New challenges are coming up with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses have shifted to working remotely, and telephone and communication channels are being put to the test. Toll-free lines are opening up to the many public queries coming in due to the pandemic. Governments and Health Regions needed a way to effectively communicate with the public in an efficient way. Toll-free was the answer. All of these changes led to an increase in toll-free usage, which then resulted in crashes. Andgo was not left unaffected, as some of our modules require the use of toll-free numbers. Below we’ve outlined how Andgo responded to the toll-free challenges created by COVID-19.
In the past couple of weeks, there has been an exponential increase in phone traffic due to COVID-19. Phone networks are seeing congestion that is causing toll-free numbers to have connection problems (i.e., sometimes you can’t reach them). This problem affects the public as well as our own business. Our Quick Dial module typically uses toll-free numbers for employees to call when reporting an absence or trying to leave a message for scheduling teams. With the issues facing the phone networks, we had to come up with a solution so that Healthcare employees could continue to call in and the system could continue to run smoothly.
Andgo responded to the toll-free challenges by creating an online interface for employees to indicate their absence through any internet-connected device, in addition to the phone number. This provides consistent access for employees to report absences even when there are phone network problems. We were able to apply this fix in two days, which ensures healthcare providers are staffed with the right people at the right time.
