Twilio to Power Communications for New York City’s Contact Tracing Initiative

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twilio (NYSE:TWLO), the leading cloud communications platform, today announced that Twilio will power the communications for New York City’s contact tracing initiative. Through the city’s Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications (DoITT), the city is planning to deploy a cloud-based contact center on Twilio Flex and leverage Twilio SMS and Voice as key parts of the City’s COVID-19 tracing program.

As governments explore strategies to slow new COVID-19 cases and safely reopen economies, public health departments have identified contact tracing as a crucial step in the process. When implemented effectively, contact tracing can lessen the impact of COVID-19 on communities and economies by lowering mortality rates and allowing people to safely return to work. New York City recently announced a plan to hire thousands of contact tracers to support these efforts in the coming months. 

Twilio is working with government agencies and health departments to deploy and scale their contact tracing solutions. Twilio’s platform is well-suited to support the fundamental communication needs for contact tracing, including connecting securely with COVID-19 patients and known contacts, to help monitor the spread of the virus. Twilio offers an omnichannel contact center built using Twilio Flex to call, message or email COVID-19 patients, educate them on the virus, and identify their close contacts through self-reporting. The platform also provides messaging-based alerts using Twilio Voice, SMS, email or WhatsApp that prompt patients to fill out secure surveys on their symptoms.

“Throughout this pandemic, the ability for businesses and government agencies to quickly spin up and iterate ways to engage customers and constituents has never been more important,” said George Hu, chief operating officer at Twilio. “New York City’s contact tracing solution makes it possible for the city to connect with and support residents with COVID-19 and keep their known contacts safe and informed. Twilio is proud to work with innovative leaders like New York City’s CIO, Jessica Tisch, as they invest in the health, safety and future of their constituents.” 

Twilio is committed to providing governments, organizations and businesses with the communications solutions needed to stay connected during COVID-19. Twilio’s platform provides cloud contact center and notification solutions for remote contact tracers to interview patients, notify contacts and send symptom survey reminders. For more on how Twilio is supporting organizations throughout COVID-19, visit https://www.twilio.com/covid.   

About Twilio

Millions of developers around the world have used Twilio to unlock the magic of communications to improve any human experience. Twilio has democratized communications channels like voice, text, chat, video, and email by virtualizing the world’s communications infrastructure through APIs that are simple enough for any developer to use, yet robust enough to power the world’s most demanding applications. By making communications a part of every software developer’s toolkit, Twilio is enabling innovators across every industry — from emerging leaders to the world’s largest organizations — to reinvent how companies engage with their customers.