The Philippines National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH) is enhancing its hotline centre efficiency with cloud technology.
NCMH said its 24/7 Crisis Hotline could assist more people at a "remarkable" rate, ensuring capabilities in timely reporting, reviewing, and maintaining control over every call.
It has also implemented a unified contact centre platform for both inbound and automatic call distribution, streamlining call management processes.
NCMH's hotline service programme director Dr. Bernard B. Argamosa said the hotline works as a contact centre and can take a maximum of 15 calls at a time.
He added that the contact centre platform built with automatic call distribution could manage calls with reportorial capabilities and audit, including emails, chats, SMS, and social media for monitoring customer satisfaction.
NCMH partnered with ePLDT, the information and communications technology (ICT) subsidiary of PLDT in 2020 to power its crisis hotline initiative to help prevent individuals from committing suicide.
The hotline also served as a portal that provides access for those in need of mental health intervention to mental health professionals and facilities.
Argamosa said the hotline was operated manually before the upgrades and aimed for the widest reach possible.
This system, hosted in ePLDT's local data centre and integrated with Salesforce CRM has "significantly" expanded the reach of NCMH's 24/7 Crisis Hotline during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It could "effectively" monitor, track, and consolidate callers’ information in a single view.
Argamosa said it was also inclusive of various other features such as outbound calling capability for call-out and call-back processes, management portal and reporting tools.
"The enhanced system allowed for better management of calls, including suicide-related ones, and offered various psychological interventions, showcasing the positive impact of digital technology on mental health support," he added.
The NCMH hotline is also equipped with a directory of other hospitals for referrals. It aims to expand its reach further and surpass its current capabilities.
