CEO Yoni Epstein told Loop News. This, he said, “by all industry standards is above exceptional.” The company, which is helping the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) to manage its COVID-19 response through communication support, has over 1,500 full-time employees across its sites located in Montego Bay and Kingston, Jamaica, Freeport, Grand Bahama, Tampa, Florida, Monterrey, Mexico and work at home across 12 US states. At the end of February 2020, the GOJ, in partnership with itelbpo, launched the 'ONE LOVE' hotline for COVID assistance as part of Jamaica’s proactive Disaster Risk Management strategy. One year and US$750,000 in donated support later, itelbpo signed a new contract with the Ministry of Health and Wellness to take appointments for vaccinations. Epstein told Loop News, “the main service at this time is making appointments for individuals over 70 years old, but what we are seeing is a lot of questions also being asked about the process, caregivers signing up the elderly and general support for the initiative.” Epstein could not disclose the number of people who have signed up to be inoculated, but noted, “I can tell you that there is certainly interest and people are seeking to be vaccinated.” The GOJ had announced that in addition to the online platform as a primary channel for citizens to make appointments, it recognises there are key segments of society, such as the elderly and those without internet access, who still need the human touch. itelbpo, in general, has supported the GOJ by providing technology-enabled voice services to meet the public's need for additional support outside of its digital channels. This includes assisting the Ministry of National Security with responding to queries related to the JamCovid19 application used to connect citizens with essential health services. The company outlined that itelbpo's 24-hour, seven-day a week inbound phone support has supported the nation with enhanced human interactions backed by data capture to assist the MOHW in gathering key information related to cluster outbreaks and public sentiment.