by Jim Carney, VP, Public Sector Solutions, eLoyalty
VoIP infrastructure offers unmatched flexibility and seemingly endless applications, and one of the most powerful examples of its impact can be seen in recent news with our clients in the State of Texas government: The State of Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). In their response to an unprecedented call to duty, our clients helped to prove that remarkable technology paired with remarkable people can have a life changing impact.
The Event: Hurricane Katrina, September 2005 After Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, more than 200,000 people from those states traveled to Texas to seek shelter in many locations throughout Texas including the Houston Astrodome, the Austin Convention Center, schools, churches, with relatives, and various community shelters. These relocated people were instructed via national and local news media outlets to dial 2-1-1 for assistance on Red Cross and local community shelter locations, hospitals, local food pantries, and other humanitarian needs.
Nationally, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created the 2-1-1-dial plan in order to provide easy access to those needing information on and referral to a variety of social services. In 2002, the State of Texas Health and Human Services adopted the 2-1-1 information and referral solution with eLoyalty implementing and hosting the Cisco based VoIP solution.
Recognizing the magnitude of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, the first priority of the HHSC and the DIR was to do the right thing for the evacuees. Their technology partners also shared this priority. Expanding the state's 2-1-1 call-capacity was critical to helping direct evacuees to shelters and other assistance. As hurricane evacuees sought assistance, the State of Texas reported that the number of calls handled by the 2-1-1 operation increased from approximately 2,500/day to more than 10,000/day immediately after the disaster. From September 1 to September 16, more than 247,000 calls have been made to Texas 2-1-1.
The Response: State of Texas
Just three days after Hurricane Katrina first hit New Orleans, a team of experts representing HHSC and DIR met with the state's key VoIP and communications partners - eLoyalty, Cisco, and a telecommunications provider - to find a way to rapidly re-engineer a solution. This quickly assembled group of experts was committed to the belief that the right solution needed to be put in place quickly to ensure the state was prepared to help. Through close coordination and round the clock efforts, the state and its technology partners expanded the capacity and capability of the Texas 2-1-1 network to handle the increased volume and correctly route the Katrina callers to the right centers within 30 hours - a project that normally would take at least 30 days to complete.
The increase in call-capacity and the new call-management solution started with DIR's actions to move excess capacity from the Texas Capitol complex telephone system to 2-1-1's VoIP network. Working overnight, DIR along with eLoyalty and the telco's technicians then re-routed overflow 2-1-1 calls in the Houston area to other information centers around the state. In Austin, HHSC and eLoyalty helped the state set-up a new 50-telephone center to take the calls. In a matter of hours, starting on the afternoon of September 2, HHSC and eLoyalty had successfully added deployed several key features to the telephone center:
- A communication network connected to the state's partners that significantly changed capacity and call-routing algorithms,
- New Interactive-Voice-Response (IVR) applications,
- Intelligent call-routing rules, and
- New operations reporting.
All of this was accomplished on the Cisco-based, VoIP-enterprise Internet Protocol Contact Center (IPCC) solution by 5am on September 3. Due to the uncertainty of cell phone access from providers outside of Texas, HHSC also implemented a toll-free number for disaster information that utilized the 2-1-1 network.
During the Labor Day weekend, twenty volunteer eLoyalty-personnel watched the reconfigured application day-and-night to ensure the expanded solution operated without incident. More than 700 state-staff and others also volunteered to work the Labor Day weekend as well as the following week to answer 2-1-1 calls at the overflow Austin center. Several states, including Arizona, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Oregon, and Michigan sent teams of information and referral specialists to help answer calls in Austin and Houston.
The Results
Texas opened its arms to those displaced by Hurricane Katrina and found innovative ways to meet their needs. Because of its efforts, evacuees were able to dial 2-1-1 for around-the-clock information about shelters and other resources at a call-volume simply not possible for the state before the disaster. "One of the strengths of the state's 2-1-1 system is the capability to adjust capacity, but making that adjustment overnight is nothing short of incredible," said DIR Telecommunications Director Brian Kelly. "We made this happen because of the exceptional communication and coordination we have with HHSC and our vendor partners. From the start, the team's focus was always on how - not if - this could be done. We all wanted to make sure the hurricane's victims had a place to call for help."
About the Author, Jim Carney
Jim is a Vice President at eLoyalty Corporation, where he leads eLoyalty's Public Sector Practice with targeted services for State, Local, and Federal operations. With more than 20 years of experience in CRM Strategies and Contact Center implementations, Jim has assisted clients with solutions for 2-1-1 (Health and Human Services), 3-1-1 (City Services), and State Agency Services, such as Worker's Compensation, Department of Transportation, and Attorney General.