Massive COVID-19 Contact Tracing Programs and the Opportunity for 100x Scale and Speed

Digital Conversations

Many governments are racing to hire tens of thousands of contact tracers to control the spread of Coronavirus infections. Human call center agents would be tasked with tracking down, contacting, and interviewing individuals that were in contact with individuals that test positive. By many estimates this could involve the hiring and training of several hundred thousand people.

While there is a need for human resourcefulness to investigate the various cases, the sheer numbers that will be required is an opportunity for technology. Unfortunately, most innovation strategies follow traditional call center models – making agents more efficient and maximize hourly throughput. What’s missing is the notion of driving 100x scale, without hiring 100x agents.

In this episode of Digital Conversations, Greg Johnsen and Greg Kefer discuss the challenge contact tracing initiatives face. The massive hiring and training required begs for different thinking. Digital agents that can conduct thousands of simultaneous conversations, collect answers, provide answers, and support other basic interactions can replace scripted human agents and deliver unlimited capacity.