CDC Use of Voice Assistant Technology to Assist With Covid Test Kit Orders

Background:

In late December 2021, a new program was announced with a plan for the government to purchase and distribute by mail 500 million COVID-19 at-home tests, equating to 125 million “kits” of 4 tests each. The CDC national contact center (CDC-INFO) team was engaged in early January 2022 to provide phone support to members of the public that did not have internet access to order the free tests through www.covid.gov/tests. Test kit order fulfillment was a joint, inter-agency effort between HHS, USPS, and CDC.

Program background:

CDC-INFO collaborated with its vendor on a sustainable solution that could manage the large influx of COVID test kit orders through the hotline. The team expanded its Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platform, incorporating Intelligent Voice Assistant technology that automated the ordering process through USPS. It combined voice recognition and touch-tone keypad selections to guide callers through orders and allowed them to submit support tickets. Phone agents also supported orders in case the automated solution failed, or the caller wanted to order specialized blind or low vision test kits.

Evaluation Methods and Results:

CDC-INFO deployed voice assistant technology in its phone IVR for four open rounds of COVID test kit orders running through April 2023. Since launching in January 2022:

• More than 870,000 test kit calls were received (voice assistant handled 670,000 of those calls).
• Translated to 408,000 orders submitted (voice assistant submitted more than 317,000 orders and 52,000 service tickets on behalf of callers).

Cost analysis was also conducted after calculating price for total calls handled by the voice assistant. It showed that the cost for a voice assistant call (including all platform and per minute fees) ended up being 70% less than an average cost of a call handled by a live agent.

Conclusions:

Not only did a voice assistant call cost a third of a standard call supported by a live agent, but the automated solution freed up phone agents to assist callers with more complex technical issues and questions. This blended approach ensured high customer service levels along with good user experience.

Implications for research and/or practice:

Government agencies must assist those who may not have Internet access or prefer to reach out over the phone to acquire services. Use of voice assistant technology may be a sustainable solution to meet sudden needs for large-scale transactional type services, such as rapid product distribution to American households during an emergency response.

While there are large start-up costs to building out the automated solution, this may be balanced out by sufficient volume on the phone. Instead of burden of training up live agents who handle one call at a time, the automated solution also allows for 24/7 service and reduces phone wait time. Limitations of this technology include difficulties for people with accented speech and speech impediments, or who are less proficient in English or technology. Offering a way for people to still reach a live agent for personalized assistance in placing orders is still a necessary measure.