Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
Some Areas Seeing COVID-19 Call Center Traffic Tapering Off
In the spring, when the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic began to be felt across the U.S., the demand on call centers both public and private spiked. Call centers, accustomed to dealing with a seasonally predictable pattern of incoming calls, were suddenly faced with unpredictable call spikes, and many struggled to catch up. Customers reported frustration and an inability to reach a human agent no matter what time of the day they tried.
While call centers of private companies had a little more wiggle room – after all, it’s not an emergency if your book order is delayed, or an item of clothing needs to be returned – call centers that support regional governments and healthcare resources were particularly mission-critical at a time they didn’t have the resources to keep up. Wait times increased by many times over, and dropped and abandoned calls were rife. Many calls simply couldn’t get through.
In some parts of the country, there is evidence that calls to public COVID call centers are slowing as the pace of infections slow. In North Carolina, a rising trend of infections began to drop in late July as more areas mandated masks, social distancing and quarantines.
At the Wake County Emergency Operation Center's COVID-19 call center Raleigh, North Carolina, calls have tapered off from the spring, when state lockdowns spawned a wide variety of questions from area citizens. Katy Punch, the call center’s director, told Spectrum News 1 that at the height of the pandemic, more than 30 employees fielded hundreds of calls of day. Today, a few staffers answer about 100 calls per day as the state's stay at home order has eased.
"The most common calls are looking for testing...We show them how to register online and make an appointment," said Punch.
Currently, the county has no plans to discontinue the call center service, however.
"They'll [county officials] judge how long it will last based on the need of the community," said Punch.
Edited by Maurice Nagle