Talkdesk has launched two new solutions that address some of the biggest challenges related to COVID-19: vaccine deployment and emergency loan execution. The cloud contact center provider made both solutions available on Jan.26 for organizations looking to accelerate global vaccine administration and communications support and loan processing for small businesses.

Every day counts when it comes to vaccinating the population against COVID-19, but the rollout is significantly delayed across the country, and it’s not just due to vaccine shortages. Supplier and drugstore call centers are overwhelmed by historic call volumes and other technical issues. Some people report waiting on hold for hours to make an appointment, while others cannot make it at all. Those desperate to get vaccinated are resorting to extreme measures, such as traveling out of state to get vaccinated faster elsewhere.

Talkdesk vaccine delivery solutions simplify patient access to vaccine

Talkdesk, based in San Francisco, developed the vaccine delivery solution to address these issues. Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) platform simplifies proactive outreach, appointment scheduling, communication and patient confirmations prior to vaccination and post-vaccination follow-up through the use of the artificial intelligence, agent support and automation. Providers involved in vaccine distribution, including hospitals and pharmacies, can be up and running with the vaccine delivery solution in as little as 24 hours. To accelerate adoption, Talkdesk is making its vaccine delivery solution free for six months.

Omnichannel communications are lacking in typical voice call centers inundated with vaccine-related inquiries, contributing to high call volumes. The Talkdesk vaccine delivery solution enables providers with omnichannel support to proactively contact vaccine candidates by text, voice or email to schedule appointments, send reminders or complete the pre-health questionnaire. -vaccine. For example, the Talkdesk platform includes an agentless dialer that speeds up proactive notifications to people who haven’t answered or made an appointment.

Once a person is ready to take the photo, they can use the self-service portal, digital virtual agent, or virtual voice agent to make an appointment. People with complex inquiries or urgent health care needs unrelated to COVID-19 may be referred to the call center agents. Additionally, agents can help clear up any confusion or concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine and arrange live appointments during a call.

By tackling uncertainty and misinformation, including confusing messages about potential side effects, providers can proactively educate the public about the COVID-19 vaccine and get more people to sign up faster. . The experience, as well as any side effects, can be documented through follow-up surveys, so providers can make improvements to increase vaccine satisfaction.

Talkdesk gives banks and fintechs the ability to streamline the lending experience for small businesses

The second platform, Talkdesk Small Business Lending Solution, tackles the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) lending process to help small businesses in need. Small businesses struggling due to the pandemic are eligible to apply for PPP loans, but the process has not been straightforward so far. The first cycles of loan acquisition, prioritization and distribution last year were hampered by delays, errors and confusion among small businesses on how to access funds.

Talkdesk’s end-to-end platform streamlines the administration of PPP loans by banks, community development finance institutions, credit unions, and fintechs. With this solution, lenders can quickly set up dedicated contact centers to handle PPP loan applications, approvals and distribution.

The Small Business Lending Solution also uses omnichannel communications to reach small businesses and qualify them for loans faster. Imagine a scenario where a restaurant requests an emergency loan to purchase building materials for outdoor dining, but cannot contact the lender on the status of the request. The restaurateur complains on Twitter and tags the lender, who responds by email to resolve the issue. The owner then calls the lender’s call center, which has a recording of the omnichannel exchange, and speaks to a live agent. The owner is asked to submit additional documents and the loan is approved. The lender sends an SMS to the owner with the details.

The administration of vaccine and loan distribution programs requires complex coordination between multiple stakeholders. Talkdesk’s solutions could help these programs succeed by simplifying the management of interactions between providers and vaccinees, and between lenders and loan recipients.

As a relatively young company in a fairly mature market, Talkdesk has recently emerged and has seen immediate success due to its advanced capabilities and speed of innovation. In fact, Talkdesk is now a mainstay and Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant Cloud Contact Center, a testament to the quality of its product. To date, it offers a generic solution for businesses across all verticals, but both of these offerings are designed specifically for healthcare and financial services.

I would expect Talkdesk to continue to offer industry-optimized solutions, making Vaccine Delivery Solution and Small Business Lending Solution one of the first of its vertical solutions, but certainly not the last.

Zeus Kerravala is a regular contributor to eWEEK and the founder and principal analyst with ZK Search. He spent 10 years with Yankee Group and before that he held several positions in corporate IT. Kerravala is considered one of the top 10 IT analysts in the world by Apollo Research, which evaluated 3,960 technology analysts and their individual media coverage metrics.