Twilio partners with more cities, universities to power contact tracing systems
Twilio announced Thursday that it's working with more than 28 cities, states, and universities to power contact tracing systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. The programs will include a cloud-based contact center based on Twilio Flex and also leverage Twilio's SMS and Voice services.
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Contact tracing is considered one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of infectious disease and mitigate the long term impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Twilio's role in contact tracing programs is centered around providing the communications layer for remote contact tracers to interview patients, notify contacts and send symptom survey reminders. The company's cloud contact center and notifications platforms can integrate with public health data systems and enable staff to contact patients directly or automate the process via SMS alerts.
Twilio said it's now working with the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology, the Public Health Department for Philadelphia, and the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications of New York City.
"Contact tracing is a proven public health tool, and this pandemic requires us to operate at unprecedented scale," said Glenn Weinstein, chief customer officer at Twilio. We're helping in some of the hardest-hit areas across the public and private sector, enabling organizations to use flexible communications to engage constituents and keep communities safer."