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Illinois County's Expanded COVID-19 Call Center Fields Thousands of Calls Per Month
While the U.S. states have had very different COVID-19 experiences depending on population density and a host of other factors, Illinois has been one of the hardest hit, ranking third after New York and New Jersey. As of this week, the state has reported more than 83,000 cases of COVID-19, and like most states, it has experienced challenges in helping its citizens cope with the pandemic. One Illinois county has turned to call center operations to help its residents cope.
Back in mid-March, DuPage County opened a 15-person call center with a dedicated goal of answering the high volume of COVID-19 calls that were coming into the county health department. The call center quickly grew to an operation of 40 to 50 people as the number of calls peaked during the week of March 16. According to the Chicago Tribune, in two months, the DuPage County COVID-19 call center has taken more than 5,900 calls from residents with concerns or questions about the global pandemic. The center has also expanded from a five-days-a-week operation to seven days a week, with agents now taking calls from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Monday through Saturday and 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday.
When the call center first launch, the first employees were working in a typical call center set-up, with all workers in one room. The operation’s growth and health concerns have led to a change, with most workers fielding calls from their homes and using remote call center and workforce management technologies. In order to be able to provide the best possible answers to citizens’ concerns, the call center taps a wide variety of resources.
“One thing the community may not know, we’ve come together not just to support the community but the agency,” said Maria Cuevas, a leader of the call center, told the Tribune. “We do have different staff involved — behavioral health, environmental health, customer service staff helping to support everything. And we’re working closely with other groups to get resources.”
Edited by Maurice Nagle
