Businesses are always looking for ways to operate more efficiently. COVID-19 has forced businesses to find innovative efficiencies to handle their new reality. For many, that means embracing technology in new ways to allow them to not only serve their customers but in some cases, serve them better.
K4Connect modernizes long-term care facilities
In an effort to help long-term care facilities operate more efficiently, K4Connect provides technology to create a modern and meaningful experience. This technology includes passive motion sensors to track resident movement and alert staff if a check is needed, as well as smart devices that respond to voice commands, making it easy for residents to communicate and even control their smart-enabled home environments (lighting, temperature).
But, with the spread of COVID-19, and the devastating impact the disease has had on long-term care communities, these facilities that K4Connect’s technology serves are often inundated with calls from the families of residents looking for updates. Each of these calls requires a member of the staff to answer the call and provide an update, something that can easily take up hours of an employee’s time, which in turn takes time away that can be better spent with community residents. Mass communications during this pandemic is a critical need for senior living communities, and they need simplified, scalable, and dependable tools to manage it as safety protocols and COVID-19 guidance continue to change.
An automated solution
K4Connect had been trying to develop a hotline for long-term care facilities prior to their work with Bandwidth, developing a prototype with another provider. They needed a provider that could consult with them on the development of the hotline, as well as provide the local and toll-free phone numbers and network coverage that their customers needed.
“We consulted with them on the development of the hotline,” said Adam Covati, VP Research & Development, Bandwidth. “On top of that, we [Bandwidth] were able to meet their needs for load and scale.”
Customization by location made simple
K4Connect needed more than a hotline that allowed their customers to alleviate the need for a staff member to answer each phone call; they needed a solution that was easy to update for each individual location.
K4Connect’s solution enables each of their customers to dial into the hotline, enter a code, and record their update, hanging up to save it. This can be done as many times as they want, allowing each facility to quickly and easily update their message in real time without needing in-house development resources or extensive telecom expertise. Multiple lines also allow communities to easily customize messages for their audiences, which include residents, their families, community staff teams, and even vendors needing to visit the community.
“The hotline has simply been our lifeline to families, residents, and staff members. It has given our team the ability to update each group with daily updates and critical information. The impact has been immeasurable,” said Carl Tarbell, Executive Director Masonic Village at Burlington
Just a beginning
K4Connect’s hotline is a simple, elegant solution to a growing operational efficiency challenge at long-term care facilities (and businesses as a whole). But, it could be just the first step towards leveraging additional communications tools.
“In early March we anticipated the Coronavirus would impact senior living like nothing we’d seen before, so we quickly pivoted to accelerate high-impact solutions that provide communities immediate resources and relief. This is how K4Community Hotline was created and we’re glad to see communities valuing it,” said K4Connect CEO and Co-Founder, Scott Moody. “Leveraging Bandwidth’s enterprise communications expertise to deliver and manage this solution enables us to continue supporting the industry with an incredibly efficient and easy-to-use tool as it continues to manage the challenges brought on by this pandemic.”
As the impacts of COVID continue, there is no shortage of need for continued and improved communications. “There are a lot of interesting use cases for this industry,” said Adam Covati. “Adding SMS notifications & alerts to the sensors they’re already using to ensure that staff receive it, or sending automated alerts to families so they don’t have to dial into the hotline at all are just a couple examples. There are so many ways to leverage existing technologies to ensure staff, residents and their families have the access to communications and information they need.”
