Zoe will answer virus-related queries and take the pressure off emergency and hospital phonelines
A virtual agent going by the name of ‘Zoe’ has been launched by the South Australian health department in response to a surge in COVID-19-related queries to the state’s hospital switchboards and the 000 emergency line.
“COVID-19 presented a unique business need requiring rapid response and deployment, fitting with the product’s capabilities," a spokesperson told CMO. SA Health chief executive, Dr Chris McGowan, was aware of the product and interested in trialling it.
Available via www.sahealth.sa.gov.au, Zoe can answer a range of common COVID-19 questions and help users find the information they need through guided conversation.
“The primary objectives were to provide the public with an additional, reliable source of COVID-19 information, and ultimately allow our operational services to focus on delivering health and emergency services,” the spokesperson said.
The department said that between 8 April and 27 April 2020, 17,604 users made 76,359 interactions with Zoe, and 2675 users (15 per cent) completed a full question and answer dialogue path.
Created by virtual agent specialist, Clevertar, Zoe is able to work around-the-clock to answer questions and help South Australians follow official health guidelines.
“We are proud to be assisting SA Health to alleviate some of the pressures on the health system, allowing their vital staff to triage more complex enquiries and make sure everyone has access to accurate and timely information about COVID-19,” Clevertar CEO, Tanya Newhouse, said.
While it was initially developed over just a few days, the company said it will now spend the coming weeks developing Zoe so she can answer a wider range of complex questions beyond the set of pre-defined and event provide links to additional information.
"The next development phase is all about ensuring she has even greater capabilities and is able to answer more questions,” Newhouse said.
The introduction of the virtual agent Zoe follows the creation of a COVID chatbot by Sydney University to answer student queries related to COVID-19. The ‘Corona-bot’, as it’s been dubbed, has been tackling hundreds of student inquiries every day. The bot provides the most appropriate answer to the question and, where necessary, directs the student to further information.
SA Health said the efficacy of Zoe for the department will be evaluated after an initial trial period.
Extended use will be subject to evolving COVID response requirements in South Australia, and business case approval.
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, follow our regular updates via CMO Australia's Linkedin company page, or join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia.
In the third and final episode of our 3-part CMO50 video series exploring modern marketing and why it’s become a matter of trust, we’re delighted to be joined by Telstra’s former CMO and now digital services and sales executive, Jeremy Nicholas, and Adobe VP Marketing Asia-Pacific and Japan, Duncan Egan.
Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.
Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?
As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.
