A Human Touch

Leaders from El Paso, Cisco and Computacenter said the social services portal’s use of real human respondents sets it apart. Lanett Blum (pictured), senior director of south central for Computacenter, said speaking to a real human being can alleviate some of the anxiety and confusion a person in crisis experience.

“One of the key aspects of helping individuals is having somebody pick up on the other line quickly and see the person,” Blum told Channel Futures. “Seeing someone that they can help, and then being able to tell them exactly what they provide.”

Gary DePreta, Cisco’s vice president for state, local governments and education, said the agents can walk the distressed person through all of their options in an empathetic way.

“The human interaction is what makes this project so special, and we think it’s going to be a model that can be replicated across the U.S.,” DePreta said. “That trend of reimagining governance services is already underway.”