Discovery Health has begun using MTN location-based services (LBS) and caller line identity (CLI) to identify members who call in with an emergency and pinpoint their location.
Trent Rossini, CIO of Discovery Health, says the company developed Discovery Response to enhance its support to members when in an emergency situation.
"Discovery Response allows the international SOS call centre to identify the member`s emergency details by matching them to the member`s cellphone number. If the member has an MTN cellphone, the approximate location is retrieved through MTN LBS," he says.
Once the member`s details and location have been retrieved, Rossini says the call centre can contact the next of kin specified in the emergency details and dispatch emergency vehicles to the scene.
"The accuracy of LBS depends on the density of the cellular network. In a suburb like Sandton, it is accurate to a few hundred metres, while on the N1 highway, it will pinpoint to within a few kilometres. However, a landmark like a highway will make it easy to dispatch emergency services," he says.
While Discovery does not have an agreement to access Vodacom`s LBS yet, members` emergency details are still retrieved from the database if they call in via a Vodacom phone.
Rossini says Cell C does not yet have the LBS infrastructure to carry such a service and Discovery does not use CLI to identify a caller from a landline.
"Unlike a cellphone, a landline is not seen as a personal identifier. People may call from work or a house where a number of people have access to that line. Members using a Cell C phone or a Telkom line simply give their membership number when calling and their emergency data is retrieved."
Rossini says Discovery Response has helped to shorten the response time to members, and makes them feel more secure as the call centre agent knows who is calling and has immediate access to their details. Added to that, if an MTN member cannot give their location, emergency units can still be dispatched.
The service is available to all members on Discovery Health once they have updated their emergency details on the Discovery World Web site.
The Discovery emergency numbers are 082 288-0012, 083 123-0012 and 0860 347-2683.
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