Vonage Enables AI Chatbot for Spanish Government to Provide Accurate, Updated COVID-19 Information

HOLMDEL, N.J., April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sngular, a Madrid-based international technology solutions provider, and AI experts from the Government of Spain, have built an AI conversational assistant, Hispabot-COVID19 chatbot (Hispabot), to reduce the calls into the Spanish National Health Service during the COVID-19 crisis using programmable technology from Vonage (Nasdaq: VG) to integrate the Hispabot directly into WhatsApp.

Sngular, a Vonage API partner, designed the automatic consultation channel to use artificial intelligence and natural language to respond to concerns about COVID-19 with official, accurate and updated information, along with immediate answers to the most commonly asked coronavirus questions 24/7. Experts in language technology from the Government and the University of Granada (Spain) contributed to create the training and knowledge base about COVID-19. Health professionals from the Spanish Health Service validated the content.

Using the Vonage Messages API, Sngular was able to easily integrate WhatsApp into their platform and enable millions of Spanish citizens to reach them in a way that is familiar to them in just three days. Following an order made by the Spanish Ministry of Health, the Hispabot tool has been promoted by the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, attached to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.  

The Hispabot-COVID19 chatbot is easy to use through WhatsApp:

• Spanish citizens simply save the number +34 600 802 802 in their phone's contacts and send the word "hello" in a WhatsApp message to start the conversation.
• Using AI, the service responds with official answers to citizens' most common questions regarding COVID-19 including details on symptoms, local emergency numbers, the latest Ministry of Health updates, and more.
• Hispabot-COVID19 helps reduce the pressure on healthcare hotlines, offering a simple information alternative available at all times and keeping the phone lines open for people that really need to speak to a doctor.

"The COVID-19 situation is constantly evolving and it's important to provide people with accurate information when and where they need it. Using the Vonage Messages API it was simple to integrate the Hispabot functionality into WhatsApp and reach people where they spend the most time communicating," said Carlos Guardiola, CIO at Sngular. "As the leading platform for messaging in Spain, WhatsApp is the best channel to connect with citizens, and Vonage Messages API is the best tool to automate this connection in a secure and scalable way."

Hispabot provides answers to more than 200 questions that can be asked in more than 1,000 different ways. It uses Ministry of Health sources and data from other official organizations like WHO to garner information on symptoms of the disease, preventive measures, protection, current statistics, contact numbers and more.

"During this unprecedented time, Vonage is proud to partner with companies like Sngular to power communications solutions that connect people with the support they need," said Omar Javaid, President API Platform Group, Vonage. "We're seeing Vonage's programmable solutions enable incredible and innovative initiatives, whether it is supporting telehealth, distance learning or government services like the Hispabot-COVID19."

Vonage is helping frontline organizations provide reliable COVID-19-related information to communities around the world. For a limited time, Vonage is offering government and nonprofit organizations a free messaging solution that enables them to build information chatbots in a matter of hours. To learn more about Vonage APIs, visit www.vonage.com/apis.

About Vonage
Vonage (Nasdaq: VG) is redefining business communications once again. We're making communications more flexible, intelligent, and personal, to help enterprises the world over, stay ahead. We provide unified communications, contact centers and programmable communications APIs, built on the world's most flexible cloud communications platform. True to our roots as a technology disruptor, our flexible approach helps us to better serve the growing collaboration, communications, and customer experience needs of companies, across all communications channels.

Vonage Holdings Corp. is headquartered in New Jersey, with offices throughout the United States, Europe, Israel, Australia and Asia. To follow Vonage on Twitter, please visit www.twitter.com/vonage. To become a fan on Facebook, go to facebook.com/vonage. To subscribe on YouTube, visit youtube.com/vonage.

SOURCE Vonage

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