People are amazing and whenever there’s an emergency situation, we seem to be reminded of that fact.
But the fact is that people alone can only go so far in helping with regards to an emergency. We need not just strong hands, good hearts, and willing spirits to get the job done; people also need the necessary tools for success.
Texas officials calling for boats and high-water vehicles to help with the emergency response effort in the Houston area is a perfect case in point. Cloud-based communications can also be important tools in the event of the unexpected such as severe weather events. In fact, cloud technology recently allowed for the quick provisioning of a contact center in Little Rock, Ak. to help with the Texas flood relief effort.
Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and surrounding states have emergency response partnerships to assist one another in the case of disasters. So, when the good people of Arkansas got word that Texas needed help, a volunteer crew of nurses and hospital support staff at John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital in Little Rock manned a temporary call center to help Texans seeking medical advice and medicine refills.
The 15 people housed in the former computer lab on the seventh floor of the hospital took 256 calls in an hour this past week. And that is likely just the tip of the iceberg, as the storm is expected to continue over the next few days and could bring with it rain of up to 50 inches.
That will make the situation on the Texas coastal area challenging for a long while. Having the ability to communicate, even when the typical resources are not available, will be key to the relief effort. Cloud-based communications enable organizations to easily enable a connection from virtually any location so people can stay in touch.